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Grant is a character in both the original British version and Prime Video remake of Utopia. In both versions, he is a young boy who has had a tough life and becomes embroiled in a conspiracy related to the manuscript of an unusual comic. On the Channel 4 version, he is portrayed by Oliver Wollford. Javon Walton, credited as Javon "Wanna" Walton, assumes the role in the Prime Video version.

Utopia (UK)[]

"Yeah, I've got ambitions."

Troubled and practically feral Grant Leetham has built up a wall of bravado while his mother, on the other hand, can't cope and has succumbed to the numbness of booze. Grant pretends online to be a city trader who drives a Porsche and shags supermodels, but he is actually just eleven years old. Grant plays as a supporting but important character in the series for he protected the manuscript despite of being in hard circumstances.


Gallery[]

Utopia (US)[]

Known in this series as Grant Bishop, he has constructed a false identity to impress his online friends.[1] An 11-year-old boy, he thinks that he can outfox anyone.[2] After he claims the Utopia manuscript, he is framed for mass-murder by The Harvest in order to try to track him down. He is part of a group of online friends which also include Ian Ackerman, Samantha J., Becky Todd and Wilson Wilson, who have set up a discussion board about Dystopia. He has conned them into believing that he is a photographer to the stars, drives a Porsche and, perhaps most impressively, that he is an adult like them.

Claiming the manuscript[]

Grant and Alice at Dinner

Grant and Alice having dinner

Along with the other members of the online group, Grant receives a message from Samantha that the manuscript of Utopia, the conclusion for Dystopia, is going up for auction at Fringecon. He manages to make his way there, but upon arriving at the private room that Ethan Lander and Olivia set up to sell it he discovers that it has already been sold to a man named Phillip Carson. Playing the role of a sulky kid, he manages to convince Olivia to tell him where Carson is staying: the hotels' penthouse.

Using a hastily scrolled nametag identifying himself as "Grant Carson," Grant manages to con an unwary hotel receptionist into giving him a badge granting him admittance to the penthouse. Upon arrival, he finds it empty of people and after playing around for a bit, starts searching for the Utopia manuscript, quickly stumbling upon it. Not long after, Carson enters along with a girl he's hooked up with and Grant is forced to hide. Then, two men named Arby and Rod arrive, pull a gun and demand to know from Carson where Utopia is. As they interrogate him, Grant takes his chance to slip away and although Arby and Rod pursue, they are too late and Grant manages to escape.

Grant steals some blueberries from a home garden, but is caught by a girl named Alice. He tries to flee from her, but in the process loses some of the pages of Utopia and demands that she give them back. She is upset about him stealing her blueberries, but eventually has pity on him, realizing he's just hungry, and invites him inside for a meal. Inside, Alice's mother Kim serves them both a hearty meal. She tries to ask some questions about Grant's history, but when she asks if he's in the system, he starts to get up from the table, ready to bolt. She stops him, telling him that there's nothing wrong with being in the system if it works for you, and nothing wrong with getting out of it if it doesn't. She offers to allow Grant to stay for as long as he needs to.

Meeting the group[]

Grant vs Jessica

Grant faces off against Jessica Hyde

The next morning, Grant is invited to come to school with Alice. He rejects the offer, saying that he has to meet with some friends, and asks Kim why she's being so nice. Kim quotes Nelson Mandela, saying that people claim to care about children, but don't usually spend much time actually caring for them. After the two of them leave, Grant mocks Kim's words and steals Alice's laptop before leaving. However, before exiting the house, he discovers a bag of food left behind for him, including some of the blueberries for the garden. Feeling guilty, he returns the laptop.

He sends a message through the online group, saying that he can be found at "Mr. Rabbit's Hideout", a clue intended to lead them to the Chicago Public Library. He is sighted by an officer of the Chicago Police Department and tries to get away, but the officer takes him to his car, telling him that he's too young to be out on his own. Just when it looks like he's about to be taken away, Becky Todd shows up and pretends to be his mother, chastising him for wandering off on his own like that. She leads him away, jokingly asking him if his Porsche got a flat, and he hugs her.

She brings him back to a safe house where the group has been staying. There, he meets the real-life Jessica Hyde, the main character of both the Dystopia and Utopia comics. She scares him and he tries to run from her, but eventually the two come to understanding and he shares the comic with her. Later, however, a clue leads the group to realize that they don't have all of Utopia and Grant reveals that he left behind a portion of it with Alice for safe-keeping. Jessica Hyde demands that Grant tell her how to get to Alice's place, but he tells her that it doesn't work that way for him, that he doesn't know street names. Their discussion is interrupted by the broadcast of a news report in which a boy that looks like Grant is said to be wanted as the youngest mass-murderer in American history. Jessica Hyde realizes that things are getting serious, that the Harvest has framed Grant in order to try to flush him out. She tells Grant that there's no way that he can go out in public now and asks him if he'd be able to tell her where Alice lives if she tortured him. "Maybe," he replies, but ultimately they have no choice but to go out under the cover of darkness and hope for the best. Hyde tells Grant to just keep his head down and look entitled.

By the braid[]

Grant and Becky, Cornered

Grant and Becky, cornered by the police

The plan works and the two manage to make their way successfully to Alice's home. Once there, they discover that Arby already arrived beforehand. Grant can only watch as he fights Jessica Hyde to a standstill, but then he reveals that he's no longer interested in cooperating with the Harvest and leaves behind Alice and Utopia, though he has killed Alice's mother, Kim. Jessica Hyde claims the Utopia manuscript and then sends the group on to another safe house. There, Alice tries to escape, but is grabbed by the braid by Jessica Hyde and handcuffed to a bed. She then has Grant cut off her braid, commenting to Grant that Jessica Hyde will never have her by the braid again.

Grant joins the group in traveling to the home of Dr. Michael Stearns, a scientist who invited a vaccine/cure for flu outbreak that has been ravaging children across the nation. Jessica Hyde is convinced that Stearns is involved in a sinister plot, but they discover that his wife, Colleen, is actually a sleeper agent for the Harvest. Alice ends up shooting and killing her, and later, Grant helps to comfort Alice when she's feeling down afterwards. Grant then joins the group when they raid Christie Labs to stop a plot called the Undoing, based on information given to them directly by Dr. Kevin Christie. He and Alice drives carts, destroying crates of the supposed vaccine, which is actually the serum for the Undoing. The group then flees into the countryside, but Grant and Becky have the misfortune of encountering a police car and the police, recognizing Grant from the APB for the mass-murder, take him into custody.

References[]

  1. Stevens, Tim (September 21, 2020). The compelling, gory “Utopia” takes you down the rabbit hole. The Spool. Retrieved on September 21, 2020.
  2. Matthews, Liam (September 15, 2020). Utopia Review: Amazon Prime's Dark Comic Conspiracy Thriller Creates a Perfect World. TV Guide. Retrieved on September 22, 2020.
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