New Netflix series aimed at young adults described by own writer as 'really violent'

A new Netflix series aimed at young adults is billed by its own writer as a ‘really violent’ watch. Watch the trailer here:

Written by Joe Barton (The Lazarus Project, Giri/Haji) and based on the Half Bad YA books by Sally Green, The B*stard Son and The Devil Himself is a new eight-part series that follows a 16-year-old boy who finds himself caught up in an ongoing war between the rivalling ‘fairborn’ and ‘blood’ witches.

A synopsis for the series – which stars Jay Lycurgo, Nadia Parkes and Emilien Vekemans – says: “Sixteen-year-old Nathan is the illegitimate son of the world’s most dangerous witch.

“Fearing he will follow in his father's footsteps, Nathan is closely monitored throughout his childhood.

“As the boundaries between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ fray, Nathan - along with mischievous Annalise and charismatic Gabriel - will soon discover who he truly is.”

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Barton had initially assumed his children would be able to watch the show, but upon seeing a cut he soon realised it may not be appropriate.

Speaking exclusively to the Radio Times, he said: “I remember getting into the edit room on this and just suddenly being, like, ‘Oh s***, it’s really violent!’

“I did have, like, a mild panic... like, was the audience for it?”

Barton explained how adapting the show for TV meant there were fewer restrictions on how far they could go, unlike the limitations that come with film thanks to age rating requirements.

Netflix

“I think sometimes, especially when you do things for film, you do have to water them down because the money is bigger, and there’s the distribution... it’s just a stricter thing,” he said.

“But as soon as you’re in the TV world, I think you can push at those edges.

“People sort of assume a YA thing has to be slightly sanitised, but I don’t think that’s true. I think an audience is there for a tougher story. Well, we’ll find out!”

Lycurgo, who plays Nathan, also defended the violent content in the YA show, adding: “Teenagers these days see a lot of things. And as gory as it can be, it’s also really fun and romantic. There’s a beautiful love story in it."

And looks like the approach has paid off, as the show has received plenty of positive feedback from critics, with Digital Spy describing the series as the 'best YA fantasy Netflix has ever made, by a wide margin'.

Watch The B*stard Son and The Devil Himself on Netflix now.