'Adolescence' Creator Officially Confirms a Connection Between His Netflix and Apple Shows
'Adolescence' co-creator Stephen Graham speaks candidly about the thematic parallel between it and Apple's new crime thriller, 'Nocturne.'
Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne co-created the critically acclaimed British limited series Adolescence, which debuted on Netflix in 2025. The series follows Jamie (Owen Cooper) after he stabs a girl to death, and examines how online radicalization affects men. The show's success led to a UK government-backed initiative to make it accessible for free in high schools.
A year after Adolescence, Graham returns to crime fiction for Apple TV's Nocturne, playing Jurek Walter, a cunning mastermind behind the disappearance of two young children, the Frost siblings. At a press junket for Nocturne, Polygon inquired whether viewers who enjoyed Adolescence would find it appealing. Graham pointed out that a key theme in Lars Kepler's novel The Sandman, the basis for Nocturne, is how Jurek Walter's crimes ripple through his victims' families and friends in Stockholm.
This theme is also present in Adolescence, which delves into the impact of the stabbing on the community and Jamie's family. Both Jonah (Liev Schreiber) and Saga (Zazie Beetz) in Nocturne are connected to Graham's character Jurek, and their experiences reflect the psychological aspects that make Nocturne and Adolescence similar.
Graham believes that both series explore the human aspects of understanding why people do terrible things and learning from those mistakes. New episodes of Nocturne will be released weekly through December 25, 2026.
Written by urgent.news from Polygon's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
