Top Boy, Channel 4

9 August 2013

TOP BOY 1/4                                                                                                        

Charming, sexy and clever, 27-year-old Dushane (Ashley Walters) has finally made it as ‘Top Boy’ but has lost the support of his best friend and main ally, 26-year-old Sully (Kane Robinson) in the process. Dushane prepares to move into the big time with boss Joe (David Hayman). But becoming Top Boy has come at a cost: Dushane’s former right hand man Sully is now a potentially dangerous rival, resorting to ever more desperate measures to get hold of cash with his new partner-in-crime, violent and volatile Mike (Paul Anderson).

Things begin to go wrong when the police discover the body of arch-rival Kamale, killed by Dushane and Sully in their deadly turf war. Soon Dushane, Sully and Dris (Shone Romulus) are arrested for Kamale’s murder.  As he is brought in for questioning, Dushane first encounters the beautiful and smart solicitor Rhianna (Lorraine Burroughs) who proves to be more than a match for the police.

15-year-old Ra’Nell (Malcolm Kamulete) is still keeping his head down and with trials for the district youth squad coming up.  Unfortunately his best friend Gem (Giacomo Mancini) gets caught up in activities which take him in a different direction – one that, it soon becomes clear, he is unable to control.

Meanwhile Ra’Nell’s mother Lisa (Sharon Duncan Brewster) makes a new start, after recovering from her nervous breakdown, by running a hair salon with her friend Zoe (Jo Martin). But a conversation with a property developer proves troubling.

Thrilling, raw, frightening, sad, hopeful and surprisingly funny by turn, this original drama is an honest and gripping rendition of inner-city life set in a world we think we know, but rarely see or understand.

TOP BOY 2/4

Dushane (Ashley Walters) visits Joe (David Hayman) in hospital and learns from his injured partner that their drugs were stolen by gang of Albanians. Furious, Dushane orders Dris (Shone Romulus) to find the location of the Albanian gang.

Sully (Kane Robinson) and Mike (Paul Anderson) are asked to carry out a hit. Later Sully reveals that their target, Jermaine (Ashley Thomas) is someone very close to home but things don’t go as planned. Meanwhile, Dushane dates beautiful solicitor Rhianna (Lorraine Burroughs) who, despite their mutual attraction, seems to have a hidden agenda.

Following Dushane’s earlier arrest, the police are everywhere on the Summerhouse Estate. Nevaeh (Monique Day), R’Marni (Kasey McKellar) and Michael (Xavien Russell), the younger members of Dushane’s crew, take a precautionary break from dealing drugs, and go on a shoplifting spree. Disastrously Michael is arrested and placed under intense questioning from police.

Ruthless entrepreneur Vincent (Benedict Wong) forces Gem (Giacomo Mancini) to skip school and deliver drugs for him.  Desperate to get Vincent off his back, Gem asks Ra’Nell (Malcolm Kamulete) for help but is refused. Ra’Nell wants nothing to endanger his football trials for a local team. Ra’Nell’s mother Lisa (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) talks to Gem’s father, Mr Mustapha (Nabil Elouahabi) who owns the chip shop near her hairdressing salon. She is shocked to learn that developers have plans to buy every property in the street.

Dushane, Dris and Shaheed (Noah Maxwell Clarke) stake out the Albanians’ warehouse but their plan of attack seeming increasingly foolhardy as they watch more of the Albanian gang arrive.

TOP BOY 3/4

Rafe (Dan Jay Green) daringly rescues his brother Jermaine (Ashley Thomas) held captive by Sully (Kane Robinson) and Mike (Paul Anderson). As Sully and Mike escape, Rafe swears to take revenge on Sully for the kidnapping.

Loner Jason (Ricky Smarts) offers Sully and Mike a safe hiding place in his mother’s home, but tensions ride high as Mike grows increasingly impatient, and Sully frets about Rafe’s threat on his life.

Lawyer Rhianna (Lorraine Burroughs) offers Dushane (Ashley Walters) a way to break free of dealing drugs, and move into property development. At first Dushane dismisses the idea, but when he visits the badly-injured Joe (David Hayman) in hospital, he confronts the reality of the danger he is in. He tells Rhianna he wants to find out more. 

The luckless Gem (Giacomo Mancini) is terrified when a drug delivery he is making for Vincent (Benedict Wong) goes wrong. He turns to his best friend Ra’Nell (Malcolm Kamulete) for help. Angry at having been rejected by the local youth football team, Ra’Nell agrees to accompany Gem to confront Vincent. The consequence for the boys, however, is brutal.

Dris (Shone Romulus) hears that Kayla (Michaela Coel), a witness to the murder of Kamale, is being questioned by the police. Dushane asks Rhianna to intervene to prevent Kayla talking to the police.

Desperate, Sully asks Jason to arrange a meeting for him with Dushane. Warily, Sully and Dushane strike a deal.  Dushane agrees to talk to Rafe about his death threat to Sully, while Sully pledges to help Dushane retrieve his drugs from the Albanian gang.  

Kayla’s police interview goes badly wrong, and she is arrested for perverting the course of justice. Then the police inform Rhianna, as Kayla’s solicitor, that they have another witness to Kamale’s murder, who they refuse to name.  Furious, Rhianna confronts Dushane, demanding to know the identity of this witness. Dushane is deeply troubled by the new development.

Top Boy 4/4  

The tense final episode of ‘Top Boy’ sees former friends Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson) resuming an uneasy partnership:  danger is everywhere. A showdown is looming with a violent Albanian gang and police crank up the pressure on Kayla (Michaela Coel). She saw Kamale being taken by Dushane and Sully and is being held by police for perverting the course of justice. Even worse there is the threat of a mysterious new witness.

Solicitor Rhianna (Lorraine Burroughs) is representing Kayla and warns Dushane that she is likely to talk to the police. Cornered and running out of time, Dushane is compelled to take drastic action.

Crew member Dris (Shone Romulus) begins to suspect that 12-year-old Michael (Xavien Russell) is the person behind Kayla’s arrest.  Recently interrogated by the police after being caught shoplifting, Michael becomes Dris and Dushane’s main suspect.  As Michael’s uneasiness grows, fellow crew member Collins (Andreas “Skits” Andreou) gives him the ominous news they are required to wait for Dushane at his flat.

Following Vincent’s (Benedict Wong) brutal attack on Ra’Nell (Malcolm Kamulete), and Ra’Nell’s refusal to go the police, Lisa (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) is forced to turn to Dushane for help. Meanwhile Gem’s father, Mr Mustapha (Nabil Elouhabi) has decided to deal with Vincent in his own way, and plans to take Gem (Giacomo Mancini) to Ramsgate to start a new life. Like Otkay, Lisa and Zoe (Jo Martin) finally accept there is nothing else they can do to save their businesses from the powerful property developers.

Discovering a novel entrance into the Albanians’ warehouse, Sully and Dushane plan an attack to retrieve the stolen drugs - a plan which will lead to shocking and tragic consequences for Michael.