What History Is Adolescence Making in the UK? Netflix’s Latest Hit Thriller Marches Towards a One-of-a-Kind Record

Adolescence has made history by securing the top spot on the British Rating Charts. The show stars Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper. Read on for more details.

Written by Rashi Desai , Entertainment Journalist

Updated on Mar 25, 2025 | 08:14 AM GMT | 6.1K

Adolescence via IMDB

Adolescence has hit it out of the park by securing the top spot in the weekly British Rating Charts. The new Netflix show revolves around a 13-year-old killing his classmate and the further legalities that take place. In the first week of the series hitting the digital screens, it has managed to cater to a large number of audiences and gathered 6.5 million views on the first episode.

The second episode comes close, with 6 million views. According to the reports by the rating agency Barb, Adolescence overtook The Apprentice, which stood at 5.8 million views on the seventh day since the release.

Moreover, the show also managed to spark a debate across the globe about gender-based violence and teenage masculinity. Adolescence also managed to get more likes than Baby Reindeer, Fool Me Once and The Gentlemen. The ratings are only continuing to rise.

In addition to the show making history, it was previously reported that Netflix was the largest streaming service consumed in the U.K. for the past three years. The content head of the U.K. division recently earned plaudits for housing shows like Baby Reindeer and Adolescence on the platform.

As for the records worldwide, the Graham starrer show gathered 24 million views and close to 100 million hours of watching. One of the other reasons that the show is attracting the attention of the audience is for the cinematography. Every four of its episodes have been shot in a single take.

As for the plot of the series, the official synopsis reads, “A family's world turns upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested for murdering a schoolmate. The charges against their son force them to confront every parent's worst nightmare.”

All episodes of Adolescence are available to stream on Netflix.