Top Boy season 1-4 spoilers follow.
There's always a bit of confusion when it comes to Top Boy – but whether you reckon we're four seasons in to the original or two seasons into the Netflix continuation, the end result is the same... the end is coming to the story.
And boy are they planning to go out with an absolute blast of a final season.
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So what lies ahead for the cast and the story? What are they planning to do? And when exactly are we going to be seeing it?
Here's everything you need to know about what to expect from Top Boy season five (yes, yes, Netflix, season three, whatever).
Top Boy season 5 potential release date: When can we expect Top Boy season 5?
As of April 2023, there is still no official release date for the final episodes of Top Boy beyond the fact that it will be landing this year. However we are closer to knowing when this year that will be.
Netflix have officially announced that the release window for Top Boy's fifth and final season will be September.
It was previously rumoured that the final instalment had been subject to delays because of creative disputes.
At the time Netflix set the record straight during an interview with Metro stating:
"Producers Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan and Netflix temporarily paused production on the final season of Top Boy to allow for further creative discussion."
Their spokesperson added: "Production has now recommenced and the show will launch as planned in 2023."
The news of the scheduled release window will come as a welcome relief to fans who may have worried that there could have been more to these 'creative differences'.
However, there's a current situation that may – or may not – create more delays, and anxiety.
If the current Screen Actors Guild strike stretches into September, Netflix may want to delay the show even further, because they'll be missing a key element of the promotion process.
SAG strike rules cover all sorts of areas related to marketing their work.
"Film and television productions will shut down, but the work stoppage has reverberations that extend beyond actors going to set," Variety recently explained.
"According to the guidelines, SAG-AFTRA members will not be able to attend premieres, do interviews for completed work, go to awards shows, attend film festivals or even promote projects on social media while the strike is in effect. They are also not allowed to attend conventions such as Comic-Con to promote any past or present work made under a SAG-AFTRA contract."
But let's hope everything's resolved by the autumn.
At the moment, September is the closest we're getting to knowing when Top Boy season five will hit the streaming platform, but as soon as there's an exact date we'll let you know.
Top Boy season 5 cast: Who's back in Top Boy season 5?
Ashley Walter's Dushane and Kane Robinson's Sully made it through another season unscathed… or pretty much unscathed. Neither died, at least. So we expect them to make a return. Whether they'll make it to the final credits though, we cannot promise you anything.
However, it's highly unlikely that Jamie (Micheal Ward) survived a shot to the head by Sully, so it's pretty safe to say we've seen the last of him.
Jamie's best friend Kit (Kadeem Ramsay) will also not be joining the cast for another season, after being shot by Jamie.
It seems a bad time for best friends as Ats (Keiyon Cook), Stef's best friend, turned up dead midway through season four as well.
We do, however, expect to see a return of the following:
• Shelley (Little Simz)
• Jaq (Jasmine Jobson)
• Aaron (Hope Ikpoku Jr)
• Stef (Araloyin Oshunremi)
• Lauryn (Saffron Hocking)
• Becks (Adwoa Aboah)
• Lizzie (Lisa Dwan)
• Ruben (Theo Ogundipe)
Pebbles (Erin Kellyman) and Vee (Ava Brennan) will likely be back.
As well as this, there have been two major names joining the pack – Eternals star Barry Keoghan and Peaky Blinders' Brian Gleeson have both signed on for the upcoming episodes.
However, their characters are yet to be known... though you don't pull in star power if you don't intend to use it, do you?
There's been a question mark surrounding Ra'Nell Smith, played by Malcolm Kamulete, ever since Top Boy's second season. The character was one of the key players in the original show on Channel 4, but has not appeared since its renewal by Netflix – and with no on-screen explanation as to Smith's fate.
In a recent interview, executive producer Ashley Walters addressed whether fans were likely to get a resolution or to see a return in the final season.
Walters confirmed to Radio Times that "no", while "Malcolm was a brilliant addition" to the cast, "and was one of the founding members of the show", the actor ultimately "had different things that he wanted to do with his life."
"So unfortunately I can spoil this for the fans," he concluded. "Ra'Nell will not be coming back."
Top Boy season 5 plot: What will happen in Top Boy season 5?
Well, one thing's for certain, someone's going to catch some smoke. There was too much betrayal floating around last season for there not to be any repercussions.
Sully's actions have most likely torn a new rift between him and Dushane. Handing over the drug reins to Jamie was supposed to be Dushane's path to retirement. Now that Sully has axed that plan, we can imagine Dushane won't take it lying down.
Unless, of course, he is lying down, paralysed by the anxiety he seemed to have developed throughout season four. Dushane's mental wellbeing could be a touchpoint going forward, which will be a different problem for him to tackle.
Speaking of revenge, the look that passed between Sully and Jamie's youngest brother Stef was telling – a long stare in which Stef's confusion and shock was exchanged for sorrow, a touch of guilt and maybe resolution on Sully's part. It wouldn't be a far leap to assume that schoolboy Stef and bookworm Aaron (Jamie's other brother) may want to settle that score.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Aaron now that he is the breadwinner, responsible for the guardianship of Stef. Will he give up on his university career and take to the streets like Jamie? Only season five will tell.
Jamie's brothers aren't the only scorned siblings and it's likely that Jaq's sister Lauryn will have to watch her back. You'd think killing her controlling, abusive ex-boyfriend Curtis (Howard Charles) would see her out of the woods where danger is concerned.
Not a chance: his sister Vee makes Curtis look like a lapdog by comparison. A deranged lapdog, but still. There isn't a universe where she wouldn't avenge the death of the brother she fiercely loved.
Speaking to Digital Spy about her character's journey throughout season four, Hocking said: "I think that what she goes through would test anyone. I think what the most incredible thing – for me, as an actor, to be able to play a character like this – is that she just never gives up. She does just keep going, even, like you said, to the point where she is just at breaking point.
"It just shows the strength of being a mother, or an expectant mother. Mothers will do anything for their children, right? And she does that. So I think that was a really beautiful thing to be able to channel."
She added: "I just thought of my own mother, who absolutely adores me. And I adore her! She would do anything for me. So I just thought to myself, 'OK, I've got to channel that here.'"
When asked whether she thought Lauryn would be able to leave the events of season four behind her, Hocking said:
"I think it's a really tricky one. I, myself, have never been in that situation but from what I can imagine, when you go through the situation she's gone through, you kind of have to just try to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
"Obviously, my character is pregnant. I would like to imagine for Lauryn, and hope that the birth of her child and everything she's fought for to get to this point, will make everything worth it, in a way, and she'll be able to find happiness within that. But who knows?"
We don't have a crystal ball to hand but something tells us Lauryn's happily ever after might be on the back burner until she deals with bloodthirsty Vee. Hopefully she's got a little more left in the tank.
Dushane's girlfriend Shelley has at least one skeleton that we know of in her closet, and it could potentially burst out.
For now she's been able to cover up the murderous actions of her ex-boyfriend by digging up the body and getting rid of it. However, her blackmailer (who happens to be the victim's ex-girlfriend) could blow things up for her in the following season by exposing her secret.
As it's the final season, all bets are off and we have no idea who will be left controlling Summerhouse Estate – except Jamie. Jamie, you're out.
Season four left Dushane toying with the idea of leaving things all behind but, according to Walters, it's not that cut and dry. In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, he said:
"I don't think [leaving the streets] is what he really wants. I mean, I played it with that in mind, that he's saying it, and, in an ideal world, that'd be great but I think he's someone that has been so ingrained in that lifestyle, and has made the amount of money that he has, and has had the control that he has."
He added: "It's become about that control now. It's not about the material things. You know, it's a part of him to have control over his environment, and the power and I think that's what feeds him. So it'd be hard for him to walk away from it."
Top Boy season 5 trailer: Any Top Boy season 5 footage yet?
A new trailer just dropped and it may just be a teaser, but it packs a lot. There's plenty of intensity written all over Sully's face, a look which suggests he doesn't regret the severe actions he took in murdering Jamie in season four.
This does not bode well for his relationship with Dushane. Furthermore, Sully will likely have a revenge target on his back.
September can't come soon enough but for now this will do.
Top Boy is available to watch now on Netflix.
Netflix/Left Bank Pictures The Crown season 3 with Amazon exclusive box artwork
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
