Is Adolescence based on a true story? Netflix show’s inspiration, explained

“One of our aims was to ask, ‘What is happening to our young men these days, and what are the pressures they face from their peers, from the internet, and from social media?’ ” Graham said. “And the pressures that come from all of those things are as difficult for kids here as they are the world over.”

He added: “We could have made a drama about gangs and knife crime, or about a kid whose mother is an alcoholic or whose father is a violent abuser,” said Graham to Tudum. “Instead, we wanted you to look at this family and think, ‘My God. This could be happening to us!’ And what’s happening here is an ordinary family’s worst nightmare.”

In other words, Adolescence may not be inspired by one true story — even worse, it is inspired by many. And that really is haunting.

Who is Adolescence based on?

Again, it’s not based on one particular person or case. However, based on what both Graham and Thorne have said about their writing process, there are a few potential instances that may have been on their minds while they created the show.

“Where it came from, for me is there was an incident in Liverpool, a young girl, and she was stabbed to death by a young boy. I just thought, why?” Graham told Radio Times.

He is likely referring to the 2021 incident in which Ava White, a 12-year-old girl, was stabbed in Liverpool city centre by a 14-year-old boy after an alleged “Snapchat row.”

Ava’s mother, Leanne White, made a statement following the release of Adolescence. “It’s got nothing to do with Ava whatsoever,” she told BBC Radio Merseyside. “It makes me really angry as well that Ava’s name keeps on getting put alongside — it’s about the perpetrator, it’s not about Ava.”

She did, however, praise the show. “By them highlighting all the dangers on social media and all the bad influencers like Andrew Tate… I think that’s a really good thing for them to be highlighting,” she said.

Graham also mentioned another case in the same Radio Times interview: “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?”

Ghey was a 16-year-old trans girl who was killed in 2024 in broad daylight in a village park in Cheshire. Ghey’s mother has recently been speaking out about the “horrors of the online world” after her daughter’s murder. She features in a new ITV documentary, Brianna: A Mother’s Story, which airs 27 March on ITV1.