The hard-hitting new drama comes from Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne.

Netflix

Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne’s new Netflix drama about a boy arrested for murder is a haunting exploration of humanity and manhood – and naturally, many fans will be wondering whether it’s based on a true story.

Adolescence follows the Miller family as they’re forced to come to terms with the arrest of their 13-year-old son Jamie (Owen Cooper), who is accused of murdering a local schoolgirl, a crime he claims he did not commit.

While Jamie’s dad Eddie (Graham) is initially convinced that his son must be innocent, as the series goes on it soon becomes apparent that his son, like so many boys and young men, has been engaging with toxic and misogynistic content online – and the waters become murkier.

“One of our aims was to ask, ‘What is happening to our young men these days, and what are the pressures they face from their peers, from the internet, and from social media?’” Graham told Tudum of his idea behind penning the series alongside Jack Thorne.

“And the pressures that come from all of those things are as difficult for kids here as they are the world over.”

It’s shocking, poignant and hard to watch at times, but is it entirely fictional, or is it based on a true story? Read on for everything you need to know about the inspiration behind the Netflix series.

Is Adolescence based on a true story?

Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller in Adolescence. Stephen Graham.
The show’s creators have made it clear that Adolescence is not based on any one specific true story, but that it is inspired by shocking real-life events.

Graham recently confirmed that he came up with the idea for the series based on news stories in the UK over the past decade.

“Where it came from, for me,” explained Graham in an interview with Radio Times magazine, “is there was an incident in Liverpool, a young girl, and she was stabbed to death by a young boy. I just thought, why?

“Then there was another young girl in south London who was stabbed to death at a bus stop. And there was this thing up North, where that young girl Brianna Ghey was lured into the park by two teenagers, and they stabbed her. I just thought, what’s going on? What is this that’s happening?”

The actor also echoed those comments at a Next on Netflix event earlier this year.

“The idea came as – over the past 10 years or so – we’ve seen an epidemic of knife crime amongst young lads, up and down the country,” he said.

“And for me, there were certain instances that really stuck out where young boys – and they are young boys, you know, they’re not men – were killing young girls.

“When I mentioned it to Phil [Barantini, director], it just really hit me hard. I just thought, ‘Why? What’s going on? What’s happening? Why is this the case?'”

Graham continued: “What’s going on with our society as a whole, as a collective, and without being disrespectful, when these things are on the news – and we’re a couple of kids from council estates – but when these things are on the news, your judgement instantly goes to blaming the family, you blame the mum and dad.

“We’re all guilty of it, because that’s the easy common denominator. I just thought, ‘What if that’s not the case at all?'”

So, while the series is not based on a specific true story, or even inspired by a particular incident, it seems the idea did come from a tragic series of events over recent years, which Graham and the team behind the show wanted to explore.

The official synopsis for the series says: “Adolescence tells the story of how a family’s world is turned upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school.

“Stephen Graham will play Jamie’s father and ‘appropriate adult’, Eddie Miller. Ashley Walters stars as Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe, and Erin Doherty is Briony Ariston, the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie’s case.”