The final series of Ronan Bennett’s Top Boy (Netflix, from Thursday, September 7th) redefines the concept of guilty pleasure. Set in the London criminal underworld, the show’s concluding run of episodes introduces a new Irish wild card in the double act of gangsters played by Brian Gleeson and Barry Keoghan.
They’re a nasty duo – far more violent than our regular crew of wrong ’uns, who are led by the rappers turned actors Kano and Ashley Walters. But Irish viewers may have to fight an urge to nod approvingly when they hear Keoghan’s character, Jonny, tell Kano’s Sully to “suí síos”. Keoghan is such a charismatic bad guy that it requires an active effort not to take his side.
Top Boy originally aired on Channel 4 but was cancelled after two seasons. Netflix revived it when the rapper Drake declared himself a fan. He isn’t the only one – Keoghan approached Bennett about a part, explaining that he was a devotee.
Bennett’s journey to top-tier binge TV has as many unlikely twists as that of Top Boy. Born in Belfast and raised in Newtownabbey, he was arrested for alleged involvement in a Provisional IRA robbery – a conviction that was later declared unsafe. Freed from Long Kesh, he went to London and became a successful author, creating a splash with his 2004 novel, Havoc, in Its Third Year. Now he’s running a TV drama about an oppressed London community that has a hostile relationship with the police and is ignored by British politicians. Where did he get that idea from?
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Still, the real enjoyment of Top Boy flows from the fantastic cast. Kano and Walters are great as criminals who are eager to get out of the game but keep getting sucked in. The Mercury Prize winner Little Simz – real name Simbi Ajikawo – is back too, reliably impressive as single mum Shelley.
It’s obvious from the outset of this final series, however, that Keoghan, the Oscar-nominated Dubliner, will be the big draw. He effortlessly owns each scene he’s in. He’s chilling when he beats an informer from Sully’s gang to death, but he’s scarier yet when he’s swapping banter with Sully, to whom he wants to supply drugs under a new arrangement to which Sully has no choice but to agree.
“You ever been to Ireland?” he asks as they drive through London. Sully shrugs. “You should come,” Jonny says. He smiles. It’s the most terrifying 10 seconds of television you’ll see this year.
