THE popular Netflix series Top Boy has been criticised for its violent content and stereotypical portrayal of blacks in London.

This critique has been shot down by Jamaican-born actor Micheal Ward, who starred as Jamie in season two and three of the series.

According to Ward — who is currently in Jamaica, his first trip since he left the island 20 years ago as a four-year-old — while the content may not suit the tastes of some, it is the portrayal of the story of many lives in these communities across the UK and other places in the world.

“I just feel like, in terms of all of that, we are telling stories. If people are watching it, it doesn’t mean that they like it but they are aware of it and it is causing a conversation. If a conversation is getting started, it is a good thing and it means that something can be done. The fact that it is being mentioned means that there is a problem and something needs to be done to solve that problem. If art is causing those conversations, then it’s always going to be a positive thing.

“In terms of Top Boy, especially the seasons that I was involved in, it was never about glorifying those things — it was always showing the impact of what happens in these situations, which the earlier seasons couldn’t do because they had less episodes so you couldn’t flesh out the stories. The more recent seasons had a lot more time to break down those stories and show you the real effects of what happens when people do get involved in that lifestyle and do get involved in gang culture, so it’s also about the system failing us as black people, and people in general. Moving forward, a lot more stories will be told in different ways, and that’s what I want to be a part of,” Ward, 24, told the Jamaica Observer.

Top Boy is a British television crime drama series. Created and written by Ronan Bennett, the series is set on a fictional summerhouse estate in the London borough of Hackney. The first series was broadcast on Channel 4 over four consecutive nights in late 2011. A second series began airing on Channel 4 in August 2013. Although storylines for a third series were proposed, the series was dropped by Channel 4 in 2014. Following interest from Canadian rapper Drake, it was announced in November 2017 that Netflix would revive the series and order a new season of 10 episodes. Another season comprising eight episodes was released in March of this year.

Ward — who was born on St John’s Road, Spanish Town — has been chalking up a steady stream of awards in the UK. In 2020 he won an EE Rising Star Award at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA) for his performance in Blue Story.

Regarding the death of his character in Top Boy, Ward explained that it was a decision taken by the writing team, but he is not disappointed.

“I’m not the writer so I can’t speak on that too much, but in terms of the message I think it was important. You have someone that is young, got a lot of promise that a lot of people love, and that’s pretty much the youth of today. So many young people are dying and, for me, Jamie represented that to a T so it just needed to happen. At first I was upset about it but now I have more opportunity to do other things — while the Top Boy folks do what they do and represent us at the highest level,” said Ward.