Boarders

Boarders is a British teen comedy-drama television series created by Daniel Lawrence Taylor, centred around the lives of five young Black teens who earn scholarships into the prestigious boarding school of St. Gilbert's. The series is developed by Studio Lambert in association with All3Media International for BBC Three. The first series premiered on 20 February 2024. The second series was released on 3 February 2025.

Boarders
Genre	Teen drama Comedy-drama
Created by	Daniel Lawrence Taylor
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producers	Daniel Lawrence Taylor Susan Hogg Maddie Sinclair Ayela Butt Nawfal Faizullah
Production companies	Studio Lambert All3Media International
Original release
Network	BBC Three
Release	20 February 2024 (2024-02-20) – present

Cast

Main

• Josh Tedeku as Jaheim Marsham
• Jodie Campbell as Leah Dulverton
• Myles Kamwendo as Omar Palmer-Grace
• Aruna Jalloh as Femi Adebayo
• Sekou Diaby as Toby Staithes

Supporting

• Daniel Lawrence Taylor as Gus
• Derek Riddell as Bernard
• Harry Gilby as Rupert
• Tallulah Greive as Beatrix
• Rosie Graham as Florence
• Georgina Sadler as Mabel
• Assa Kanoute as Abby
• Archie Fisher as Cheddar
• Zheng Xi Yong as Xiang
• Kendra Brown as Devon'ye (season 2)

Recurring

• Niky Wardley as Carol Watlington-Geese
• Nimisha Odedra as Preeya
• Sarah Daykin as Chelsea
• Ruxandra Porojnicu as Yelena
• Yuriri Naka as Ms Kaneko
• Maxim Ays as Felix
• Dillon Mitra as Dilton
• Wunmi Mosaku as Grace (season 2)

Guest

• Natalie Cassidy as Sharon Hail
• Alan Cumming as Alan
• Unknown T as himself

Production

Development

In August 2022, it was announced BBC Three had commissioned a six-part series titled Boarders from Daniel Lawrence Taylor and Studio Lambert. In addition to Lawrence Taylor, the series would be executive produced by Susan Hogg and Maddie Sinclair for Studio Lambert, and Ayela Butt and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC. Joining him in the writers room were Emma Dennis-Edwards, Yemi Oyefuwa, and Ryan Calais Cameron.^[1] Lawrence Taylor has said that,^[2] while fictional, the series was inspired by a real-life article about underprivileged black teens on a scholarship scheme, and influenced by his own experience at a "predominately white and middle class" university.

A second series was announced on 4 June 2024 via the BBC's official media channels. It was confirmed the main cast would reprise their roles.^[3] In July 2024, Tubi officially boarded the project as a co-producer for its second series due to the "incredible response" to series 1.^[4]

In February 2025, Lawrence Taylor confirmed writing for series 3 was underway.^[5]

Casting

In July 2023, it was announced Josh Tedeku, Jodie Campbell, and Myles Kamwendo would star in the series alongside Sekou Diaby and Aruna Jalloh. Creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor would appear in the series as a mentor. Also joining the cast were Derek Riddell, Niky Wardley, Harry Gilby, Tallulah Greive, Rosie Graham, Georgina Sadler, and Assa Kanoute.^[6]

In October 2024, the BBC and Tubi announced Wunmi Mosaku had joined the cast of Boarders for its second series, as well as Cara Theobold, Michael Salami, and Kendra Brown.^[7][8] In January 2025, it was revealed Alan Cumming and Natalie Cassidy would make guest appearances in the forthcoming series.^[9]

Filming

Clifton College

Principal photography took place in Bristol. Clifton College served as the fictional St Gilbert's in the series. Other filming locations included Ashton Court and Redcliffe.^[10]

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	6		20 February 2024 (2024-02-20)	19 March 2024 (2024-03-19)
2	6		3 February 2025 (2025-02-03)	17 February 2025 (2025-02-17)

Season 1 (2024)

No.	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	Ethosheia Hylton	Daniel Lawrence Taylor	20 February 2024 (2024-02-20)[11]
2	Ethosheia Hylton	Daniel Lawrence Taylor	27 February 2024 (2024-02-27)
3	Ethosheia Hylton	Emma Dennis-Edwards	5 March 2024 (2024-03-05)
4	Sarmad Masud	Ryan Calais Cameron	12 March 2024 (2024-03-12)
5	Sarmad Masud	Yemi Oyefuwa	19 March 2024 (2024-03-19)
6	Sarmad Masud	Daniel Lawrence Taylor	19 March 2024 (2024-03-19)

Season 2 (2025)

No.	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	Joelle Mae David	Daniel Lawrence Taylor	3 February 2025 (2025-02-03)
2	Joelle Mae David	Yemi Oyefuwa	3 February 2025 (2025-02-03)
3	Joelle Mae David	Daniel Lawrence Taylor, Jeffrey Aidoo	10 February 2025 (2025-02-10)
4	Sarmad Masud	Daniel Lawrence Taylor, Racheal Ofori	10 February 2025 (2025-02-10)
5	Sarmad Masud	Daniel Lawrence Taylor, Yemi Oyefuwa	17 February 2025 (2025-02-17)
6	Sarmad Masud	Daniel Lawrence Taylor	17 February 2025 (2025-02-17)

Reception

The first series of Boarders received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100% based on 8 reviews.^[12] Leila Latif of The Guardian gave Boarders four out of five stars and called it "packed with future megastars" in line with the Skins ensemble, singling out Campbell, Diaby, Tedeku, and Kanoute's performances in particular.^[13] Louisa Mellor for Den of Geek recommended the series to Sex Education fans.^[14] The Daily Telegraph's Poppie Platt also gave the series four stars, calling it "razor-sharp".^[15] Morgan Cormack of Radio Times commended how Boarders balances serious, heavy topics and moments of learning with comedy and fun.^[16]