It is the gut-punching, heart-wrenching new Netflix series winning acclaim from critics and viewers alike – especially for stars Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper.
The four-part crime drama Adolescence tells the story of a youngster played by Cooper, now 15, who is arrested for a schoolgirl’s murder – and the show has been breaking streaming records.
Among those struck by the series after its release earlier this month has been Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who told how he was tuning in with his children.
And along with widespread praise for the writing and performances, there has also been plenty of admiration for the hour-long, single-shot filming of each episode.
Eagle-eyed fans have been showing their own attention to detail by highlighting some of the canny references and camera cleverness involved throughout.
Insights from behind the scenes have also been shared, as interest surges in the programme broadcast by US-based streaming giant Netflix after being made through a collaboration between American and British production companies.
Graham, 51, whose previous starring roles have come in movies including This Is England and TV dramas Line Of Duty and Peaky Blinders, co-created and co-wrote Adolescence with award-winning playwright Jack Thorne.
The new drama’s success has also thrown the spotlight on teen sensation Cooper, now filming alongside Barbie star Margot Robbie – while neighbours in Warrington, Cheshire, described him as a ‘lovely lad’ who would do anything for them.
MailOnline takes a look at some Adolescence details you might have missed…
Streaming giant Netflix answered questions on X, formerly Twitter, about filming methods
Each of the hit crime drama series’ four episodes feature a single rolling shot
The cinematography involved in Adolescence’s one-shot episodes has attracted plenty of praise.
And streaming service Netflix which broadcast the show has provided behind the scenes details about just how such dramatic effects were conjured.
Director Philip Barantini used his unconventional approach in each of the four episodes, meaning one camera followed the action continuously for each entire hour.
Netflix took to X, formerly Twitter, to answer questions from fans – including how the series ended the second episode, when the camera glided from a school to the crime scene in one seamless take.
The streaming platform’s post explained: ‘The DOP (director of photography) carries the camera and follows a school pupil to the traffic lights with a wide shot as she goes at the end of the school day.
‘Before she crosses the road, a team attach the camera to a drone, which then flies a distance of 0.3 miles across the site to the murder scene, where it comes down to a camera operator and team of grips who smoothly catch the camera and transition into a close shot of Stephen Graham. Easy.’
The voice of schoolgirl victim Katie was heard during the drama series’ closing scene
Actor Stephen Graham is among those receiving critical acclaim for the new Netfix series
The series’ final episode closes with an emotional rendition of the song Through the Eyes Of A Child, sung by Aurora, which describes the loss of a ‘childlike soul’.
The haunting track includes the first and only time that viewers hear the voice of stabbing victim schoolgirl Katie’s voice in the drama.
The 13-year-old female pupil is played by actress Emilia Holliday.
Speaking in an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, show director Philip Barantini revealed he heard the song around the time writer Jack Thorne sent him the script – and immediately knew it needed to be in the series.
Barantini explained: ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s just absolutely incredible.
‘The voice in the score is Katie’s voice. Katie is a part of the whole series. Her presence is always there.’
Eagle-eyed viewers spotted a clue in the wall in Adolescence’s opening moments
A moment just minutes in to the first episode of Adolescence has been pinpointed by viewers as a crucial clue to central character Jamie’s fate.
TikTok users have shared a clip in which police burst into Jamie’s family home to arrest him for murder while the boy played by Owen Cooper is in bed.
The schoolboy looks scared as officers surround him and he places his hand on the wall, where part of the wallpaper has come off – with suggestions from some viewers that the mark resembles a knife.
One wrote on the video, ‘Foreshadowing. Did anyone else notice?’, adding: ‘This cannot have been an accident. The level of detail in this show made it a masterpiece. #adolescence #owencooper #netflix #cinematography.’
Comments in response have included: ‘The rip in the wallpaper is like a knife and its as if he is holding it. It amazes me how so many people let this show go right over their heads.’
Another added: ‘And the very last scene when the dad is on his bed is like the knife in his back.’
Teenage star Owen Cooper has spoken about the drink he had during a key interview scene
Owen Cooper has described the drink he had during the filming as ‘minging’
Adolescence star Owen Cooper has also spoken out about what he called a ‘minging’ detail from filming the hit Netflix show.
He opened up about a scene in the third instalment of the series, in which his character Jamie is interviewed by a psychiatrist depicted by Erin Doherty – and appeared to be sipping from a cup of hot chocolate during the discussion.
Yet in a real life interview about making the show, Cooper recalled: ‘That was minging, that – that was horrible.’
When asked by Doherty, ‘What, the actual drink?’, the teenager replied: ‘Yeah, it wasn’t hot chocolate ’cause it had to get changed. It was making the floor sticky or something for the cameraman.’
Doherty responded by saying: ‘Oh, yeah, and I remember in one of them it spilt all over the table. I could see people in the cameras that could see into the room like quickly trying to clean it up, so by the time the camera came back in. Right, okay, so they had to change it.’
Cooper added: ‘Aw, it was disgusting.’
Actor and co-writer Stephen Graham improvised a line in Adolescence’s teddy bear scene
Stephen Graham – who plays youngster Jamie’s dad Eddie – is seen breaking down in tears in his son’s room while tucking a teddy bear into his bed
Graham takes on the role of Eddie Miller, the dad of a young boy called Jamie (Owen Cooper), who is suspected of stabbing one of his classmates Katie (Emilia Holliday)
In the final moments of the fourth instalment, creator and writer Stephen Graham – who plays youngster Jamie’s dad Eddie – is seen breaking down in tears in his son’s room while tucking a teddy bear into his bed.
He then tells the cuddly toy, ‘I should have done better’ – and yet this line was not actually meant to be delivered, according to the original script.
The crime drama’s director Philip Barantini has since told Tudum: ‘We rehearsed it, and it was great.
‘But I just felt like there’s something about him tucking in Jamie’s teddy.
‘This is the only thing that Eddie’s got that he can touch – that’s malleable, that Jamie’s cuddled, and Jamie’s been with. And then Stephen made it his own.’
Netflix’s outlet Tudum also added that Stephen was originally supposed to ‘get inside Jamie’s bed and pull the covers over his body, like he was an avatar for his imprisoned son’.
Owen Cooper, 15, has been widely praised for playing Adolescence’s central character Jamie
The crime show, written by Stephen Graham (pictured) and Jack Thorne, has broken streaming records after its release on Netflix earlier this month
The teddy bear scene and Stephen Graham’s unexpected extra line was not the only moment of improvisation across the series, teenage star Owen Cooper has revealed.
The youngster told of a striking four-word comment from the Netflix series that was also completely off script.
The fact that episodes were shot in one continuous sequence meant that the cast had to think on their feet as they went on.
And that happened during one scene featuring Owen and co-star Erin Doherty, playing a child psychologist who had to write a profile on the character Jamie ahead of his trial.
In a recent guest appearance on BBC1’s The One Show last week, Cooper said: ‘In episode three, it was the second take of the day – we do two takes a day. So it was the second take and you know I was tired, so a yawn came to me.
‘Then Erin did an amazing line – she said, “Am I boring you?”, so that took me back and it made made me smile because it wasn’t in the script. I wasn’t expecting that at all, so it took me back a little bit, but it was amazing.’
A montage of children appeared at the start of Netflix drama Adolescence’s second episode
Top Boy actor Ashley Walters takes on the role of DI Luke Bascombe in hit series Adolescence
Co-stars and critics alike have praised Owen Cooper – pictured, right, with Stephen Graham)
An ‘eerie’ montage of children appeared on screen as the second episode of Netflix hit series Adolescence began.
The children are actors from the show but their inclusion has prompted speculation online about what could be the meaning of the pictures.
A commenter on Reddit asked: ‘Does anyone know the meaning behind the pictures of the kids in the intros for Adolescence? I found it so eerie with the soundtrack but I can’t see how they link to the actual show.’
Responses included suggestions such as: ‘I think it’s supposed to highlight the innocence of children and how vulnerable they are to corruption and manipulation.’
Another viewer posted: ‘The writer wanted to depict a series of crimes that happened in England where young boys were going around stabbing young girls.
‘I believe that those photos are photos of the victims and perpetrators from real life.’
Stephen Graham’s actress and producer wife Hannah Walters (right) is seen appearing in Adolescence in a scene with Fatima Bojang (left)
Stephen Graham (left) and Hannah Walters (right), pictured here at a special screening for Adolescence in London on March 12, met while training as actors and married in 2008
Hannah and Stephen’s romance began not on a Hollywood set, but in the draughty drama halls of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, in Sidcup, Kent
Stephen Graham not only starred in both also co-created and co-wrote Adolescence – which also had key involvement both off and on screen by his actress wife Hannah Walters.
She plays a pivotal role in their joint production company Matriarch Productions – though many viewers might have missed the fact she had a brief on-screen cameo during the series.
The actress and producer, 48, appeared in episode two as Mrs. Bailey – a teacher at Bruntwood Academy who reprimands Katie’s grief-stricken best friend Jade, played by Fatima Bojang, for punching Ryan, who was performed by Kaine Davis.
The couple’s previous collaborations have included the multi-BAFTA-nominated film Boiling Point in 2021, with Hannah both on screen and as executive producer.
That movie – like each episode of Adolescence – was filmed in one single take.
Graham and Walters first met when training as actors as Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in Sidcup, Kent, and wed in 2008.
