Picture: Netflix
One of the flagship titles out of Netflix’s British lineup is Top Boy which returned recently for its second (or season 4 depending on how you view Channel 4’s series!) exclusively on Netflix. A third season was definitely hinted and now Netflix has confirmed that the show will, in fact, be returning a third but a final season. Here’s what you need to know.
Season 2 of the Netflix series upped the ante in every regard. Whether that’s jetting off to new locations or its new recruits for the fourth season (Hugo Silva, Mustapha Abourachid, Adwoa Aboah, Erin Kellyman, and others).
For those unaware, Netflix rebooted Top Boy after a two-season running on local UK broadcaster Channel 4 between 2011 and 2013. Season 1 of Netflix’s new Top Boy reboot (also known as season 3) premiered in September 2019 and the second season hit on March 18th, 2022.
Before we dig into the show’s future, it’d be worth quickly covering the show’s past, specifically the first two seasons and how they fit into the future of Top Boy. As you may know, Netflix labels Top Boy seasons 1 and 2 as Top Boy: Summerhouse.
The reason for this is because these are licensed seasons and as we’ve already seen (season 1 departed in January 2022), are likely due to be removed in full. Therefore, Netflix wants to treat its show as the starting point.
Has Netflix renewed Top Boy for season 3?
Official Renewal Status: Officially Renewed
Our Renewal Prediction: Likely Renewal
A renewal came on March 31st just a couple of weeks after debuting season 2, Netflix confirmed that the show will be coming back for a third and final season.
Filming will start in the summer of 2022 meaning that a 2023 release date is most likely. Seasons 1 and 2 released within 18 months of each other.
How well did Top Boy season 2 perform on Netflix?
For its first two days on Netflix, it clocked 21.74 million hours viewed around the world debuting at number 7 according to Netflix Top 10s.
In week 2, the show saw a 41% rise in viewing rising to the fourth most-watched title that week.
| Week Period | Hours Viewed(M) | Rank | Week in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 13th, 2022 to March 20th, 2022 | 21,740,000 | 7 | 1 |
| March 20th, 2022 to March 27th, 2022 | 30,640,000 (+41%) | 4 | 2 |
Additionally, the release of the second season also drew lots of new viewers into watch the first season too. Between March 20th and March 27th, season 1 pulled in 19.26 million viewing hours.
Thanks to raw Netflix top 10 data, we can see exactly where the show is performing the best and see whether it’s able to break out of the borders of the UK.
The answer to that is seemingly, yes. Naturally, the show is performing the strongest in the United Kingdom but the show is also performing well in countries like the Nordics (which we know has strong alignment in viewing with the UK).
The show featured in the US TV top 10s before dropping out after only 8 days.
Heat map for Top Boy season 2 popularity on Netflix – Picture: FlixPatrol
We’ll be updating this stats section in mid-April 2022 to have a look at how the show has performed one month on.
IMDb’s MovieMeter paints a strong picture for the show’s return so far. The MovieMeter measures traffic to respective pages on its database. It’s managed to top the first season of Netflix being the ninth most popular title on the database between March 20th and March 27th.
IMDb Moviemeter Data for Top Boy – each dot represents a new season release.
How has the new season been received? Pretty well. The series is hitting some of its best review scores since releasing. Episode 7 in particular has risen to a 9.4 on IMDb being one of the best in the show’s history. We have read numerous complaints about pacing issues in this season, however. Some complains also state the show is juggling with too many plotlines.
Top Boy Season 2 Episode 8 – Picture: Netflix
What to expect from Top Boy season 3
As a quick recap, episode 8 labeled Prove Yourself saw Dushane having an ultimate change of heart, Jaq arranging a pivotal meeting with Curtis, the police hitting a bump in their investigation, and Jamie’s loyalty is put to the test.
A Reddit mega thread for the show reveals some of the series fans’ predictions for a new season:
- “obviously Jamie’s little brother is gonna go after Sully.”
- “My best guess is Sully will die next season. He fucked up Dushane’s retirement plan just like how Sully kept fucking up in the summerhouse series, Dushane would’ve killed him but they were boys. At this point, I feel like their relationship has deteriorated and there’s really nothing left but memories. So i’m looking forward to an internal war next season.”
- “It will be interesting to see what happens with Aaron now that he is the breadwinner, responsible for the guardianship of Stef.”
As for returning cast, DigitalSpy speculates that the following will be returning for a future season:
- Shelly played by Little Simz
- Jaq played by Jasmine Jobson
- Aaron played by Hope Ikpoku
- Stef played by Araloyin Oshunremi
- Lauryn played by Saffron Hocking
- Becks played by Adwoa Aboa
- Lizzie played by Lisa Dawson
- Ruben played by Theo Ogundipe
- Newbies Pebbles played by Erin Kellyman
- Vee played by Ava Brennan
Would you like to see Top Boy return for another season? Let us know in the comments down below.