BBC, HBO Max partner for Richard Gadd’s Half Man

FIRST LOOK: Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell play brothers in Half Man, Gadd’s follow-up to Baby Reindeer that is coming to the BBC and HBO Max in 2026.

Filming recently wrapped in and around Glasgow on the six-part drama, in which Gadd and Bell play Ruben and Niall. After a surprise reunion after years of estrangement, their meeting leads to an explosion of violence that catapults us back through their lives over the course of the series.

Spanning almost 40 years from the 1980s to the present day, Mitchell Robertson and Stuart Campbell play Niall and Ruben in their younger years.

The series explores the highs and lows of Ruben and Niall’s relationship, from meeting them as troubled teenagers to witnessing their falling out as adults – with all the good, bad, terrible, funny, angry, and challenging moments along the way. The series will capture the wild energy of a changing city – a changing world, even – and plumb the depths of what it means to be a man.

The cast also features Neve McIntosh as Niall’s mother Lori, and Marianne McIvor as Ruben’s mother Maura, with Charlie De Melo, Bilal Hasna, Julie Cullen, Amy Manson, Philippine Velge, Stuart McQuarrie, Piers Ewart, Scot Greenan and newcomers Charlotte Blackwood and Calum Manchip.

Half Man is created, written and executive produced by Gadd, and directed by Alexandra Brodski (Somewhere Boy, Rivals) and Eshref Reybrouck (Ferry: The Series, Cheyenne & Lola).

The series is made by Mam Tor Productions for the BBC, BBC Scotland and HBO. Banijay Rights handles international distribution outside of BBC and HBO.

Half Man will air in 2026 on BBC iPlayer, BBC One and BBC Scotland in the UK & Ireland, and on HBO Max in the US, Latin America and Europe.

tagged in: Banijay Rights, BBC iPlayer, BBC One, Half Man, HBO Max, Jamie Bell, Mam Tor Productions, Richard Gadd