Boiling Point: Everything we know about the new BBC series

Stephen Graham will be back on our screens tonight, Sunday 1 October, in an all new series based on the critically acclaimed film Boiling Point.

Philip Barantini’s Boiling Point was first released in 2021, and was met with huge critical acclaim with nominations worldwide for over 30 awards in multiple categories, including four Bafta nominations.

The film unfolds over the course of a single night in the bustling kitchen of a high-end London restaurant named “Rupert’s.” The restaurant is known for its exquisite cuisine, helmed by the head chef, Andy Jones (played by Stephen Graham). As the evening progresses, we witness the pressures and demands of a Michelin-starred kitchen at its peak during a busy Saturday night service.

Andy is a seasoned chef who is deeply committed to maintaining the restaurant’s reputation. However, he faces a barrage of challenges, including a shortage of staff, a demanding owner, a relentless food critic, and a host of personal issues that threaten to derail the evening. As the pressure mounts, Andy must find a way to keep his composure, balance his personal and professional life, and ensure the perfection of every dish that leaves his kitchen.

It vividly portrays the intense stress and pressure that chefs endure in high-end restaurants, highlighting the toll it takes on their mental and physical well-being.

Now it is coming back to our screens in an all new series, following on from the events of the movie.

Eight months after her mentor Andy Jones (Stephen Graham) suffered a heart attack, head chef Carly (Vinette Robinson) is battling to forge a name for new Dalston restaurant Point North alongside her old kitchen crew.

The series will follow the team as the stresses of keeping the restaurant running bear down on them amidst a hospitality industry in crisis. With the pressure to draw in new, hungry customers and the financial squeeze to keep the business profitable, the team must find a way to manage their complicated personal lives whilst creating quality food day in, day out.

Boiling Point was written and directed by Liverpool’s Philip Barantini, also known for his work on BBC’s The Responder.

Speaking with the BBC, Philip said:

“Myself, James, Bart, Hester, Stephen and Hannah, the whole gang started a conversation to see if there was any kind of possibility of taking this further. Then out of the blue I got a text from one of the BBC commissioners asking if we’d thought about turning Boiling Point into a TV series.

“It genuinely felt like they had spies in the room as the timing was incredible. The rest just came naturally because we’d already created these wonderful characters, along with wanting to add in a few new faces. 

“A series has given us more space to tell individual stories. When we were thinking about how to write the series we remembered those people who had approached myself and co-writer, James Cummings asking what happened with certain characters like Emily and Jamie and what had happened to Andy and all the other characters so we knew there was an appetite to explore the characters further.”

The series has numerous connections to Liverpool with local chefs and actors cast in the production.

Local chefs consulted on the show including Ellis Barrie, and La Bistroteca’s (Baltic Market) Livia Alarcon.

Philip added:

“When we made the feature, we didn’t have enough time for them to train as chefs, so they just had to move like chefs. With the TV series, we had a little bit more time so we had them work with Ellis Barrie, our chef consultant on the show. You can’t turn people into chefs overnight, so we have to make them look like they know what they’re doing.

“Ellis was by my side the whole time and we couldn’t have done it without him. He helped the cast technically so I could focus on the performance. He really helped them nail it, they all look amazing with what they doing. They look like professionals. It’s incredible.”

More local talent involved includes rising Liverpool star Shaun Fagan, and Ellis’ brother Conor Barrie will play a barman at the restaurant.

Philip continued:

“We’ve got a few new characters for the series including a wonderful actor from Liverpool called Shaun Fagan, who plays Bolton and we’ve got Stephen Odubola, who’s playing Johnny, a raw talent. American actor Steven Ogg joined us for two episodes which was fantastic as he was a huge fan of the film.

“We’ve got a wonderful non-binary actor called Missy Haysom, who we found on an open casting call for people who were working in hospitality that were interested in acting. Missy stood out and we wanted to make this character non-binary and they were so thankful that we were recognising that. r

“It felt right and was really emotional for us all. Ahmed Malek, who is a phenomenal Egyptian actor, plays Musa, one of our waiters. He auditioned for us and blew us away.”

The Boiling Point cast:

Vinette Robinson – Carly

Stephen Graham – Andy

Ray Panthaki – Freeman

Hannah Walters – Emily

Shaun Fagan – Bolton

Gary Lamont – Dean

Izuka Hoyle – Camille

Áine Rose Daly – Robyn

Stephen McMillan – Jamie

Daniel Larkai – Jake

Hannah Traylen – Holly

Stephen Odubola – Johnny Bale

Taz Skylar – Billy

Ahmed Malek – Musa

Joel MacCormack – Liam Astrid

Missy Haysom – Kit

Cathy Tyson – Vivian

Steven Ogg – Nick

The series reunites the film’s co-writer and director Philip Barantini, who will direct episodes one, two and five and co-writer James Cummings, alongside the film’s producers, Hester Ruoff and Bart Ruspoli who all serve as executive producers on the series with Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham.

Rebecca Ferguson is executive producer and commissioner for the BBC. Director, Mounia Akl joins the team to direct episodes three and four and Graham Drover is the series producer. Dan Cadan is the co-writer on episode two, Alex Tenenbaum and Nathaniel Stevens are the writers of episode three and Grace Ofori-Attah is the writer of episode five.

The production designer is Adam Tomlinson, director of photography is Matt Lewis, costume designer is Jessica Schofield and the hair and make-up designer is Sue Michael.

The five episode series will be available on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Boiling Point starts at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday, October 1. For more TV news click HERE.