The outside world is a loathsome place, where monsters stalk the Earth in search of souls to feast on.

At least, that’s Danny’s understanding of it, as informed by his father Steve. And so, for 18 years, the pair have remained locked inside their house, whiling away the hours listening to records and watching old movies.

Watch the trailer here

But a sudden change in circumstance sees their constructed reality fall apart, and Danny is forced to face the real world in all its strangeness – and without the tools and life skills we take for granted.

Shocking, stylised and thought-provoking, it’s no wonder it’s crafted by the same genius minds behind the genre-defying The End Of The F***ing World. 

But who exactly is Somewhere Boy? What happened to him? And who’s helping him along the way? Read on to find out more, then scroll down for more great Channel 4 dramas you might have missed. 

What’s the story?

Having lived his entire life in isolation, 18-year-old Danny is shocked to discover that the outside world isn’t, in fact, filled with murderous, hungry monsters as he was led to believe.

In reality, his father Steve hid himself and Danny from the world following the untimely death of Danny’s mother. Consumed by grief, Steve endeavoured to keep him safe by whatever means necessary. But with the blinding truth now out in the open, can Danny learn to navigate life and all its challenges, or will the world prove too harsh a place for such a soul?

Who is Somewhere Boy?

Actor Lewis Gribben (T2: Trainspotting) stars as the adult version of Danny. The dark drama is his first lead role, and its a role he clearly relished, telling The Guardian “I wanted to go darker”.

Indeed, those looking for the hilarious highs of The End Of The F***ing World will be left wanting, as Somewhere Boy isn’t a comedy drama by any means.

“You’ve got monsters. You’ve got child abandonment, you’ve got a loner trying to become friends with people, but not knowing how,” explains Gribben.

Who else is in the cast?

Once the walls around Danny’s life come down, he’s sent to live with his aunt Sue (Lisa McGrillis, Mum) and cousin Aaron (Samuel Bottomley, Wolf Hall). 

Socially awkward, shy and a bit strange, Aaron’s a perfect match for Danny in terms of friendship – on paper. Where teenage Danny grew up watching pornography, Danny was brought up on a diet of gentle black-and-white movies. But as their relationship develops, it turns out they might need each other more than they expected after all.

Rory Keenan (Peaky Blinders) plays Danny’s grief-stricken dad, while Johann Myers (State Of Play), Jamie Michie (Shetland) and Eva Pope (Waterloo Road) round out the rest of the cast.

Who wrote it?

Somewhere Boy is writer Pete Jackson’s first TV show, having cut his teeth in radio with Radio 4’s widely lauded comedy drama Love In Recovery. But it seems he struck gold at the first try as the new series won the audience award at the prestigious Series Mania television festival in France earlier this year. 

On the show’s theme, Jackson told The Guardian, “My dad used to have this old Technics MK1 record player that was pride of place in the living room where I grew up. Me and him used to sit and listen to records together. Then recently, I thought I’d dig it out of his garage, so me and my son could sit together and listen to the same records on the same record player.

“It brought me back to that time. How fleeting these innocent, safe moments in childhood are. How fearful we are of them ending – and what we might do to extend them.”

Before Somewhere Boy airs on Sunday 16 October on Channel 4 HD (CH 104/141), read on to discover more fantastic Channel 4 dramas you might have missed, and where to watch them...  

The End Of The F***ing World

Find series 1 & 2 in Apps & Games > All 4

Created by the same company that produced Somewhere Boy, TEOTFW is a similarly disquieting and quirky drama.

Following the uneasy relationship between 17-year-old possible psychopath James (Alex Lawther, The Imitation Game) and angst-ridden Alyssa (Jessica Barden, Penny Dreadful), it’s as hilarious as it is unsettling.

Read our interview with the cast here

The Undeclared War

Find it in Apps & Games > All 4

Thrilling and timely cybersecurity drama The Undeclared War sees Government Communications Headquarters intern Saara Parvin (Hannah Khalique-Brown, Doctors) thrust into an operations maelstrom following a devastating cyberattack in the lead-up to a general election.

Under the leadership of head of operations, Danny Patrick (Simon Pegg), Saara is tasked with helping de-escalate the situation. She’s got the skills needed to uncover what others can’t see, but beneath the surface a moral conflict regarding the surveilling nature of the job is brewing…

Screw

Find it in Apps & Games > All 4

Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls) stars in six-part comedy drama Screw. Set inside a men’s prison, boisterous prison officer Rose (O’Donnell) contends with the harsh – and occasionally hopeful – reality of prison life while attempting to fit in with her fellow colleagues.

His Dark Materials’ Nina Sosanya also stars as Rose’s boss, Leigh.

Before We Die

Find it in Apps & Games > All 4

Two diametrically opposed families become uncomfortably connected when a detective’s son (Patrick Gibson, The OA) is drawn into the criminal Mimica family.

As Hannah (Lesley Sharp) investigates the disappearance of her lover Sean, together with fellow officer Billy (Vincent Regan), the time needed to pull her son back from the brink is running out. Can she find Sean and save her family before it’s too late?

Before We Die is based on a hit Swedish series of the same name, which is also available in Apps & Games > All 4.

Deceit

Find it in Apps & Games > All 4

In the early 1990s, Rachel Nickell was murdered in front of her two-year-old son. To catch the man the police supposed was the killer, they authorised Operation Edzell, a “honey trap” with an undercover female officer faking a relationship with the suspect for months in a bid to find the truth.

Told from the perspective of the undercover officer, played by The Virtues’ Niamh Algar, Deceit deals with the brutal human cost of the case and the long-lasting impact these extreme measured had on all involved.

Read our interview with Niamh Algar here

I Am...

Find it in Apps & Games > All4

Dramas don’t come much more immersive than this anthology series from writer/director Dominic Savage. With tight camerawork and free-flowing dialogue, I Am… feels less like a drama and more like a piece of live theatre.

Focusing on issues faced by women today, each episode is co-created and co-scripted by the lead actors, lending an intriguing layer of authenticity to their performances.

Read our interview with I Am…’s Gemma Chan

When is Channel 4’s Somewhere Boy on TV?

Somewhere Boy air daily in a double-bill from 10pm on Sunday 16 October on Channel 4 HD (CH 104/141). All double-bills start at 10pm, with the exception of Tuesday 18 October, when the double-bill begins at 10.15pm. All eight episodes will also be available in Apps & Games > All 4 from Sunday 16 October.