ADOLESCENCE: The biggest questions about the Netflix series answered

20 March 2025, 18:08 | Updated: 20 March 2025, 18:27

The heartbreaking truth of Stephen Graham's "Adolescence"

The unparalleled drama - starring Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty and Owen Cooper - has gripped the nation and beyond.

If you've not heard of the new Netflix series ADOLESCENCE, then you must have been be hiding under a rock for the past two weeks.

The four-part limited series - starring Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty and newcomer Owen Cooper - has been taking the media by storm, not just because each episode has been filmed in one continuous shot, but because it tackles one of the most pressing and hard-hitting topics of our time.

The drama, which hit the streaming giant on 13th March 2025, tells the story of how a family's world is turned upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl.

A show which is very much of its time, ADOLESCENCE has sparked conversations not just across the world of entertainment, but also within politics, teaching and parenting as it deals with the knife crime-epidemic, femicide and the danger of red-pill discourse commentators such as Andrew Tate.

The film doesn't just prompt plenty of discussion, but lots of questions too, such as 'Is Adolescence a true story?' And 'How did they film that window scene?' . Radio X answers the most pressing questions on the Netflix series below...

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Is Adolescence based on a true story?

Adolescence isn't based on a single real-life case, but was inspired by real life events and growing knife-crime epidemic in the UK. Stephen Graham told The Chris Moyles Show: "I read an article and it was an article about a young boy who'd stabbed a young girl to death.

"A couple of months later there was a piece on the news and it was about a young boy, who'd stabbed a young girl to death and if I'm really honest with you, it hurt my heart. And. I just thought why?"

"Not just because I'm a father," the Liverpudlian actor explained. "But because, you know, any kind of human being with an ounce of moral compass can look at that kind of situation and think what's happening?

"We're entering this kind of era where there was four, five, six, seven cases of young boys and I'm gonna call them young boys. They're not men."

Speaking about his own reason for creating the series, he went on: "You know that beautiful saying, It takes a village to raise a child. I just wanted to create something that kind of looked at it from that perspective, but also looked at it that maybe we are all slightly accountable in some way. Be that parents, be that school, be that government, school, society and let's be completely honest: Today the internet is as much of a teacher and a parent to our children as we can be. Do you know what I mean?

Watch our interview with Stephen Graham above.

Watch Netflix's Adolescence trailer

Is Adolescence actually shot in one take?

Yes. Each episode of Adolescence is filmed in one take but the episodes are filmed in several times and the best take is the one selected for the final cut. Quizzed if the drama is "honestly" shot this way, Stephen Graham told Chris Moyles: "Yes. Honest to god."

Asked what happens if they are 53-minutes in and someone makes a mistake, he replied: "Well that's the risk that you take isn't it?"

Describing how a series like this is built, The Irishman star went on: "So you have myself and [co-writer] Jack [Thorne] really cut the script to shreds, d'you know what I mean? We get it to a place where it's really tight, isn't it? It becomes really watertight. Like a play!"

He continued: "Most of the crew were in there and there were helping us understand where we were gonna be and what we're doing and why we're doing it. So you do two takes a day because everything has to be reset and especially with respect to that first episode.

"What it does is it marries both that live kind of natural, fiery nature and the excitement of stage with it being live, but you also have that beautiful kind of technical element of film and television acting which is naturalism.

Watch him discuss the workings of the series here:

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How did they shoot the window scene in Adolescence?

In episode 2 of Adolescence an impressive scene, follows a camera as it appears to move through a window. Now, Netflix has explained that there wasn't "actually" a window there. It was removed and put back in using VFX. The streamer revealed: "One of the camera operators was in the classroom, then when Ryan jumped out of the window, the other operator who was crouching on the other side - took the camera and continued the chase."

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Who stars in Adolescence?

The Netflix drama introduces Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller and stars Stephen Graham as his father Eddie, Ashley Walters as Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe and Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston, the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie’s case.

Also in the four-part drama is Faye Marsay (Game of Thrones), Christine Tremarco (The Responder), Mark Stanley (Happy Valley), Jo Hartley (After Life) and newcomer Amélie Pease.

How old is Owen Cooper in Adolescence?

Owen Cooper is 15 years old, but he filmed the limited series and played the role of Jamie when he was just 14. Stephen Graham has explained why it was important for him to find an unknown actor to portray Jamie, because it had to feel real.

Who created Adolescence?

Adolescence is created and written by Stephen Graham, alongside Jack Thorne. Graham reunites with director Philip Barantini for the series, who he previously collaborated with on the BAFTA and BIFA nominated Boiling Point, also known for being shot in one continuous take. The Executive Producers are Mark Herbert and Emily Feller for Warp Films, Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters for Matriarch Productions, Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films, Philip Barantini for It’s All Made Up Productions, and Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner and Nina Wolarsky for Plan B Entertainment. Carina Sposato (Plan B Entertainment) , Peter Balm and Niall Shamma (Warp Films) serve as Co-Executive Producers. The Producer is Jo Johnson.

What happens in Adolescence?

A Netflix synopsis explains: "Adolescence tells the story of how a family’s world is turned upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school. Stephen Graham takes on the role of Jamie’s father and ‘appropriate adult’, Eddie Miller, while Ashley Walters stars as Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe. Erin Doherty joins the cast as Briony Ariston, the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie’s case."

Adolescence is available to watch now on Netflix.

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