As I mentioned in my previous post about streaming services, it was the furore around Adolescence that made me sign back up to Netflix. I was managing to ignore the babble about most shows on the network, but this one just couldn’t be let go. As soon as I started watching it, I could see why there was such a fuss - it is absolute television gold.

I watched all four episodes in one sitting and regretted nothing about that. Each episode is filmed in one shot, which has two incredible impacts. Firstly, it boggles your mind some of the technical trickery they are able to do - going through windows, travelling on the windscreens of cars, and flying up and over the houses attached to a drone. Secondly, the fact that everything is one shot, you get no reprieve and you cannot look away, it increases the intensity and really adds a lot to the presentation.

As scripts and stories go, it’s okay, has it’s merits but isn’t completely groundbreaking. What really adds to it is the combination of a good story, absolutely incredible acting, and this insane intensity from the production decisions. You just can’t stop watching, and it has honestly lived with me ever since.

We have to give a shout out to Stephen Graham who continues to be an incredible actor, Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay as grumpy but determined police officers, Erin Doherty as the psychologist and Owen Cooper who is mindblowingly good as the 13 year old Jamie, who has been arrested for murder. It’s Cooper’s first role and he smashed it out of the park.

There’s a behind the scenes video which really brings the challenges to life. So much planning, preparation and rehearsal went into each episode - it’s like performing a play but with the added complexity of managing equipment, making sure only the right things are showing on screen, and manoeuvring a camera around a town rather than just looking at one place. The first two episodes in particular are outrageously good from a technical point of view, whilst the second two pale a little in comparison, leaning more into the emotions of the piece than the production.

What really stands out is that you used to have to be strong to be a camera person, to withstand holding huge equipment for a long period of time, and keeping everything steady. But now cameras are much smaller and steadying gimbals are so effective that the real traits you need to have to be a good camera person are long arms and dexterity. It’s so interesting how technology evolves and the jobs around it also have to change.

Stephen Graham is no stranger to the ‘oner’, as Boiling Point was also shot in a similar fashion, and the concept seems to be popular at the moment. The Studio on Apple TV has each scene basically shot as a oner, and then one whole episode called The Oner that is about a oner shot and is also shot as a oner. The word ‘oner’ has lost all meaning.

It’s so exciting when a programme like this comes along, that gets everybody talking and thinking, and not just because the subject matter is important - toxic masculinity and the pressures teenagers are facing - but also because it’s a cultural and technical phenomenon that won’t be forgotten any time soon.