Netflix Greenlights 'Jonny Boy': Barry Keoghan Returns to the Top Boy Universe in New Prequel Series
Netflix has ordered Jonny Boy, a five-episode prequel series set in the world of the British crime drama Top Boy, with Barry Keoghan reprising his role as the Irish drug partner Jonny McGee. The announcement came from Anne Mensah, Netflix's U.K. vice president of content, during her spotlight session at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday afternoon The Hollywood Reporter.
Keoghan, 33, will also executive produce the series through his production company Wolfcub. The character of Jonny McGee — an Irish drug partner to Kane Robinson's Sully — was introduced in the third and final season of Top Boy, which aired on Netflix in 2023. That season was written by Ronan Bennett, the creator of the entire Top Boy series, who is returning as creator-writer for the prequel The Hollywood Reporter.
Directing duties fall to Ali Abbasi, whose credits include The Apprentice and an episode of The Last of Us. Filming is set to begin in 2027 The Hollywood Reporter.
The executive producer roster is long. Alongside Keoghan, the list includes Des Byrne, Charles Steel, Alasdair Flind, Ronan Bennett, Aubrey Drake Graham (better known as the rapper Drake), Adel "Future" Nur, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, and Ali Abbasi. Drake executive produced the original Top Boy revival on Netflix as well, having played a pivotal role in bringing the show back after it was dropped by Channel 4 The Hollywood Reporter.
Top Boy has a history that spans more than a decade. The first two seasons aired on Channel 4 from 2011 to 2013 before the broadcaster dropped the show a year later. Netflix vowed to revive it in 2017 following interest from Drake, with original stars Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson reprising their roles as Dushane and Sully. The series ran for three more seasons on Netflix, set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in Hackney, east London. In 2024, Top Boy won the BAFTA TV Award for best drama The Hollywood Reporter.
Keoghan was not part of the original Top Boy cast. He and Brian Gleeson, who played the character Tadgh, joined for the final season Netflix. Their characters brought a new Irish storyline into the Summerhouse world, and Keoghan's Jonny McGee clearly left enough of an impression to carry a series of his own.
Cowboy Films, the production company behind Top Boy, is producing the prequel. No release date has been set, and with filming not starting until 2027, audiences will be waiting some time The Hollywood Reporter.
For fans of the Top Boy universe, the greenlight extends a story that has already survived one cancellation and crossed from a British broadcaster to a global streaming platform. The prequel format — a shorter, character-focused run — gives Netflix a way to revisit that world without a full-season commitment.
