Cameras are rolling in North Lanarkshire on ‘The Young Team‘, the BBC’s new six-part adaptation of Graeme Armstrong’s acclaimed novel, and the cast has now been unveiled. Alongside a line-up of rising Scottish talent are two very familiar faces, with Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy) and Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) joining the coming-of-age drama.
Set in Airdrie, the series follows 15-year-old Alan ‘Azzy’ Williams, a teenager desperate to earn his place in the local gang known as the Young Team Posse, or YTP. It’s a world of Friday nights, tonic wine, thumping techno and territorial rivalries, but Azzy’s determination to prove himself sets off a violent conflict that threatens to swallow him and his friends whole. So, not exactly a quiet Friday night in front of the telly.
Jakob James Smith (MobLand) leads the cast as Azzy, with Connor Newall (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Mint) playing Big Kenzie and Scot Greenan (Half Man, T2 Trainspotting) portraying Eck. They’re joined by a group of newcomers discovered through an open casting process across North Lanarkshire: Beinn Catchpole as Whytey, David Russell as Broonie, Mick Mack as Wee Kenzie, Caiden Henderson-Brown as Addison, Lewis Ray as Danny and Jack Mooney as Wee Toffey.
Together, they make up the YTP, the teenage gang at the heart of the story. More than 1,000 young people applied through the casting process, with the production placing particular emphasis on finding performers who could bring the language, energy and sense of place of Armstrong’s novel to the screen.
McKidd plays Mr McGiver, Azzy’s inspirational headteacher, while Fraser takes the role of Angela, his long-suffering mum. Both are important figures in Azzy’s life as he finds himself pulled further into a world of gang violence, addiction and increasingly dangerous choices.
Speaking about landing the lead role, Smith said: “I’m absolutely buzzing to be playing Azzy. He’s such a complex character and there’s so much in his story about friendship, belonging and trying to find your place. Getting to film in North Lanarkshire, where the story is rooted, makes it feel even more special. I can’t wait for people to meet Azzy and the rest of the Young Team.”
Although the premise involves rival gangs and violent confrontations, ‘The Young Team’ is also a story about friendship, identity and belonging. Armstrong’s award-winning debut novel, published in 2020, drew on his own experiences growing up in North Lanarkshire, and the adaptation aims to retain that authenticity rather than turning the setting into a generic television backdrop.
The six hour-long episodes are being produced by Glasgow-based Synchronicity Films, the company behind ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’, ‘Mayflies’ and ‘The Cry’. Armstrong has adapted his own novel for television, co-writing the series with Gillian Roger Park, who pens episodes two and four, and Robert Florence, who writes episode five.
Behind the camera is director Paul McGuigan, whose credits include ‘Sherlock’ and films Lucky Number Slevin and Gangster No. 1. He directs the first three episodes, with Andrew Cumming taking over for episodes four to six. For McGuigan, this is also something of a homecoming, marking his first time directing in Scotland in 30 years.
McGuigan said: “The Young Team has brought me back to direct in Scotland for the first time in 30 years and I can’t think of a more fitting way to mark my professional homecoming. It’s a privilege to work with our Young Team cast, an exciting new generation of working-class talent selected from an open audition process that saw over 1,000 young people apply. I cannot wait to see our Young Team characters come to life, as we bring Graeme’s iconic novel to the screen.”
The drama forms part of the BBC’s growing investment in Scottish-made television, alongside projects including ‘Counsels’, ‘Sutherland’ and ‘Half Man’. With filming taking place in the communities where the story is set, and a cast mixing established names with local discoveries, there’s a real opportunity here to deliver something that feels rooted in its own world rather than parachuted in from elsewhere.
‘The Young Team’ is being made for BBC One, BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer, in association with FOX Entertainment Global and with support from Screen Scotland. Further casting will be announced in due course.
‘The Young Team‘ will premiere on BBC One, BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer, with a date still to be announced.
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