Sometimes a Netflix binge comes along that stops you in your tracks, that demands you stop scrolling and really lock in.
Adolescence is one of those – a gritty, gripping and deeply empathetic crime drama that will speak to a nation shocked by rising knife crime rates among Britain’s young people.
To add to its hefty bona fides, it comes from the team behind 2021 restaurant thriller Boiling Point – and its BBC spinoff series: co-writers Jack Thorne (Help) and Stephen Graham, who also stars, and director Philip Barantini. They bring their hyper-kinetic, all-in-one-take approach to an even more heavyweight story of a teenage boy accused of murdering a classmate.
What is Adolescence about?
Adolescence follows the intense fallout when a 13-year-old called Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl from his school. Told over four episodes in real time and via four continuous shots, it follows the key players in the drama: not just Jamie, but his dad Eddie (Graham), as well as the investigating detective (Ashley Walters) and the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie’s case (The Crown’s Erin Doherty).
‘We could have made a drama about gangs and knife crime, or about a kid whose mother is an alcoholic or whose father is a violent abuser,’ says Graham. ‘Instead, we wanted you to look at this family and think, “My God. This could be happening to us!” And what’s happening here is an ordinary family’s worst nightmare.’
Where was Adolescence filmed?
While most TV series can jump around from location to location without worrying too much about the distance between them (see: Toward Zero, Out There and Playing Nice), Adolescence’s unique one-take approach meant that all of its locations had to sit cheek-by-jowl with one another so the actors – and camera – could travel between them in real time.
‘Basically that means we press record on the camera, and we don’t press stop until the very end of the hour,’ explains director Philip Barantini. ‘But it’s much more complicated than it sounds. It takes months of preparation and weeks of rehearsals and an incredible team of people to pull it off at every stage, from the script to the locations to the production design to where exactly the camera is going to be able to shoot and from what angle.’
Pontefract, West Yorkshire
Much of Adolescence was filmed in Pontefract in the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield. The decision was partly influenced by the casting of its young lead, Owen Cooper, who hails from Warrington, 60-odd miles away.
‘We knew it was going to be set somewhere in the north of England,’ says Barantini, ‘and we also knew it would be from somewhere around wherever our Jamie was from, because it would have been unfair to make him do an accent.’
Production Park, South Kirby, Yorkshire
Executive producer and Warp Films head honcho Mark Herbert suggested this 100,000-square-foot production hub near Pontefract. It’s a regular rehearsal space for artists like Sam Smith, Coldplay and Elton John, as well as a state-of-the-art film studios. ‘It was a massive, brilliant space, and we were able to build our police station there, and also our [police] interview room,’ says Barantini. ‘It became the nerve center of the entire production.’
Is it based on a true story?
Loosely inspired by real events, rather than based on a specific incident, Adolescence seeks to capture emotional and social truths rather than recreate a single event.
‘There was an incident where a young boy [allegedly] stabbed a girl,’ Graham tells Netflix’s site, Tudum. ‘It shocked me. I was thinking: “What’s going on? What’s happening in society where a boy stabs a girl to death? What’s the inciting incident here?” And then it happened again, and it happened again, and it happened again. I really just wanted to shine a light on it, and ask, “Why is this happening today? What’s going on? How have we come to this?”’
When can I watch Adolescence?
All four hour-long episodes are streaming on Netflix now.
Where was Towards Zero filmed: behind the scenes on the Agatha Christie adaptation.