Ashley Walters has revealed the horrifying moment he had to be consoled by his director after ruining an entire take in Netflix’s one-sH๏τ drama Adolescence.

The series, which has been universally praised by critics, sees each episode filmed in a real time as a continuous take. 

Adolescence, 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 Graham 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 Ashley stars as policeman DI Luke Bascombe.

Speaking on the Capital XTRA Breakfast Show, Ashley confessed that he was ‘nearly in tears’ after messing up a take.

British filmmaker Philip Barantini adopted his one-sH๏τ approach to direct Adolescence, meaning one camera followed the action unfolding in each hour-long instalment – a style that added an additional layer of tension to the show.

Ashley Walters has revealed the horrifying moment he had to be consoled by his director after ruining an entire take in Netflix ‘s one-sH๏τ drama Adolescence

Adolescence was only released on Netflix on Thursday, but has already made waves and earned huge praise for its storyline and videography (Ashley is pictured in the series)

Host Shayna Marie said: ‘It’s really doing well, number one on Netflix right now. And everyone is speaking about it, you should be really proud of it. 

‘You mentioned one of your cast members, Stephen Graham, who was recently in the building talking about the one-sH๏τ nature of the episodes, and this actually got revealed…’

Listeners then heard Stephen’s interview with Chris Moyles on Radio X, where he and his wife Hannah Walters admitted that Ashley ‘screwed up’ one of the takes.

As Shayna declared: ‘Ashley screwed up the one take!’ the Toy Boy star said: ‘Typical. Typical Hannah.’

‘Yeah, that’s Stephen’s wife. My bestie. She’s one of my besties, man. I love that woman so much. But yeah, it did happen. 

‘It did happen, yeah. So there’s like, in episode two, I chase a kid at the end, and I used his name when calling my son instead of my son’s character’s name right at the end. 

‘And Philip Barantini, the director, he came up to me after, because I was in bits, bro. You know when like you’ve dropped the ball? It’s like you’re dropping a ball for everyone, do you know what I mean.

‘It’s like a football team, bro. You’re playing together. And I was in bits, bro. Nearly in tears. 

Speaking on the Capital XTRA Breakfast Show, Ashley confessed that he was ‘nearly in tears’ after messing up a take

‘Because it was such a good take, and he tried to make me feel better by like, ”No, but maybe, you know, the character is so discombobulated…” 

‘I was like, ”Phil, let’s just go again. Let’s go again.”

It comes after Netflix revealed the behind the scenes secrets to filming Adolescence after it was announced that the series was filmed in one-sH๏τ takes. 

Director Philip Barantini used his unconventional approach to each of the four episodes, meaning one camera followed the action continuously for the entire hour.

Netflix took to X/Twitter over the weekend to answer some questions fans of the series have had – including how the series came to an end in episode two, when the camera glided from the school to the crime scene in one seamless take.

The streaming platform’s post explained: ‘The DOP (director of pH๏τography) carries the camera and follows a school pupil to the traffic lights with a wide sH๏τ as she goes at the end of the school day. 

‘Before she crosses the road, a team attach the camera to a drone, which then flies a distance of 0.3 miles across the site to the murder scene, where it comes down to a camera operator and team of grips who smoothly catch the camera and transition into a close sH๏τ of Stephen Graham. Easy.’

Elsewhere, the post revealed which takes were used for each episode, explaining how producers used the second take for the first episode, set mostly in a police station, which was captured on the first day of a five-day shoot for the episode. 

The second episode, which was set inside a school, was filmed in take 13 on day five, amid a huge cast of 370 extras. 

The third episode was filmed 11 times before the director was happy with the interaction between Adolescence‘s breakout star Owen Cooper, who plays the accused teen Jamie Miller, and a psychologist played by Erin Doherty. 

Meanwhile, the final episode was captured during take 16 as the Millers wrestled with the devastating realities of their son’s situation. Like episodes two and three, the finale was sH๏τ on the final day of filming. 

He said: ‘It did happen, yeah. So there’s like, in episode two, I chase a kid at the end, and I used his name when calling my son instead of my son’s character’s name right at the end’

Read More Adolescence’s Stephen Graham reunited with iconic This Is England star – but did you recognise them?

Netflix said the original plan was to film each episode in full 10 times, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, but a few attempts had to be abandoned, so some episodes had more than 10 takes. 

Sometimes episodes were halted because actors fluffed their lines, but on other occasions, they made mistakes and carried on performing. 

In some episodes, the crew are on screen but are in costume so they blend in with other extras.

Netflix added: ‘During these rehearsals the cast would also work through the choreography, allowing the DOP (director of pH๏τography) to plan the positions of the camera through the whole take, as well as the movements of the crew.’

Elsewhere, Netflix was asked how the cast prepared for the long one sH๏τ shoot days and they revealed it was built up gradually over a few days.

They explained: ‘In preparation for the shoot, segments of the script were rehearsed and a little bit more added each day – starting with five minutes on the first day and then adding further material as they went through, so by the end of the week they would be doing full run-throughs.’ 

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. 

Tune into Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce & Shayna Marie weekdays from 6:30am-10:00am, also available on the Global Player app