A Sheffield producer has told ShefNews how he was instantly “blown away” seeing the script of Netflix’ hit series Adolescence.
Warp Films, created in 1999, is a Sheffield film production company who have also produced This is England, Four Lions, and upcoming BBC series Reunions
Filmed in a real time, in just one shot, Adolescence is a thrilling four-part drama that tells the story of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (played by Owen Cooper), who is arrested and charged with the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school.
Executive producers Mark Herbert and Emily Feller from Warp worked alongside writers Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, and director Philip Barantini to bring the harrowing story to life.
Mr Herbert said: “It has been nearly 20 years since I first worked with Stephen Graham, who is obviously one of the country’s finest actors, and I’ve worked with him many times since This is England.
“He approached me with the idea of telling a crime story but doing it one shot. I was nervous at first as it is hard to pull off but we agreed to board the project and when they gave me the script I was blown away, I mean anyone who read were absolutely blown away with how good it was.”
Graham, who features in the show as Jamie’s dad, Eddie, co wrote the show with Thorne and it follows the 13-month aftermath of the families world turning upside down.
The show touches on subjects of male rage, incel culture and the impact of influencer Andrew Tate.
Mr Herbert said: “What attracted Jack, Stephen and Phil to tell it this way, is that when you see a lot of crime on tv it is typical, what you call a who did it, and we wanted to go with, why did he do it.
“You are first hit with the arrest and then basically the next four hours are the next 13 months and you can’t move away, it adds that intensity.”
Across the four episodes of the show, filmed across Sheffield and Wakefield, each episode is shot continuously with the scene never having cutaways.
Mr Herbert said: ”To the actors it was like theatre to them, we didn’t stop once the camera rolled, employing a continuous one shot approach for each episode which is just amazing.
“It was a huge calling, but to be honest with you I was scared because we were in and out of cars, we were in a school which had over 300 extras involved. It is an exhausting process.”
Viewers of the show are calling for it to be broadcast in schools to educate pupils and young boys about the radicalisation and brainwashing that can happen online; and even Prime Minister Keir Starmer has discussed the show in Parliament.
Since premiering on 13 March, it made TV history by becoming the first programme om a streaming platform to top the weekly audience charts in the UK attracting 6.45 million viewers for the first episode.
Mr Herbert said: “I always want people to be entertained, even with our complex characters I want people to ask a question about it, think about it.
“With social media everything is polarised and black and white, everything is not black and white. Whatever views they have, I want to challenge them.”