Stephen Graham’s newest series Adolescence – which tells the story of a 13-year-old boy who is accused of brutally murdering a classmate – has proved to be a huge hit.
The crime show, written by Stephen and Jack Thorne, was only released on Netflix on Thursday, but has already made waves and earned huge praise for its storyline and videography.
Stephen takes on the role of Eddie Miller, the dad of a young boy called Jamie (Owen Cooper), who is suspected of stabbing one of his classmates Katie (Emilia Holliday).
While Stephen is swimming in praise, also working on the show was his wife Hannah Walters, who plays a pivotal role in their joint production company called Matriarch Productions.
But what most fans won’t have picked up on is that Hannah actually had a brief on-screen cameo during the series, as well as playing a pivotal role off-screen.
The actress and producer, 48, appeared in episode two as Mrs. Bailey – a teacher at Bruntwood Academy who reprimands Katie’s grief-stricken best friend Jade (Fatima Bojang) for punching Ryan (Kaine Davis).
Stephen Graham’s newest series Adolescence has proved to be a huge hit (Stephen and wife Hannah Walters pictured)
What most fans won’t have picked up on is that Hannah (right) actually had a brief on-screen cameo during the series, as well as playing a pivotal role off-screen
Her character then listens as Jade opens up about her relationship with her mother and claims she has no other friends.
And this is not the first head-turning project that Hannah has worked with her husband on.
Their collaboration brought forth the multi-BAFTA-nominated film Boiling Point in 2021, where Hannah not only served as an executive producer but also appeared on screen.
The film – like each episode of Adolescence – was remarkably filmed in one single take.
Their romance began not on a Hollywood set, but in the draughty drama halls of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, in Sidcup, Kent, where the couple first met while training as actors.
It was a connection that would only deepen over the years, particularly when they reunited professionally on This Is England in 2006. By then, their bond had strengthened, and just two years later, on June 6, 2008, they tied the knot.
And Stephen has always been his wife’s biggest fan.
Reflecting on her talent during an online Q&A about 2021 prison drama Time, he gushed: ‘I watched Hannah back in the day at drama school and always thought she was brilliant.’
Speaking on the Graham Norton show last month, Stephen explained how Hannah was also key to getting the production of their other current streaming success on Disney+, the Victorian London crime and boxing drama, A Thousand Blows, off the ground as she presented the story to Peaky Blinders creator, Steven Knight, who was fascinated by the idea.
The actress and producer, 48, appeared in episode two as Mrs. Bailey – a teacher at Bruntwood Academy
Her character reprimands Katie’s grief-stricken best friend Jade (Fatima Bojang) for punching Ryan (Kaine Davis)
The crime show, written by Stephen and Jack Thorne, was only released on Netflix on Thursday, but has already made waves and earned huge praise
Read MoreEXCLUSIVE Woman behind Stephen Graham: How Brit actor’s ‘rock’ has been at his side long before Adolescence 
The couple settled in Ibstock, Leicestershire, close to Hannah’s family, where they are well-liked in the community and live in a modest £450k four-bedroomed semi.
The showbiz pair were chosen to cut the ribbon at a newly reopened doctors’ surgery in the village, following a revamp two years ago.
Meanwhile, Adolescence is showing signs that it will be a rating smash after episode one has been watched by 2.7 million people in just two days.
Fans have been left stunned by the psychological mini-series which has earned a perfect 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Its outstanding rating on review website has come from fans and critics alike praising its realistic portrayal of British society and its gripping plotline, with some even comparing it with Netflix’s 2024 triumph Baby Reindeer.
The series was filmed in South Kirkby, West Yorkshire, and the cast and crew were based at Production Park a studio facility near Wakefield, for six months last summer.
Some on location filming also took place, one being the Miller house, which is located just a few minutes from the studio.
Top Boy actor Ashley Walters takes on the role of DI Luke Bascombe in the critically acclaimed four-part production, uniquely sH๏τ in nearly hour-long continuous single takes.
The opening two episodes of four track Jamie’s arrest and follow the efforts of DI Bascombe and DS Frank (Faye Marsay) in getting to the bottom of the stabbing.
Stephen takes on the role of Eddie Miller, the dad of a young boy called Jamie (Owen Cooper), who is suspected of stabbing one of his classmates Katie (Emilia Holliday)
While Stephen is swimming in praise, also working on the show was his wife Hannah Walters, who plays a pivotal role in their joint production company called Matriarch Productions
Hannah and Stephen’s romance began not on a Hollywood set, but in the draughty drama halls of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, in Sidcup, Kent
As an executive producer on the show, which aired on Thursday, Stephen, 51, said the idea for the series came to him from looking at the epidemic of knife crime in the UK.
Joining Hannah in chatting to Chris Moyles on Radio X, the actor said: ‘Okay, let’s get this serious nature of the show out the way, and then we can have some fun, with all due respect.
‘Look, it started when I read an article, and it was an article about a young boy who’d stabbed a young girl to death, and it just, you know, it made me feel cold.
‘And then a couple of months later, there was a piece on the news, and it was about a young boy who’d stabbed a young girl to death, and if I’m really honest with you, they hurt my heart.
‘And these two incidents were opposite ends of the country. And I just thought, “Why? Why is this happening?”
‘Not just because I’m a father, but I think any kind of human being with an ounce of moral compᴀss can look at that kind of situation and think, “What’s happening? What’s going on with society today that we’re in?”‘
Stephen added that the spate of stabbings was a sharp contrast to the world he grew up in.
‘We’re entering this kind of era where there was, like, four, five, six, seven cases of young boys – and I’m going to call them young boys, they’re not men – stabbing girls to death,’ he said.
‘And, you know, that beautiful saying, “It takes a takes a village to raise a child”, I just wanted to create something that kind of looked at it from that perspective, but also looked at it like, look, maybe we are all slightly accountable in some way, be that parents, be that school, be that government, community, society.
The critically acclaimed four-part production is uniquely sH๏τ in nearly hour-long continuous single takes
Hannah and Stephen previously starred together in Time
Top Boy actor Ashley Walters takes on the role of DI Luke Bascombe in the hit four-part production
‘And now, let’s be completely honest, when I was a kid, when we were kids, we didn’t have these kind of things. But today, the internet is as much of a teacher and a parent to our children as we can be. Do you know what I mean? And that was kind of where it came from.’
On Thursday, Adolescence co-star Ashley said he ‘f***ing regretted’ saying yes to his hero Stephen after gruelling hours on the set of the Netflix show.
The actor, 42, said: ‘Regardless of what the job was going to be, I would have said yes anyway. You never say no to Stephen Graham.
‘He has a heart of gold, he’s one of the purest guys in this industry, as far as I’m concerned.
‘I’ve worked with a lot of people, they are not all like him. So to work with people that you love, respect, is so rare in this game.
‘So when you get the opportunity, you do it. And that’s what it was.’
The whole series took three months to film. Each episode took three weeks to complete, with the first week devoted to script runthrough, the second week to technical rehearsals, and the third to filming.
As the show makers needed a perfect hour of television in one continuous take, it required multiple versions to be filmed.
The cast and crew filmed 10 single-take versions over episode one of the series, and ended up using take two. While it wasn’t until take 14 when they got it perfect for episode two.
And co-stars and critics alike have praised Owen (pictured, right, with Stephen), 15, for his chilling performance, and Stephen was impressed at the young British actor’s first audition
It comes after Stephen revealed the two harrowing real-life incidents that inspired his new Netflix hit Adolescence, recalling that they made his ‘heart hurt’
Read More Secret hidden meaning behind Netflix’s Adolescence ending REVEALED through ‘haunting’ detail 
But Ashley had not anticipated quite how gruelling the unique filmmaking method would be, and humorously confessed: ‘When I got there… I f****** regretted it.’
He continued: ‘It was the hardest thing in the world. No, no it was. I was so insecure. I was so insecure, and it’s a lot. I had to learn the whole script.
‘And I had a lot to say in that first episode. And you’re leading a lot of it, as well. A lot of it is police jargon and whatever.’
Co-stars and critics alike have praised Owen, 15, for his chilling performance, and Stephen was so impressed at the young British actor’s first audition, that he’s since revealed he turned to co-writer Jack Thorne when Owen left the room and said ‘I think that’s him’.
And Owen recently opened up about how Stephen has supported his career amid filming. The seasoned actor recommended his agent to the teen star, who came to watch a bit of episode one.
‘I got Wuthering Heights from that!’ Owen revealed in Variety. ‘But it’s been going really well. I’ve really enjoyed it. Obviously it not one-sH๏τ anymore! So I’m getting used to that. But it’s been amazing. Emerald’s lovely.’
Owen also told the outlet how Stephen was ‘always checking in on him’ during emotionally grueling scenes – with a psychologist on set.
Elsewhere, Stephen has branded the discovery of Owen, Adolescence’s ‘biggest achievement’.
‘We always want to try and create opportunities for people who may not normally have those opportunities,’ he told The Independent.
‘From the very beginning it was a conscious decision [by the team] that we wanted someone who didn’t have much experience. Like we did find little Tommo [This is England star Thomas Thurgoose] all those years ago.
‘We wanted someone who didn’t have a lot of experience, but we knew that what we were doing and what we were trying to ask this young person to do was cosmic in many ways.
‘It’s a huge undertaking, but we cast Owen, who had no experience, he’d done a couple of little theatre workshops, and he was just starting to do little bits in school.’
