Richard Gadd's 'Half-Man' Looks Violent & Heartwrenching
Richard Gadd's "Baby Reindeer" follow-up will explore a toxic, trauma-bonded friendship.
Richard Gadd became a sensation in the entertainment world thanks to Baby Reindeer, his Emmy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-winning limited series about a struggling comedian dealing with a female stalker. Uncomfortable, dark, and bleakly funny by turns, it was one of Netflix’s most unexpected hits when it launched back in 2024.
Now, Gadd is teaming up with the BBC and HBO to see if lightning can strike twice with Half Man, a six-part drama about an unconventional and clearly toxic friendship that has the potential to be every bit as controversial as his previous effort.
Its story follows the multi-decade relationship between Ruben (Gadd) and Niall (Jamie Bell), two friends whose volatile, decades-long bond has shaped much of their adult lives. An exploration of rage and dysfunctional manhood, their story picks up in the present day when Ruben turns up at Niall’s wedding three decades later, an act that necessitates a reckoning of all that has come before.
The series spans multiple decades, with Stuart Campbell (Baptiste) and Mitchell Robertson (Mayflies) playing the younger versions of Ruben and Niall, respectively.
Here is the series’ synopsis.
Niall and Ruben are brothers. Not related in blood but the closest you can get. One, fierce and loyal. The other, meek and mild-mannered. Inseparable youth. Brought into each other’s lives through death and circumstance, all they have is each other… But when Ruben turns up at Niall’s wedding three decades later, everything seems different. He is on edge. Shifty. Not acting like himself. And soon, an explosion of violence takes place which catapults us back through their lives, from the eighties to the present day.
Capturing 30 years in the lives of these broken men, Half Man is a six-part limited series exploring brotherhood, violence, and the intense fragility of male relationships. After all, when things fall apart… it is sometimes the closest relationships that break the hardest.
Alongside Bell, Gadd, Campbell, and Robertson, the cast also includes PBS regulars Neve McIntosh (All Creatures Great & Small), Tim Downie (Miss Scarlet), and Stuart McQuarrie (Elizabeth is Missing).
The series ensemble also features Marianne McIvor (Lady Chatterley’s Lover), Bilal Hasna (The Agency), Julie Cullen (Traces), Amy Manson (The Diplomat), Anjli Mohindra (Get Millie Black), Tom Andrews (This England), Philippine Velge (The Serpent Queen), and Sandy Batchelor (The Capture). Supporting cast includes Scot Greenan (Mary Queen of Scots), Piers Ewart (The Primrose Railway Children), Charlie De Melo (Coronation Street), and newcomers Charlotte Blackwood, Calum Manchip, and Kate Robson-Stuart.
The series is created and written by Gadd, with Alexandra Brodski (Rivals) and Eshref Reybrouck (This City is Ours) splitting directing duties. Gadd is also an executive producer alongside Sophie Gardiner and Anna O’Malley, as well as Gaynor Holmes for the BBC and Gavin Smith for BBC Scotland. The series is produced by Mam Tor Productions (a Banijay UK company) in association with Thistledown Pictures, for BBC iPlayer, BBC One, BBC Scotland, and HBO.
Half Man will premiere on Thursday, April 23, on HBO Max, with new episodes streaming weekly through May 28, 2026.
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