Adolescence is a four-part Netflix drama about a 13-year-old arrested on suspicion of murder, and it leans on a small, focused cast. Here’s the cast of Adolescence, sorted by who they play and how the characters connect.
The series was created and written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, directed by Philip Barantini, and each of its four episodes is filmed in a single continuous take with no hidden cuts.
📌 Key Takeaways
- Owen Cooper plays Jamie Miller, the 13-year-old at the center of the story, in his screen debut.
- Stephen Graham plays Jamie’s father, Eddie, and also co-created and co-wrote the series.
- Erin Doherty plays the psychologist assessing Jamie, and Ashley Walters leads the investigation.
This article is for: anyone watching Adolescence who wants a clear guide to the cast and characters.
The Miller Family
Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller. Jamie is the 13-year-old schoolboy arrested on suspicion of murdering a girl from his school, and he anchors the whole series. This is Owen Cooper’s first screen role.
Stephen Graham as Eddie Miller. Eddie is Jamie’s father, and his reaction drives much of the family’s story. Graham also co-created and co-wrote Adolescence, so the role is central to the project. He’s a familiar face from This Is England and Boardwalk Empire.
Christine Tremarco as Manda Miller. Manda is Jamie’s mother and Eddie’s wife, holding the family together as everything unravels.
Amélie Pease as Lisa Miller. Lisa is Jamie’s sister, part of the household caught in the fallout.
The Investigation
Ashley Walters as DI Luke Bascombe. Bascombe is the detective inspector leading the murder investigation. Walters is known from Top Boy.
Faye Marsay as DS Misha Frank. Frank is the detective sergeant working the case alongside Bascombe.
The Psychologist
Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston. Briony is the clinical psychologist assigned to assess Jamie, and her episode with him is one of the series’ standout hours. Doherty is known for playing Princess Anne in The Crown.
Where You’ve Seen Them Before
If the faces look familiar, here’s the quick rundown. Stephen Graham has been a fixture of British drama for years through This Is England and Boardwalk Empire. Ashley Walters led Top Boy. Erin Doherty played a young Princess Anne in The Crown. The exception is Owen Cooper: Adolescence is his first screen role, and his performance as Jamie drew wide praise.
Behind the Camera
Adolescence was created and written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, and directed by Philip Barantini, who also used a continuous one-shot style on his film Boiling Point. The four episodes each play out in real time as a single unbroken take, which is a big part of why the performances feel so immediate. It’s a limited series, built as a complete four-part story.
If the one-take craft is what drew you in, the cast’s stamina across an uninterrupted hour is worth watching a second time.
How Long Is It?
Four episodes, 3 hours 48 minutes altogether — 1h 5m, 51m, 52m and 1h, in that order. The runtimes matter more here than on most shows, because each episode is a single unbroken take. That is what the cast was actually asked to do: carry 51 to 65 minutes of continuous performance with no cut to hide behind, four times over. Owen Cooper did it in his first screen role.
Runtimes read from Netflix’s US title page on August 2, 2026.
Who Netflix Actually Credits
Cast rundowns usually merge the official credits with everyone a fan wiki lists. Netflix credits seven names in the cast block on its own title page: Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty, Owen Cooper, Christine Tremarco, Faye Marsay, and Amélie Pease. That block is the whole principal cast, which is unusual — most Netflix pages stop at ten names on shows with far bigger ensembles. A four-episode story shot in single takes simply does not have room for more.
Read from Netflix’s US title page on August 2, 2026.
Sources
- Netflix — title page (US). Credited cast read here on August 2, 2026.
- Wikipedia — Adolescence (TV series)
- Netflix Tudum — Adolescence cast
- Variety — Adolescence one-take episodes
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