First look at Boiling Point TV series starring Stephen Graham

Ready for your first look at the new four-part series?

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Thursday, 29 June 2023 at 12:00 am

We finally have our first look at anticipated BBC series Boiling Point, which follows on from the multi award-winning and talked-about film of the same name.

It’s been a number of months since casting details were first announced for the series and now, with the help of three brand new first look images, we can finally start to get a sense of the drama to come.

In the new series, we follow new head chef Carly as she navigates being at the helm of a new restaurant. Reprising her role as Carly is Vinette Robinson, and in one of the images, we see her smiling at her chefs – could Carly be creating a calmer and less hectic working environment than her mentor Andy?

"Vinette
Carly (Vinette Robinson) in Boiling Point.
BBC/Boiling Point TV Limited,Kevin Baker

According to the synopsis for the Boiling Point series: “Eight months after her mentor Andy Jones (Stephen Graham) suffered a heart attack, head chef Carly is battling to forge a name for new Dalston restaurant Point North alongside her old kitchen crew.

“We follow the team as the stresses of keeping the restaurant running bear down on them amidst a hospitality industry in crisis. With the pressure to draw in new, hungry customers and the financial squeeze to keep the business profitable, the team must find a way to manage their complicated personal lives whilst creating quality food day in, day out.”

In another of the newly released images, we spy the new team of chefs, which sees the return of Hannah Walters as Emily as well as Daniel Larkai as Jake, Stephen McMillan as Jamie and Taz Skylar as Billy.

We also get our first glimpse of newcomers Ahmed Malek (The Swimmers) and Shaun Fagan (Kate & Jake) as Musa and Bolton respectively.

"Boiling
Musa (Ahmed Malek), Jake (Daniel Larkai), Jamie (Stephen McMillan), Emily (Hannah Walters), Billy (Taz Skylar), Bolton (Shaun Fagan)
BBC/Boiling Point TV Limited,Kevin Baker

It seems to be all smiles (so far) for the chefs, which is a welcome sign after the dramatic ending of the original 2021 film. But the same cannot be said for Stephen Graham’s character, Andy Jones, who looks sullen in his first look image, grasping a beer can while sitting on the sofa in his dressing gown.

Will we see Andy strike a new low as he seemingly turns to alcohol once again, or will the series chronicle his return to work? While we don’t know yet, we can only hope that the previously overworked chef is just taking some time out of the kitchen for now.

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The series will air later this year on BBC One and iPlayer, so it’s safe to say that excitement for the series is building, especially since the film was a standout success, being nominated worldwide for over 30 awards in multiple categories.

While we don’t have an exact release date for the series just yet, we do know that the series will explore more of Carly and her team’s personal journeys. Previously speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com, Robinson said that the new series will “concentrate on Carly’s emotional journey and the psyche of the character”.

She said: “It’s amazing to be able to flesh it out. You do all your work, your backstory and all of that for a film and you only see a little bit of it. But with this, we’re able to expand it more.

“One of the things that people said about the film was that all the characters or the little vignettes that you had, the windows into those characters, you wanted to know more. So we get the opportunity to do that with a TV series.”

The four-part Boiling Point series is written and executive produced by James Cummings, who wrote the film. It is being directed and executive produced by Philip Barantini (Malpractice) who is at the helm of the first two episodes, while Mounia Akl (Costa Brava, Lebanon) directs episodes three and four.