News

‘Half Man’ soundtrack: the full tracklist for Richard Gadd's new dark drama

The new BBC miniseries from the star of ‘Baby Reindeer’ offers tunes from The Cure, New Order and Kylie

Shaurya Thapa
Written by
Shaurya Thapa
Film writer
Entrevista a Richard Gadd
Cortesía | Richard Gadd en Half Man
Advertising

After breaking out with the Emmy-winning Netflix miniseries Baby Reindeer, Scottish actor-comedian-writer Richard Gadd is back on our screens with yet another moodily dark and occasionally tender exploration of masculinity. Created by and starring Gadd, Half Man explores the turbulent relationship between two brothers not related by blood but rather a blood-soaked past. Gadd plays the buffed-up, tattooed troublemaker Ruben Pallister, while Jamie Bell stars as Niall Kennedy, Ruben's mild-mannered ‘brother from another lover’. 

While Baby Reindeer was soundtracked to melancholic classics like 'Happy Together' and 'Smalltown Boy', Half Man also offers a blend of moody musical numbers from 80s groups like Simple Minds, The Cure and New Order. The soundtrack also offers a dash of classical music with a Bach composition. Elsewhere, Kylie Minogue's disco anthem 'All the Lovers' sets the mood, while Normal People fans would be delighted to also hear Yazoo's ambient track 'Only You' in one of the six episodes. 

Here's your guide to the entire tracklist of the BBC/HBO miniseries. 

half-man
HBO Max

What's on the Half Man soundtrack? 

Episode 1

Clevor Trever - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Episode 2 

Cello Suite No.6 in D Major - Alexander Rudin (Bach)

Inbetween Days - The Cure

Love Song - Simple Minds

No More Heroes - The Stranglers

Quiet Life - Japan

Don’t Leave Me This Way - The Communards

Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins

Take Me I'm Yours - Squeeze

Blue Monday - New Order

Age of Consent - New Order

Why - Bronski Beat

Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins

Rat Trap - The Boomtown Rats

Torch - Soft Cell

The Order of Death - Public Image Ltd.

Only You - Yazoo

Episode 3 

Come Home - James

The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen

The Last Rose of Summer - Renée Fleming

Episode 4

The Saddest Sound - Devastations

Episode 5 

All the Lovers - Kylie Minogue

When I'm Small - Phantogram

Sister Europe - The Psychedelic Furs

Episode 6 

Danny Boy - Shane MacGowan and the Popes

Who stars in Half Man? 

Richard Gadd leads the cast as the titular 'half man', this being his first high-profile project since his acclaimed turn in Netflix's Baby Reindeer. Billy Elliot and Tintin actor Jamie Bell joins the cast as Gadd's co-lead. Stuart Campbell (Rogue Heroes) and Mitchell Robertson (A Very British Scandal) play the younger versions of Gadd and Bell's characters respectively. The rest of the cast includes Bilal Hasna (Extraordinary), Neve McIntosh (Doctor Who), Charlie De Melo (Coronation Street), and Stuart McQuarrie (28 Days Later). 

Where can I watch Half Man? 

The miniseries premiered its first episode on April 23, with the other five episodes rolling out every Thursday. The series is available to watch on HBO Max in the US and BBC iPlayer in the UK. 

The best TV and streaming shows of 2026 (so far).

Baby Reindeer locations guide: the London spots behind Richard Gadd’s dark stalker comedy.

Latest news
    Advertising