Adolescence: How Sheffield’s Warp Films and South Kirkby’s Production Park came together for Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne’s hit Netflix miniseries

Unsurprisingly, “it has been a very exciting few days," says Leo Martin, co-producer and head of production at Sheffield-based Warp Films, the production company behind the hit, speaking four days after its release on the streaming service.

“We’re absolutely delighted with the reception that it's had and obviously the stir that it's creating, and the way people are talking about it and the important things that it addresses,” she says.

Four hour-long episodes – starring the likes of Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters and Erin Doherty, and each filmed in a single take – follow the aftermath of 13-year-old Jamie Miller’s arrest on suspicion of murdering a girl from his school. The show, written by Jack Thorne with Graham and directed by Philip Barantini, delves into toxic masculinity, the generational divide of online conversations, violence against women and girls, and the lasting impact of family relations.

“The closest thing to TV perfection in decades,” reads one review headline, in The Guardian national newspaper.

But from a practical point of view, it was made possible by what appears from the outside, to the unknowing eye, to be a pretty standard set of industrial buildings in South Kirkby, West Yorkshire. For years, Production Park has provided space, in a former mining community, for some of the world’s biggest performers to rehearse and develop their shows. Ever heard of Lady Gaga or Beyonce?

Recently, a move into more television projects has been happening, with Adolescence becoming the park’s first major small screen project when it filmed there over five months last year. Because the site was built for developing huge live shows, it proved an ideal fit for such a technically ambitious TV project, one requiring an unusual amount of space, height, resources and expertise all in one location.

“If you're trying to do things in a single shot and you're handing camera equipment over from scene to scene to create that fluid kind of movement, then you need scale to do that,” says Jim Farmery, Production Park’s director of external affairs.

Not everywhere can offer that kind of space, he says, adding: “It's a great learning curve for us to think, well, actually, then you can accommodate really large scale TV production as well, because they don't always film in a building that's 16 to 18 meters tall. They film in buildings that just aren't that big.”

While neighbouring housing and industrial estates were used, and one episode was filmed almost entirely at Minsthorpe Community College in South Elmsall, much of the action takes place inside a police station and custody suite - a set built at Production Park, allowing the programme makers to manoeuvre filming equipment at all angles, at pace, without much limitation.

Philip Barantini has form in executing single-shot works with his restaurant drama Boiling Point, and Matt Lewis, the Adoloescence director of photograph, also has experience with that but there was still “a lot to work out,” says Leo, as the cast and crew had 10 attempts – two a day – to pull off each episode following a week of cast rehearsals and another of technical rehearsals.

"It’s a big planning feat, really,” she says. “It’s a bit like a gigantic play, is a good analogy. I actually heard Ashley (Walters) talk about this, and it’s very true, it's a bit like a train – once it starts, once you're on it, you've just got to go with it. When we did takes, we would pretty much plough on.”

It entailed a lot of physical activity – passing the camera from one person to another, following each other up stairs, running across sets.

“We had a lot of kit. We had tracking vehicles, we had cameras coming off braces on to drones, somebody take it off. I mean, the technical wizardry was, I would say, pretty spot on,” says Leo, who praises the work of camera operator Lee David Brown and production designer Adam Tomlinson.

It was down to the wire on occasion. Episode two was achieved on the final take and there was jeopardy for the final shot when – spoiler alert – there is an expansive aerial shot filmed by drone, taking flight before travelling to and landing at another location.

That episode, filmed at the school, was particularly tricky because of the enormous amount of cast, extras and crew – some 650 people a day – involved.

Remarkable, too, was the performance of actor Owen Cooper, who is now 15 but was 14 when filming took place, making his acting debut to play Jamie Miller after casting director Shaheen Baig picked him from hundreds of candidates.

While his parents were sometimes on set, as was a psychologist, Leo stresses how performances were aided by the atmosphere on set. “The very nature of all the people involved meant that it was a phenomenally supportive environment for everybody, but but especially for Owen,” who she says was helped by the experienced actors and crew around him.

"Primarily, he's an incredibly talented guy, but he we also made sure that he had everything around him to make sure that he was supported and comfortable and relaxed in the in the environment, because, yeah, it's an emotional ask.”

The production also made use of local talent. Take 16-year-old Austin Haynes, from Leeds. He is one of the busiest child actors at the Baildon-based Articulate Agency, which says it has more than 100 extras and three key cast members in the show.

Austin, who plays Fredo, the one-take shot meant “he pressure was on to ensure there were no mistakes”.

For Jim, all this points to Yorkshire continuing to be a prime spot for TV and film production – and where they can “democratise the creative industries”.

“We all need to keep hammering home this point that it's not about talent. There's plenty of talent and plenty of ability to deliver these really large scale projects. What we've always lacked, I think, are the opportunities and the production companies that are willing to do what Warp did, and actually say, yes, we want to make this here. We can film it here. The talent is here. We can do an amazing job here. And I think that's been borne out by all the reviews of Adolescence so far.

“We've certainly seen it in touring live music: there's been no reason why Beyonce wouldn't come and rehearse here, why Lady Gaga wouldn't, or why Coldplay wouldn't and so on,” says Jim.

“I think there's quite a bit of myth-busting that needs to happen around, ‘Why can't these things happen here?’ We've proven that they can, so let's land the next one.”