15 Best British TV Shows Of The Decade

The UK is hardly synonymous with the gangster drama. There are outliers, of course, but as a genre, it’s generally best left to the Americans. This all changed when Channel 4 debuted Top Boy, a gritty and gripping tale of drug dealers trying to get by on an East London estate. With a cast made up principally of rappers, this could easily have been a role playing fantasy, but instead it is a meditative and thoughtful exploration of the lengths people will go to when times are tough.

Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson (aliases Asher D and Kano) star as Dushane and Sully, partners in crime who are looking to rise up from their small time corner and make some serious money in the drug game. Theirs is a cold world, where life is cheap and the strong take whatever they want from the weak. Both are known for their music but have a background in acting, and (Robinson especially) do a superb job with complex roles. Top Boy never judges its characters, but neither does it shy away from the fact that both leads are capable of terrible acts.

Its Netflix revival (courtesy of superfan Drake) expanded the show’s horizons six years after its initial run. The addition of Michael Ward, superb as rival dealer Jamie, took Top Boy to new heights in terms of its scope. While it does take obvious influence from The Wire, this is a truly British show, with all the glamour - or lack thereof - that this entails. Last we see of the series, Dushane is firmly on top, but in this world, that’s a pretty precarious place to be.