Occasionally – not so often these days – a TV series properly hits home. It becomes a touchpoint, a cultural sign of the times, the sort of show that ends up on highlights of the decade or analysed in PhDs. Even more important: it’s loved. The characters exist in fans’ heads long after the show has ended.
Top Boy is one of those shows (so is Peaky Blinders, so is Sex Education); and it finished, after five series, in September (be warned: spoilers ahead!). So Jasmine Jobson, who from 2019 played Jaq, is, just for now, still defined by the series. For many, including me, Jaq – who ran the drugs scene when the big boys were away, who was tough and strategic and loyal – was the best character in the show, and Jobson gets stopped in the street all the time by fans. She doesn’t mind. “I absolutely adore Jaq, too,” she says. “It was so bittersweet to let her go.” She mostly drives when she has to get about in London now, though, just because it’s quicker: “Uber drivers want a photo,” she says.
