As Netflix‘s gripping four-part British miniseries Adolescence climbs to the top of the streaming platform’s global charts, it has drawn widespread attention for its raw portrayal of teenage violence and radicalization.
Viewers have questioned whether or not Adolescence‘s haunting storyline is rooted in real events. The show’s creators insist the narrative is fictional—but heavily inspired by alarming real-life trends.
Adolescence follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller, played by newcomer Owen Cooper, who is arrested for the murder of a female classmate. The series begins with a SWAT-style police raid on Jamie’s family home, immediately immersing the audience in the family’s nightmare. Co-created by and starring Stephen Graham, the show explores the influence of online subcultures, peer dynamics, and social media on boys growing up in today’s digital landscape.
The Claim
Since the show premiered, users on social media have been claiming the production was based on a true story. One viral post from an X user named Isabella Maria DeLuca, who has half a million followers on the platform, claimed the show was based on the murder of 15-year-old Elianne Andam. Her post had been viewed more than 172,000 times as of Friday.
The Facts
Despite speculation, the creators of Adolescence have been unequivocal. The show is not based on a specific true story.
“There is no part of this that’s based on a true story, not one single part,” co-creator and co-writer Jack Thorne said on The News Agents podcast, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Thorne also pushed back against online claims the show had “race-swapped” a real-life suspect, stating, “They’ve claimed that Stephen [Graham] and I based it on a story and so they’re saying that we race-swapped it, because we were basically here and then ended up there, and everything else, and nothing is further from the truth.”
Graham—who plays Jamie’s father, Eddie Miller—explained that the inspiration for Adolescence came from a series of tragic news stories involving teenage perpetrators and victims.
“Where it came from, for me,” explained Graham in a recent interview with Radio Times, “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?”
Among the real-life cases mentioned were the 2021 murder of 12-year-old Ava White in Liverpool and the killing of 15-year-old Elianne Andam in south London in 2023.
But Graham stressed to the Radio Times, “We’re not making a point about race with this. We are making a point about masculinity. We’re trying to get inside a problem. We’re not saying this is one thing or another. We’re saying this is about boys.”
The Ruling
False.
The creators of Adolescence confirm that the plot didn’t come from a single real-life crime or individual, but rather a disturbing series of news reports.
Graham told The Independent: “I read an article about a young boy stabbing a young girl. And then maybe a couple of months later, on the news there was [another] young boy who’d stabbed a young girl, and if I’m really honest with you, they hurt my heart.”
Graham also said the show was meant to examine that, “there’s influences that we have no idea of that are having profound effects on our young culture, profound effects, positive and extremely negative. So it’s having a look at that and seeing that we’re all accountable.”
The show was shaped by that alarm and by the broader context of rising knife crime across the United Kingdom. In October, The Ben Kinsella Trust reported that knife crime had surged by 80 percent in the last decade, with 50,973 recorded offenses in the 12 months leading up to June 2024.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek‘s Fact Check team
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