Adolescence follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller – portrayed by Owen Cooper in his first ever acting role – who is arrested after a teenage girl from his school is murdered.
Stephen Graham plays the boy’s father Eddie Miller, while Top Boy star Ashley Walters takes on the role of detective inspector Luke Bascombe.
Each of the four episodes were done in one single take – in the same way as the 2021 film Boiling Point – and writer Jack Thorne has explained how this impacted the storyline.
On why we didn’t find out what happened to Jamie, he told 5Live: “As a writer you have to think about corridors, you have to think about staircases, you have to think about all of those technical things.
“You also can’t tell all the story. So you are telling an incomplete story, because there is only so much you can see in an hour.
“So Jamie’s legal process, anything that the family is doing in terms of mourning the loss of Katie – any of these things you can’t cut to. And so you are sort of stuck in something and that forces you to be partial, and it forces you to be incomplete.
Adolescence stars the likes of Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper (Netflix)
“I think that causes the audience to lean forward because they know they are not going to get all of the story. They have got to work.”
Viewers and fellow parents have been raving about the series on X, as one person tweeted: “This four part series called Adolescence on @netflix is totally brilliant.
“The cast, production and filming are amazing and is one of the best things I have ever seen on TV. This must win every award going. BRILLIANT.”
Another added: “I’m not the first one to say this but #Adolescence from #Netflix redefines what truly great series can achieve. It defies the regular 3 act structure of cause and effect and plunges you deeply into the minds of the characters and allows you to reflect upon yourself. It’s next level storytelling. Watch it.”
The hard-hitting series has been heavily praised since it dropped on Netflix last week (Netflix)
“Watched Adolescence on Netflix and it literally blew my mind,” a third wrote. “Being a dad of a 14 year old, I can understand the challenges both the parents and kids face. But the way they have handled the series… I would recommend every parent to watch it.
“Not to mention the awesome continuous shots that you get throughout the series.
“Every actor has put their soul in the series and never fail to bring in the intensity and goosebumps where it’s meant to be… totally worth a watch.”
