How was Adolescence on Netflix filmed? One-take explained - how they did it in the director’s words

• Adolescence is one of the most acclaimed shows of 2025.
• Each episode is filmed in an ambitious one-take style.
• But how exactly did they manage to successfully achieve it?

Netflix released one of the most acclaimed and harrowing TV shows of the year so far last week in Adolescence. Stephen Graham stars in and co-created the four-part drama.

Following 13-year-old Jamie Miller after he is arrested on suspicion of murder, it tackles knife-crime and the impact online ideologies like the manosphere are having on the younger generations. It is masterfully executed and heart-breaking, one of the first must watches of 2025.

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Beyond its timely subject matter and incredible performances, Adolescence has caught the eye for its ambitious ‘one-take’ style. But how exactly did they manage it and what does that even mean?

How was Adolescence filmed?

The show was directed by British filmmaker Philip Barantini, who had previously worked on the film Boiling Point with Stephen Graham, was behind the camera on all four episodes. Like that 2021 movie, each episode of Adolescence was filmed in “one-take” - a technique used by the Oscar winning film Birdman from 2014.

TV shows or movies shot in this style are filmed in one continuous take - or made to look as if they are with clever edits. It was a technique pioneered by Alfred Hitchcock who did four long-takes for his 1948 film Rope - which was the limit of the technology at the time.

It is an ambitious and complicated style of filmmaking. But how did they pull it off with Adolescence?

How did they manage to film the one-take shots?

Speaking to Netflix’s Tudum website, Barantini explained the gruelling process required to successfully film the show. He said: “Basically that means we press record on the camera, and we don’t press stop until the very end of the hour.

“But it’s much more complicated than it sounds. It takes months of preparation and weeks of rehearsals and an incredible team of people to pull it off at every stage, from the script to the locations to the production design to where exactly the camera is going to be able to shoot and from what angle.”

The second episode of Adolescence ends with the camera flying up into the sky and away from Jamie’s school, the creators have confirmed they used a drone to pull this off. Co-creator and writer Jack Thorne added: “It was an example of the technical meeting the story and finding a fusion which is actually better than anything the story had come up with on its own.”

Where was Adolescence filmed?

The show is set in Yorkshire and the Netflix crews did much of the filming in Pontefract in the City of Wakefield. This was suggested so they could use a studio near the town, which has traditionally been used as a practice space for bands, and that was transformed into the police station and the interview room for episode three.

Barantini added: “We knew it was going to be set somewhere in the North of England, and we also knew it would be from somewhere around wherever our Jamie was from — in this case near Warrington — because it would have been unfair to make him do an accent.”

Have you watched Adolescence yet, what did you think of it? Personally, it is the best thing I’ve watched in 2025 so far - but share your thoughts by email: [email protected].