Boiling Point TV series: how to watch, plot, cast and everything we know
The Boiling Point TV series has now come to an end.
When it was first released as a film in 2021, Boiling Point was met with huge critical acclaim and received a host of BAFTA nominations. That story ended in disaster for the restaurant's head chef, Andy Jones (Stephen Graham), when he collapsed on the floor after a suspected heart attack.
The four-part Boiling Point TV series picks up the story eight months later, with Andy recovering from heart surgery while his former sous chef Carly (Vinette Robinson) leads the old team at her own trendy restaurant, Point North.
“We are over the moon to get the band back together," said Boiling Point’s director Philip Barantini ahead of the show's release.
"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."
Dealing with various themes, including the stress of working in a top restaurant, balancing family life, influencer culture, self-harm, and substance abuse, the film was praised for its hard-hitting take on the hospitality world.
Here's everything you need to know about the Boiling Point TV series.
Boiling Point TV series release date
The Boiling Point TV series has now aired after originally premiering on BBC One on Sunday, October 1 at 9 pm.
If you need to catch up or you want to binge it in one sitting, you can find the entire series on BBC iPlayer.
As and when we hear about a US or international release date, we'll include it here.
Boiling Point TV series trailer
If you'd like a taste of the heat in this particular kitchen, you can check out the Boiling Point TV series trailer below:
Is the Boiling Point TV series shot in one-take?
The first episode of the Boiling Point TV series opened with an 11-minute one-take shot, as a tribute to the original film, yet most of the episodes are shot in a conventional fashion. Director Philip Barantini says the BBC asked him to film the series in four hour-long one-takes, but he suggested a different approach would allow for better exploration of the character's lives outside the kitchen.
"In order to tie in the film with the show we opened with a one-take and there are other long takes in the series," explains director, Philip Barantini. "But ultimately we wanted to explore these characters out of the kitchen and go home with them and follow other stories. If we’d followed them home one-take it would be an episode of them sitting on the tube!"
If you're looking for more info about how the series was brought to life, check out our article explaining where Boiling Point was filmed.
Boiling Point episode guide
Below, you can find the BBC's short synopsis for all four episodes of the series, along with links to our more detailed episode recaps for the Boiling Point TV series.
Boiling Point episode 1 recap: Potential investors in the dining room cause the kitchen to reach boiling point
Boiling Point episode 2 recap: New menu day at Point North puts undue pressure on the team
Boiling Point episode 3 recap: The pot washers find a risky way to earn some cash when their hours are cut
Boiling Point episode 4 recap: Point North hosts a wedding, and Carly receives big news about the restaurant's future
Boiling Point TV series plot
A BBC press release ahead of release confirmed the four-part drama picked up eight months after the end of the film, which followed Andy Jones, head chef at upmarket London restaurant, Jones & Sons.
Sous Chef Carly is now Head Chef at her own restaurant, Point North, with many of Andy’s original team alongside her, yet as the pressure mounts to keep the restaurant full, Carly begins to feel the magnitude of responsibility that comes with running her own place.
The new restaurant’s aim is to put a modern twist on traditional Northern food, yet keeping the business afloat during increasingly straightened times for the hospitality sector is no mean feat. However, Carly also has her elderly and frail mother Vivian (Vathy Tyson) to worry about.
"We 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."
Shot in one take, the original film followed a chaotic evening at the restaurant that saw a customer suffer a severe allergic reaction, staff clashing in the kitchen and one of Andy's old business partners demanding ￡200,000 he claims to be owed.
The film ends with Andy, who has been struggling with drug and alcohol issues, collapsing and his staff calling his name...
Boiling Point cast
For the series, Stephen Graham (The Walk-In, Time) returns as ex-chef Andy Jones. He's no longer working in the restaurant business and is recovering from heart surgery.
Vinette Robinson (Doctor Who, Sherlock) is also back as Carly, now Head Chef at Point North, with Graham's wife Hannah Walters (Time) returning as pastry chef, Emily.
They were joined by several other returning members of the film's cast, including Ray Panthaki (Marcella) reprising his role of Freeman, Gary Lamont (The North Water) back as Dean, áine Rose Daly (Hanna) returning as Robyn, Taz Skylar as Billy, Stephen McMillan as Jamie, Hannah Traylen as Holly and Izuka Hoyle as Camille.
We also welcomed a few new faces to the cast. They were: Stephen Odubola, Shaun Fagan, Joel MacCormack, and Ahmed Malek, while BAFTA award-winner Cathy Tyson (Mona Lisa, Help) on board as Carly’s mum, Vivian. Newcomer Missy Haysom also made their TV debut in the Boiling Point TV series as Kit, one of the front-of-house staff.
Stephen Graham on the Boiling Point TV series
In a BBC press release, the series' executive producers Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham said:
“We're beyond thrilled to be bringing Boiling Point the film to the small screen. The incredible reaction to the film, its story and specifically the characters along with the huge desire to know more and delve deeper into their worlds has led us to create a drama series with the BBC in which we will keep the audience gripped, intrigued and involved in each of the characters’ journeys.
"Although we have hung up our feature-length one-shot boots, our audiences can still be excited by extraordinarily lengthy shots and camera techniques that will complement the pure naturalism that was the essence and soul of the film.
“To be able to explore and go on a journey with our established and new characters will be a rollercoaster of feelings and emotions, but a rollercoaster you will want to keep getting back on. Our aim is to make powerful drama which reflects social realism, raising real-life issues which have an effect on each and every one of us."
Boiling Point writer James Cummings said: “When we made the Boiling Point feature film, there were so many ideas left on the whiteboard that it always felt like a possibility we would come back to this world. The response to our film has been incredible and hearing the way it has resonated with people in the hospitality industry has been nothing short of amazing.
"Restaurants are an intersection of different people from different backgrounds, all dealing with a variety of social issues - and I am so proud to be using our series as a vehicle to tell those stories with a cast of characters that we have already fallen in love with. Food will fly and tears will fall!”
Rebecca Ferguson, executive producer for the BBC, said: “Like many others, I was stunned by the absolute thrill ride that was Boiling Point. The opportunity to expand this break-out hit into five new unmissable episodes of television was too good to miss, and it’s an absolute pleasure to build on my existing relationship with Philip Barantini and work with this incredibly talented team of filmmakers to bring their vision to BBC One and iPlayer viewers.”
