Published: 04:05 pm, 7 April 2026
The BBC has released the first trailer for Half Man, the original six-episode drama from the multi award-winning Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer, Against The Law). Episodes will be released weekly from April 24 at 6am on BBC iPlayer, with BBC One and BBC Scotland transmissions following within the week. The series is a co-production with HBO, which will air the series in the US, Latin America and Europe. Filming wrapped last year in and around Glasgow.
The new trailer offers a first glimpse at Gadd and BAFTA winning actor Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers, Rocketman) in their roles as Ruben and Niall respectively. 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…
Ruben (Richard Gadd) and Niall (Jamie Bell) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
Niall (Jamie Bell) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
Ruben (Richard Gadd) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
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 explores brotherhood, violence, and the intense fragility of male relationships. After all, when things fall apart… it is sometimes the closest relationships which break the hardest.
Mitchell Robertson (Niall) and Stuart Campbell (Ruben) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
Young Ruben (Stuart Campbell) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
Young Niall (Mitchell Robertson) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
The trailer also features Mitchell Robertson (Curfew, Mayflies) and Stuart Campbell (SAS Rogue Heroes, The Winter King), who play Niall (Robertson) and Ruben (Campbell) in their younger years. Neve McIntosh (Tin Star, Chemistry of Death) is seen in her role Niall’s mother Lori alongside Marianne McIvor (Screw, The Nest) who plays Ruben’s mother Maura.
Rounding out the cast for Half Man is Charlie De Melo (Rivals), Bilal Hasna (The Agency), Julie Cullen (Traces), Amy Manson (The Nevers), Anjli Mohindra (The Lazarus Project), Tim Downie (Outlander), Tom Andrews (Feel Good), Philippine Velge (The Serpent Queen), Stuart McQuarrie (The Rig), Sandy Batchelor (SAS Rogue Heroes) Piers Ewart (The Primrose Railway Children), Scot Greenan (T2 Trainspotting), and newcomers Charlotte Blackwood, Calum Manchip and Kate Robson-Stuart.
Young Niall (Mitchell Robertson) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
Young Ruben (Stuart Campbell) and Young Niall (Mitchell Robertson) (Image: BBC/Mam Tor Productions/Anne Binckebanck)
Half Man is created, written and executive produced by Richard Gadd. Sophie Gardiner and Anna O’Malley are the executive producers, alongside Gaynor Holmes for the BBC and Gavin Smith for BBC Scotland. The series is directed by Alexandra Brodski and Eshref Reybrouck. Executive Producers for Mam Tor Productions are Tally Garner and Morven Reid. Half Man is produced by Mam Tor Productions (a Banijay UK company) in association with Thistledown Pictures, for BBC iPlayer, BBC One, BBC Scotland and HBO. Banijay Rights handles international distribution outside of BBC and HBO rights. Half Man is supported by Screen Scotland.
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