The British crime drama series Adolescence on Netflix has taken audiences by storm, earning rave reviews from critics and viewers alike. The show now has a 99 percent score from critics on the popular review site Rotten Tomatoes.
Adolescence, co-created by Graham and Jack Thorne, premiered on March 13, 2025. The show features a cast including Owen Cooper, Stephen Graham, and Ashley Walters.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers. Reader's discretion is advised.
Most who have seen the miniseries have been curious as to why the show consisted of only four episodes. Speaking about the same in an interview with Tudum by Netflix, published on March 13, 2025, Stephen Graham, creator, writer, and actor of the show, stated:
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“We knew that we wanted to end it in that room. We wanted the journey to finish where it began. This is where the person who Jamie became was created.”
For the unaware, Adolescence started in the same room where Jamie was accused of killing Katie and concluded in that same room with Jamie's father reeling from the aftermath of him confessing to having killed her.
Stephen Graham reveals the length of Adolescence was intentional
As previously mentioned, co-showrunner Stephen Graham admitted while speaking to Tudum by Netflix that the show was four episodes long because they intended to end its narrative in the same place it started.
Episode 1 of the series started with the authorities showing up at the Miller's residence unexpectedly to take Jamie away due to being accused of murdering his classmate Katie. At that point in time, Jamie insisted that he was innocent, and so were his parents.
But by the final episode, Jamie had confessed to his crimes and shifted his innocence plea to that of guilt. His parents also did not share the same perception of Jamie as they did when the series began, thus illustrating a full-circle moment.
Stephen Graham explained that they needed to conclude the show where everything began to demonstrate Jamie's journey. Ending the show in the room was also necessary to emphasize where Jamie and his criminal mentality were born.
Jamie's bedroom was a very typical one for a boy his age, filled with desktops, gaming stations, and teddy bears. He had access to everything a kid from a seemingly functional family would have but who was still guilty of a crime as grave as murder. This brought into perspective how people, regardless of where they are from, what they were exposed to could end up bad.
Is Netflix's Adolescence based on a true story?
While the plot of Adolescence is not based on a specific real-life event or story, co-creator Stephen Graham admitted to having been inspired by several reports of increasing knife crimes by young boys. Talking to Tudum by Netflix, in the article published on March 21, 2025, Graham spoke about what inspired him to make the show:
“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?’"
He continued:
"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?’ ”
All episodes of Adolescence are currently streaming on Netflix.
