By Sabrina Barr

Copyright metro

Adolescence became a global phenomenon following its Netflix release (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix)

To say that Adolescence has taken the world by storm is putting it too lightly.

It’s been six months since the four-part series was released on Netflix, following a 13-year-old boy called Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) who’s accused of murdering a girl from his school.

The drama is the streaming giant’s second-most-watched English-speaking show ever. But more importantly, it sparked vital conversations about the ‘manosphere’, misogyny and violence against women and girls and the widespread use of social media among younger generations.

The programme was co-written by screenwriter Jack Thorne and actor Stephen Graham, with the latter also playing Jamie’s dad, Eddie Miller. Stephen had the idea for the story after hearing about real incidents of knife crime committed by young boys against young girls.

Metro had the opportunity to catch up with Jack at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival to find out how he feels about the global impact that Adolescence has had. Just a few weeks after our conversation, the series received six Primetime Emmy Awards, including a record-breaking win for 15-year-old breakout star Owen.

‘It feels amazing,’ Jack said of the sensational response the series has garnered from viewers. ‘I’m so proud of the show, and I’m so proud people watch the show, and then I get anxiety about what I’m doing next. That’s the way my brain works.’

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Jack Thorne (left) celebrating Adolescence’s multiple Emmy wins alongside director Philip Barantini (centre) and Stephen Graham (right) (Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Adolescence is the latest in a string of critically acclaimed releases written by Jack. His previous work includes the likes of the This Is England miniseries, Toxic Town, His Dark Materials and Enola Holmes, to name a few.

Even though it was clear to anyone who watched Adolescence how special it was, some people have expressed an element of surprise about its international success.

‘There is a perception, isn’t there, that when we tell stories about people with accents and who don’t live in manor houses that that’s not the Britain that the world wants to see, and sometimes the industry has reflected that back at us,’ he remarked.

‘I made a show called Help with Stephen and with Jodie Comer, and I know that part of the problem selling it internationally was that people went, “We don’t really understand the Liverpool accent.” So I hope that we’re proof that it doesn’t matter where you’re from in Britain – if you’re telling a story authentically, you don’t have to be suited, and you don’t have to sit on a horse. There’s other ways of telling stories about our country.’

Adolescence marked Owen Cooper’s first foray into professional acting (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix)

Help starred Stephen as Tony, a man with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and Jodie as Sarah, a healthcare assistant working in a home that’s heavily impacted by Covid-19 (Picture: Channel 4/Brian Sweeney)

Following Adolescence’s release, Jack has had the chance to speak to some kids to find out how they reacted to the series. There was one conversation that he had with a girl which has stuck with him ever since.

‘The one that really stood out to me was a girl who said, “I don’t talk in class.” It was just this very articulate young woman who just said, “I don’t talk in class, and I haven’t for about three years,”’ he recalled.

‘She was quite shy, and she just said, “If I say the right thing, they laugh at me. If I say the wrong thing, they laugh at me. And so I say nothing.” There was just such simplicity to it.

‘That wasn’t my experience of school. That may be me, but I don’t think school was like that when I was growing up. I’ve had other conversations, but that was the one that really stood out.’

Adolescence has made a star of Owen, who’ll next be seen in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, as well as Aimee Lou Wood’s BBC comedy-drama Film Club.

One of Jack’s next projects also involved dozens of children – the latest adaptation of William Golding’s classic novel Lord of the Flies, which is coming to the BBC and is directed by Marc Munden.

Owen made history as the youngest winner of the Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or TV movie (Picture: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

‘We’re really excited. If you thought working with one kid was difficult, we work with 42, and we put them on an island. They’re all brilliant. It’s really amazing what Marc has made,’ Jack shared.

‘I think the story suits telly, but I could be totally wrong. I thought that I understood the story, and then reading it again as an adult, and seeing the love that Golding had for all those boys. All of them, not just Ralph, not just Piggy, not just Simon. He loves Jack too. And the way that he got inside their heads – I think it’s an extraordinary book, and I hope we’ve done it justice.’

The passion that Jack has for storytelling is palpable while speaking to him. He outlined how working on Adolescence has forever changed the way that he approaches writing (‘What I’m trying to do is change my rhythm and write unconventionally.’)

Perhaps we’ll see an example of this change in approach in The Hack, his ITV drama launching this month about the News International phone hacking scandal, which stars David Tennant, Toby Jones and Robert Carlyle.

Jack is also extremely committed to the TV Access Project (TAP), which launched in 2022 and marks an alliance between several of the UK’s biggest broadcasters and streamers, committing to support and include disabled talent.

‘The broadcasters saying that they’re not going to work with production spaces that haven’t filled in the audit will be incredible, and hopefully then will lead to production spaces questioning their spaces and questioning the accessibility that they offer,’ he stated.

‘What’s also happened is that as part of this movement, you’ve seen disabled writers starting to tell stories more on TV. Hopefully it’s the start of more disabled-led storytelling.

‘As a writer, that’s the bit that has excited me most of all, and if we can challenge the non-disabled hegemony in this country, then hopefully we can start challenging the ableist attitudes in this country and create a world in which disabled people are treated marginally better than they are, which is terrible at the moment.’

Adolescence is available to stream on Netflix.

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