Netflix reveals how many tries each episode of single shot new thriller Adolescence took

Netflix’s newest hit show, Adolescence, features four hour long episodes that were all filmed in just one single shot.

The show is a technical marvel, with the camera following the actors through walls, in vans, and sometimes even switching from a normal tracking shot to a drone shot without a single cut.

The series follows a young boy who is arrested in the opening minutes of episode one, suspected of murder.

The young boy, named Jamie, is played by first time actor Owen Cooper, and is accused of stabbing a young girl to death.

Cooper stars alongside Stephen Graham, who plays his father, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty, and Faye Marsay.

Due to the fact that every episode is shot in a single take, each of them could be ended a minute in or 50 minutes in if an actor flubbed their lines, missed their cues, or the camera operators missed their incredibly finely timed choreography.

While it's a lot more work to film, Graham has said he believes it was all worthwhile (Netflix)

As such, many viewers will be wondering how many tries each episode took.

The show’s director Phillip Barantini has spoken about this with Deadline, reporting that one episode was even shot on the second try.

Barantini, who also directed Boiling Point, has stated that they aimed originally to go for ten tries per episode, but that several were curtailed very early into shooting so this ended up being closer to 15 or so tries per episode.

Certain scenes, including those in episode 3, were even improvised (Netflix)

The first episode is arguably the most complicated, with the camera following a police raid, going into a van, and then traversing a busy police station.

Despite five days being set aside just for this episode, the actors and crew managed to get the take used in the show on just the second take on day one.

Other than the first instalment, every take used for the show was taken from the final day of filming set aside for each of the three episodes.

The second episode, involving 370 extras at a busy and bustling school, took 13 takes despite including a drone shot in a scene which was called ‘impossible’.

Episode three, which has seen the most critical acclaim of all four episodes, stars a far more limited number of actors.

It is in its own wat incredibly complicated however, with two actors carrying out the dialogue for nearly the entire episode.

In addition to this, the camerawork manages to make an episode which is in reality just Jamie talking with a child psychologist, played by Erin Doherty, absolutely thrilling.

They managed this on the eleventh try.

The final episode took the most tries of any, though that is hardly surprising considering half of it was done with Stephen Graham seemingly driving a van and acting simultaneously.

Adolescence’s final episode was filmed on the 16^th take, capping of a show which many have called a ‘masterpiece’.