Adolescence: The Netflix drama that will have every parent talking - Join our watch thread plus Q&A with producer and cast

[CeriMumsnet]

Premieres 13th March 2025

Read Hannah and Christine's answers to your questions here.

If you’re after a gripping new series to get stuck into, Adolescence is set to be the show of the year - and it’s one that will chill parents to the core. This tense British crime drama begins with the shocking arrest of 13-year-old Jamie Miller for the murder of a classmate. But as the investigation unfolds, the series delves into the unsettling realities of modern masculinity, online radicalisation, and the pressures facing today’s teenagers.

Filmed in South Kirby with a raw, unflinching realism, Adolescence isn’t just another crime drama - it’s a conversation starter. If you were lucky enough to catch the Mumsnet exclusive preview, you’ll know just how haunting and thought-provoking it is, with themes that resonate long after you finish watching.

Watch the trailer here:

Q&A
Adolescence Executive Producer Hannah Walters and actress Christine Tremarco who plays Jamie’s Mum will be joining us for a Q&A in the next couple of weeks, so make sure to share your questions about the show for them below.

• Hannah Walters is an actress, producer and co-founder of Matriarch Productions, an entertainment production company who aims to provide a much-needed platform for underrepresented voices and stories in the UK. Their credits include BOILING POINT (2021) and most recent TV series for the BBC. Hannah has two children with her husband Stephen Graham.

• Christine Tremarco is a British actress who along with playing Jamie’s Mum in Adolescence can also currently be seen in Channel 4’s drama series, The Gathering and in the BBC’s Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story, directed by Al Mackay. Other screen credits include the BBC’s Responder opposite Martin Freeman, a series regular in Sky’s Wolfe, and Shane Meadows’ BAFTA winning series The Virtues opposite Stephen Graham.

So, what do we think? Will you be watching? Does the premise resonate with you? Let’s chat below! 👇

Right - I might be being naive and stupid but I still don’t get it. Is everyone saying every young man can be influenced to be a killer? This is not true. The family example and perr group influence are protective factors which in this case they were not. Even then, I don’t think every teenager listening to Andrew Tate will want to kill women

@CeriMumsnet When will the answers to the Q&A be posted? Just curious because I found a lot of the questions people posted very interesting and I’ve been looking forward to seeing the answers from those involved in the production. Thank you!

I dont think that is the view.

It’s more that if you create a cultural og misogyny, entitlement and violence towards women (which these online communities do) then a very small number of boys /men may behave in a way that they otherwise wouldn’t.

They are saying that it is not as big a leap as we may think from online abuse and violent porn to acting out in a violent way.

Of course not all boys but some will have this in them , and this type of environment normalises these thoughts and turns them into actions.

@Ferryweatherthanks for explaning. Maybe it takes a certain type of person to be drawn towards these communities. Especially if they are seeing examples of the same at home eg father having a temper and mother having to pacify him despite appearing like a normal loving family

It's the same as the normalisation of choking and anal sex these days. It's quite widely 'expected' and women are mocked for being too vanilla otherwise. That was never the norm 20, 30+ years ago! I spent a couple of years online dating in my mid 40s. That truly opened my eyes to the levels of misogyny and entitlement there are now. It was so depressingly common. As an older woman, I was confident enough to block these types but teens and some younger women are having their boundaries totally eroded.

Interesting article:

https://apple.news/ActD51a0cQQu_pMn5gVUEJg

First episode riveting, 2nd & 3rd a bit of a drag, 4th both disappointing, & sad seeing the dad cry as he blamed himself for how his son turned out. Overrated & could’ve been so much better. But in saying that Stephen Graham always plays a good part, & I’d be interested to see Owen Cooper again.

Hi @verysmellyjelly, I hope to bring you the Q&A answers very soon - we're also really keen to see Hannah and Christine's answers!

In the meantime, off the back of the wider conversations that Adolescence has been sparking, we've started a poll about how much parents understand about the dangers of online radicalisation. Feel free to head there and share your thoughts.

That’s exactly it - like dick pics. These are now a thing that some men feel entitled to send women. Why is this and how has this been normalised. I know not one man who will admit to sending them but several women who have received them.

My DDs 14 year old friend had her skirt pulled up at a disco and a group of teen boys took pictures while their friend held it up and dd and her friends tried to stop / shield their friend. In all my years of teen discos this never once happened.

it’s depressing

Thanks so much for the reply, @CeriMumsnet I have loved reading all the threads about this show!

Finished last night. It really stays with you doesn’t it. Exceptional imo.

i am reading a lot of things that say there’s no reprieve in it, no happy ending. Which is true of course, but I do feel we get a tiny bit of relief when Jamie calls to say he’s changing his plea. Like he’s accepted what he’s done at last. I know it’s awful to say but I did feel a bit for him, which I suppose was one of the aims of ep 1. I think he was in denial that he’d done it, his immaturity meant that he couldn’t admit to himself that’s what he’d done.

Just very interesting. The toxic masculinity at home, Jamie having an awful temper (inherited from his dad), chaotic school life, his emotional immaturity, vulnerability and low self esteem meant he was easily influenced, his computer/screen use being allowed to go unchecked and the online radicalisation. He didn’t have many positive role models/safe adults. Like another poster said, a perfect storm. Take one of those factors away, and maybe it wouldn’t have happened. The bit where his parents discussed how they thought he’d be safe in his bedroom - “what harm can he really do in there”… was very powerful and I think will resonate with a lot of parents.

They had so much material they could have worked with for a longer series, and could have referenced the impact on Katie’s family. But I wonder if the reason it was only 4 episodes is because they wanted it to make a point and be a wake up call to parents, and so decided to keep it shorter. Plenty of people don’t have time to watch 10 hours of a tv drama but 4 hours is more manageable.

The killers of Brianna Ghey were arrested the day after her murder.
The killer of EIinanne Adman was arrested 90 minutes after her murder

I agree - it's the algorithms feeding people's views and reinforcing them.

I've been reading about "How to change people's minds" and it's fascinating about cults, beliefs and how people just get into that mindset and it's really hard to get people to see alternatives.

Happy to share that Christine and Hannah will be answering some of your questions this afternoon! Stay tuned...

Hi @TealPombear Thank you so much. Yes this was my first single take experience. I loved working this way as it allows you so much freedom as an actor and the whole collaboration with cast and crew is a beautiful synchronicity.

Hi @newdad2023 I enjoyed every time we went for a take - it is a wonderful way to work.

Hi @CheekyDenimTiger Thank you so much- It was a heartbreaking joy to play Jamie's mum and I feel like I learnt so much while playing Manda.

Hi @TodayGoodDay Thank you! The unity as a cast and crew was just beautiful.

Hi @Charliechoco, the biggest threat I feel is the internet and social media and iPhones - children being online can be so dangerous - Parents can help protect their children by monitoring their online/phone activity or better still only allow devices when they are of an older age.

Hi @newdad2023 . As executive producer on the show and more importantly being a mum of 2-the themes in the show did affect me quite profoundly. My own children are now young adults 18 and 20 but navigating the teenage years as a parent is a constant learning process, and with the added addition of social media increasingly saturating young people’s minds, in areas that we as adults aren’t aware of it is petrifying.

Hi @sanpellegrinocinnamonbun Jo Johnson our incredible series producer and myself of course made sure that Owen and the other young adults had not only the pastoral care required with their parents/chaperones always onsite but a child Phycologist was bought on board in the very early stages, even at the very beginning the casting process, during rehearsals, throughout filming and post filming too.
Our incredible casting director Shaheen Baig did open castings from the Midlands to Leeds, we had over 500 tapes for the role of Jamie. We narrowed it down to the top 5, these 5 were then invited to come to some workshops and read with other actors. Owen had exactly what we were looking as the role of Jamie, and not only was he incredibly talented but he’s just such a lovely young man who we all connected with. The other 4 actors that didn’t get the role were then offered other parts in the show-this doesn’t happen usually so we felt really lucky to be able to give them an opportunity and help with their confidence and knowledge as performers., skills they could then go onto to use to enhance their careers.

Hi @CheekyDenimTiger Stephen & Jack wanted to put a microscope onto an issue that just seems to be reoccurring and escalating-that being, an increase in violence from young boys toward young girls, misogyny, social media influence, lack of communication between adults and young people and the fact that it can happen to what is perceived as an ordinary family. And how does one cope with that, the fallout of such devastation.

Hi @NewMagicWand Most of the takes got through the full hour, we had a few technical hitches that made some unusable although we still carried on till cut was called. A few false starts too and one day it was just too windy to get the drone up in the air for the end of Episode 2 so we literally were coming up with alternative endings for the story/camera whilst having breakfast!

Hi @CatsLikeBoxes The focus is on Jamie and his father as that's the story we wanted to tell - the relationship between fathers and sons.

Hi @Charliechoco The biggest threat is outside, negative, and poisonous opinions being filtered through to our young people’s minds that we have no control over. Our children are being parented at times and guided by what they see on social media. We need to metaphorically and physically open the door to our child’s bedrooms, have conversations, connect and keep connecting, allow them to feel they have safe space to talk, however uncomfortable they may feel it will be.