Ra'Nell Smith was a school student who lived in the Summerhouse Estate in Hackney, London. He is the only son of Lisa and Wayne Smith, and was the best friend of Gem Mustapha.
Biography[]
Ra'Nell is an only child who lived with his mother Lisa Smith in the Summerhouse Estate in Hackney, London. Sometime in 2010, Ra'Nell stabbed his abusive father Wayne for attacking his mother who then became absent in their lives. Wayne's friend Leon began to look after Ra'Nell and later Lisa when she is admitted into a mental hospital in March of 2011. Ra'Nell was best friends with Gem Mustapha, whom he met in school.
Ra'Nell kept his distance from Dushane Hill and members of his Summerhouse gang, though Dushane respected him for trying to be a "good kid". Sometime between the first and second season, he began to take part in football trials. Ra'Nell is not seen again after the second season.
Season 1[]
Ra'Nell is first seen eating cereal watching out the window in his home at Summerhouse, he attends school with his friend Gem who is his best friend. As Ra'Nell goes home he realises his mother Lisa is at a mental hospital after a breakdown, luckily Lisa's ex husband's friend Leon is seen working in the same hospital which he then looks after Ra'nell until she gets back to normal,
Ra'Nell reconnects with Heather, a friend of Lisa's to help her with her cannabis business because she is heavily pregnant and doesn't want to go near the cannabis plants for fear of harming the baby's health.
Ra'Nell and Gem are offered to sell drugs for Dushane and Sully but as Leon looks over and tells Dushane and Sully to leave Ra'Nell alone which only Gem is recruited.
Ra'Nell starts a relationship with Precious and he confides to her that he stabbed his dad. She promises that she won't tell anyone about what happened. They come to find Gem when he is in trouble with the Summerhouse gang and Leon takes Ra'Nell, Precious and Gem round his flat and convinces them all that Dushane, Sully and the other gang members are not their friends and that they want people to think they are their friends to use them.
Ra'Nell has a chat with the Dushane about selling the Heather's weed to Dushane as Heather finds out, she encounters and tells Lisa that she had Ra'Nell to work for her weed business, Lisa calls Leon, as Ra'Nell gets the weed sorted to sell to Dushane he is robbed and ganged up by Sully and Dris. Leon comes in to save Ra'Nell but is shot by Sully. Ra'Nell is interviewed by the police but doesn't tell them anything.
Due to Ra'Nell being upset about what happened to Leon, Ra'Nell sees Dushane and tries to stab him. Ra'Nell is stopped by Lisa and Lisa tells Dushane to never go near Ra'Nell again. A day later Ra'Nell is stopped by Michael and gives Ra'Nell the money that Dushane wanted to give him for the cannabis. Ra'Nell visits Heather in hospital and gives her the money.
Season 2[]
Ra'Nell is now training for football and meanwhile his best friend is selling cannabis for Heather's old boss Vincent. With Gem in a lot of debt, Gem tries to go to Ra'Nell for help but he refuses and tells him he got himself in this mess. Ra'Nell visits his mum at work and he tells her about his football training.
Gem continues annoy Ra'Nell with his problems with Vincent, but Ra'Nell gets a refusal to the youth football team that he got scouted, Gem then tells him that he witnessed that he saw one of Vincent's associates get his arm chopped off which then angers Ra'Nell. Ra'Nell confronts Vincent and Vincent beats up Ra'Nell injuring him. Ra'Nell shows up at Lisa's salon covered in blood.
Lisa tries to get the police on to Vincent, Ra'Nell tells her not to due to it putting Gem in danger, Lisa then goes to Dushane for help to get revenge for Ra'Nell, however Gem's father kills Vincent by stabbing him in the leg and Dushane and Dris walk off letting him bleed to death.
Ra'Nell and Lisa lock up the salon and walk home together.
Kill count[]
Indirect[]
- Leon: Shot by Sully while Leon was defending Ra'Nell from being robbed by Sully and Dris. Ra'Nell didn't cooperate with the police. (12/3/2011)
- Vincent: Ra'Nell admitted to his mother Vincent attacked him. Lisa asks Dushane to confront Vincent, and tells Gem's father about Vincent's abuse towards Gem. Dushane and Dris fled the scene after Gem's father fatally stabs Vincent in the thigh. (23/9/2012)
Appearances[]
Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
Season 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
Season 3 | ||||||||||
Season 4 | ||||||||||
Season 5 |
Behind the scenes[]
- Ra'Nell served as the main protagonist alongside Dushane Hill in the first and second season of Top Boy. He is portrayed by Malcolm Kaulete. According to Ashley Walters, Malcolm Kaulete, was asked to join the Top Boy revival series but declined the offer as he wanted to focus on a football career.[1]
Facts[]
- Although Ra'Nell was a main character through the first and second season, he is never seen or mentioned in seasons 3, 4 or 5. It is unknown what happened to Ra'Nell.
- Ra'Nell's storyline is a bit similar to Ats's storyline as both want what is right for their mothers.
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ According to the Channel 4 website, Ra'Nell is 13-years-old in March 2011 and 15-years-old in September 2012.