Adolescence has been a ratings winner around the world for Netflix, but Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham‘s series has also made political waves in the UK.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has revealed that he watched the series with his teenage children and its themes about societal pressures for young people “hit home hard.”
Starmer was commenting as Netflix agreed a deal to make Adolescence available to all secondary schools across the UK via the Into Film+ streaming service.
The PM also chaired a roundtable in which the themes of the series, in which a 13-year-old boy is accused of murdering a female classmate, were discussed with writer Thorne and kids charities including Tender, NSPCC, and The Children’s Society.
“As a father, watching this show with my teenage son and daughter, I can tell you – it hit home hard,” Starmer said. “It’s an important initiative to encourage as many pupils as possible to watch the show. As I see from my own children, openly talking about changes in how they communicate, the content they’re seeing, and exploring the conversations they’re having with their peers is vital if we are to properly support them in navigating contemporary challenges, and deal with malign influences.”
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Anne Mensah, Netflix VP UK Content, said: “Adolescence has captured the national mood, sparking important conversations and helping articulate the pressures young people and parents face in today’s society. We’re incredibly proud of the impact the show has made.”
Thorne added: “We made this show to provoke a conversation. We wanted to pose the question – how do we help stop this growing crisis. So to have the opportunity to take this into schools is beyond our expectations. We hope it’ll lead to teachers talking to the students, but what we really hope is it’ll lead to students talking amongst themselves.”
Adolescence made ratings history in the UK by becoming the first streaming service series to top audience body Barb’s weekly list of the top 50 shows on television.
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