The Ashley Walters-starring crime drama Top Boy has seen quite a few changes in its decade on our screens.
While new episodes will drop this Friday on Netflix, the show originally began life on Channel 4 back in 2011. After two seasons it was cancelled in 2014, only to be saved by celebrity super-fan Drake.
Now the show’s fourth season is about to drop on the streamer, with RadioTimes.com calling it the “most ambitious season yet” in our Top Boy season 4 review.
Given all this change and upheaval, the show has also had a number of different filming locations over the years, with different estates and London boroughs doubling for its Hackney setting.
Read on for everything you need to know about where Top Boy was filmed.
Where is Top Boy set? Is the Summerhouse Estate real?
!["Top]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/03/TB_401_Unit_00733_RT-36acf49.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Top")
Top Boy is primarily set on the fictional Summerhouse Estate in Hackney, north east London. In fact, the estate is of such importance to the series’ identity that the original two series which aired on Channel 4 have been rebranded on Netflix as Top Boy: Summerhouse.
However, the series has also had a number of other settings throughout its run, from different locations in and around London, to further afield in the UK, and even to Jamaica, Morocco and Spain.
Where is Top Boy filmed?
!["Samuda]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/03/GettyImages-144842100-7f96d2f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Samuda")
The Summerhouse Estate has had multiple stand-ins over the years. When the series was on Channel 4, exterior scenes in and around the estate were primarily shot on the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle, London.
However, the estate was demolished in 2014, meaning that when the show returned in 2019 it needed a new home. Since then, exterior scenes have been shot on the Samuda Estate (above), which can be found on the Isle of Dogs. Even some of the interiors, such as the characters bedrooms were filmed on the estate, with locals offering up their flats for the shoot.
Similar scenes have been shot on the De Beauvoir estate in Hackney (reportedly the basis for Summerhouse) while locations in Haggerston, Dalston and Newham have also been used, adding to the series’ well-established authenticity by using recognisable East London locations.
Other London settings seen throughout the series include Walworth Academy in Southwark, which was used for the show’s school scenes, and Whipps Cross hospital in Leytonstone. It’s likely that these could have been used again for filming in season 4.
In the past filming locations further afield in the UK have included Margate and Ramsgate in Thanet, Kent, which Kane Robinson’s Sully visited for a two-episode arc in season 3.
Season 3 also saw some of the cast and crew travel to Jamaica, where Ashley Walters’ Dushane was hiding out. They filmed a behind-the-scenes look at the shoot which you can watch below.
Behind the scenes: Filming on location in Kingston, Jamaica with @micorazonfilms and @AshleyWalters82 pic.twitter.com/AKTGvJ6DVh
— Top Boy (@topboynetflix) September 28, 2019
In the upcoming fourth season the series has gone even more global, with locations including Morocco and Spain used to show the full breadth of the drug trade.
The official tagline for the season says “This time it’s bigger than just Summerhouse. Loyalty before everything.”
!["Top]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/03/TopBoy_Season2_Episode5_00_02_20_00-74820fd.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C310" "\"Top")
There are sure to be plenty of other locations both in and outside of London used throughout season 4, and as the scope for the series continues to expand, who knows where Netflix’s acclaimed series could go next.
Top Boy debuts new episodes on Netflix on Friday, 18th March – check out our guide to the best series on Netflix, or find something to watch with our TV Guide. Visit our Drama hub for more news, interviews and features.
The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.