Adolescence is streaming on Netflix and the series follows Jamie Miller (played by Owen Cooper) who stands accused of murdering a girl at his school. The four-part drama, shot in real-time, is set during different stages of the investigation from the local police station to Jamie's ultimate fate.
The series was written by actor Stephen Graham, along with Jack Thorne, and Philip Barantini was director. The series looks at toxic masculinity that degrades girls and distorts boys’ expectations.
explained how it also looks at how misogyny is being fuelled by online communities of young men. Philip revealed he was left terrified after looking into the harrowing realities that come from a digital age.
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He said: "I have a seven-year-old daughter and some of the things I was finding out while we were doing the research left me terrified for her future. It felt like we were opening a can of worms about what kids today are going through.
"When I was growing up if you had a problem with someone you sorted it out in the playground then went home and forgot about it, but now social media makes that impossible.”
As fathers, all three key creatives - Phil, Jack, who has a nine year-old son, and Stephen, whose children are 18 and 20 - spent long hours discussing the themes of the show.
Jack added: “Ultimately, for all of us, the central theme was about male rage and alienation - particularly working class male alienation and the ways in which social media fans the flames.
“It is marginalising our young men and making them feel separate, it’s giving them reasons to hate and preaching that manipulating girls is the way to succeed with them.
“If you go to any of those sites - and it was an education for all three of us to do that - it doesn’t take long for you to end up in some really troubling areas."
Top Boy actor Ashley Walters, who plays DI Luke Bascombe in the series, said he felt protective towards actor Owen Cooper, who plays Jamie, as he too is a father in real life.
He said: "I nearly adopted him because with those skills you could put him out to work (laughs). Seriously, you have to be really skilled, gifted and maybe a little wise beyond your years to do what he did.
"When you speak to him he has a level of maturity and you can understand why he is capable of achieving that level of performance because he is very quiet, very methodical.
"He’s not there for the hype, he’s there for the craft and in my opinion those are the best types of actors."
Adolescence is streaming on Netflix
