A TV morality tale for troubled times

The new Netflix drama Adolescence highlights the huge problem of alienated young males. Society must learn its hard-hitting lessons, writes Vanessa Thorpe

- Vanessa Thorpe

This is not a review. There have already been plenty of those, most hailing Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham's new Netflix drama series, Adolescence, as a modern television landmark. It has received a run of five-star recommendations from critics in the last week, with many praising the acting just as much as its bold journey into a dark and difficult subject for the screen: the alarming alienation of some of Britain’s male youths.

So far, only the odd amateur online reviewer has seemed unimpressed. A few of these sceptics have called it “slow” or pointless. They have clearly found it neither compelling nor surprising, defying a consensus among professional critics that this is the best piece of serious television seen in a long while.