Adolescence: Is new Stephen Graham drama based on a true story? How to watch & plot explained

The four-part mini-series stars actors such as Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty and Ashley Walters and follows the story of a 13-year-old boy who is accused of murdering a classmate. Filmed in one shot over each of the four episodes, the new drama has already impressed viewers, earning a rare 100% debut score on Rotten Tomatoes and is being heralded as “astounding” and “the closest thing to TV perfection in decades” by critics.

The show’s hard-hitting storyline and the realistic portrayal of the subject matter have left fans wondering whether the show is based on a real-life story.

Is Adolescence based on a true story?

The story of Adolescence, which sees 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper) accused of murdering a teenage girl who attends the same school as him. According to Netflix, the specific story itself is fictional but Stephen Graham, who also wrote and co-created the show alongside Jack Thorne, was heavily inspired by real-life events.

Speaking about news coverage of knife crime in the UK, Graham said: “There was an incident where a young boy [allegedly] stabbed a girl. 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?’”

He added: “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.

“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.”

How to watch Adolescence

Adolescence is only available to watch via Netflix. To access the title, you must have a subscription to the service.

Plans start from £5.99 per month in the UK for a ‘Standard with Ads’ subscription, and push into £12.99 p/m for a ‘Standard’ and up to £18.99 p/m for the ‘Premium’ subscription. For more information on which plan suits you, visit the Netflix website.