Top Boy season 5 | release date speculation, cast, trailer, news
The 30-second trailer sees Kane Robinson's character Sully tearfully declare, "If we are not monsters, we're food... and I can never be food" after a montage of scenes between him and Dushane (Ashley Walters).
Top Boy season 4 followed events after Micheal Ward's character Jamie was released from prison and set out to disrupt Dushane's (Ashley Walters) control over Summerhouse.
The season was on storming form (read RadioTimes.com’s review here) from the get-go, culminating in an epic conclusion that paved the way for Top Boy season 5.
Speaking previously about the fifth season, lead actors Walters and Robinson – who also serve as executive producers – said in a joint statement that they were "very excited about what’s next".
"For those that have followed the journey from the start, you will know how much this show means to everyone on our team and we wholeheartedly know how much it means to you," the statement read. "These characters have been a part of our lives for over a decade now and without everyone’s support we couldn’t have come this far."
They continued: "Whilst the journeys of Dushane and Sully have remained at the core of the show, the new characters that have entered the world of Top Boy have become a key part of the show’s legacy, representing each new storyline in a raw, authentic way.
"With all this being said, and staying true to our original goal, every story must have an ending and so season three will be our finale. A chance to come full circle and end the journey in the right way."
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Read on for everything you need to know about Top Boy season 5.
Will there be a Top Boy season 5?
Yes. Netflix confirmed that Top Boy will receive a fifth season shortly after the fourth run debuted.
The streaming giant announced on Thursday 31st March 2022 that the series will return for its fifth and final season.
The season will be the third produced by Netflix and is branded as 'season 3' on the streaming service.
It is currently unknown how many episodes there will be of the final season but, rest assured, it is sure to be incredibly dramatic.
Top Boy season 5 release date speculation
While we're still waiting on an exact release date, Netflix confirmed in the firts teaser trailer that the final run will arrive in September 2023 – so there are just a few more months to wait.
Filming began last summer and was thankfully not hit by the Covid restrictions that had affected the previous run.
The fourth season of the show was originally set to begin filming in spring 2020, but a production shutdown enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that production had to be pushed until much later in the year – with series leads Walters and Robinson confirming they had begun filming in December.
Who will appear in the cast of Top Boy season 5?
Of the cast of series regulars, we'd expect the below to all be back for more should Top Boy return:
- Ashley Walters as Dushane
- Kane Robinson as Sully
- Jasmine Jobson as Jaq
- Simbi Ajikawo ('Little Simz') as Shelley
- Saffron Hocking as Lauryn
It's also probable we'll see more of No-Lay as Mandy and Adwoa Aboah as Becks, while Lisa Dwan might well return as Lizzie – though now she's in Dushane's crosshairs, she might not be sticking around for long – and it's also possible that Erin Kellyman might reappear as Dushane's niece Pebbles.
Following the shocking cliffhanger to the latest season, it seems we've seen the last of Micheal Ward as Jamie – a major player across the previous two seasons – and it remains to be seen how Jamie's brothers Aaron and Stefan – played by Hope Ikpoku Jr. and Araloyin Oshunremi – might factor into any future episodes following his exit.
Kadeem Ramsay won't be returning as Kit either, with Jamie having executed his treacherous no. 2 just prior to his own demise, while Ats' mother Amma (Jolade Obasola) was apparently deported from the UK early in the fourth season so again seems unlikely to resurface.
Since the Channel 4 days, Top Boy fans have remained eager to find out what happened to Ra'Nell (Malcolm Kamulete), who featured heavily in the show's first two seasons but didn't return for the Netflix relaunch – but it doesn't sound as though he'll be making a comeback any time soon, with Ashley Walters telling RadioTimes.com that there are no plans for Ra'Nell to factor back into the story.
It's feasible that Ra'Nell's old friend Gem (Giacomo Mancini) could appear again in future though – another major character from the show's early days, he did appear briefly in the first season produced on Netflix so the door for that character to return appears to be open.
Is Top Boy season 5 the final season?
Yes. As previously stated, Top Boy season 5 will be the final season of the series.
There have been no comments on sequels, spin-offs or continuations so at the moment it appears that this will well and truly be the end of the line.
Who will survive?
Is there a trailer for Top Boy season 5?
Yes – the first teaser trailer was released in April 2023, showing a tearful Sully explaining: "If we are not monsters, we're food... and I can never be food."
You can check it out below:
Previously, fans were treated to a teaser trailer to announce the show's renewal – with star and co-creator Ashley Walters shared the clip on his Twitter account to accompany the good news.
The footage teases the season as the ending of the show's run.
The clip notes" "Every Top Boy has their time and that time is coming."
Ashley tweeted: " that time is coming... filming starts this Summer @topboynetflix #TopBoy".
You can catch the clip above.
What could happen in Top Boy season 5?
The latest season of Top Boy on Netflix leaves a number of story threads dangling which could be followed up in any future outings.
Most obviously, any new season would have to explore the aftermath of Sully's murder of Jamie. With Dushane having told Sully that he was grooming Jamie to be his successor, will Sully's actions reignite aggressions between the two old friends? And how will Jamie's brothers react to the brutal slaying? Will Stef want revenge? Is studious Aaron, who always resisted being dragged into Jamie's criminal style, now doomed to follow in his brother's footsteps?
Though the show's latest antagonist, Liverpool gangster Curtis (Howard Charles), didn't make it out of the fourth season alive, the rest of his gang – including Curtis' vicious sister – escaped, with Sully warning them never to return to London. Will they heed this advice, or will they be back to seek retribution on pregnant Lauryn (Saffron Hocking) and her sister Jaq (Jasmine Jobson)?
Finally, a running thread throughout the latest season that never quite paid off involved Dushane's health, with the drug kingpin suffering what appeared to be panic attacks. This seems certain to be explored more if Top Boy returns – and we can't imagine Sully's actions will have done wonders for Dushane's stress levels...
Read our full explainer on the Top Boy season 4 ending and how it sets up an explosive fifth season.
Read more about Top Boy:
Top Boy is streaming now on Netflix –
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