Adolescence won the award for best limited series at the 2025 Emmy Awards.
Stephen Graham, who created the show alongside Jack Thorne, and one of its stars, took to the stage to accept the award. “This was a huge collaboration,” he said to the crowd. “What we do, it’s not a game of footy, do you know what I mean? There is no winners and there is no losers. It’s all subjective, but what we managed to create was a beautiful family and whether he was No. 1 on the call sheet or No. 101, you were treated equally and everyone was respected and treated with the utmost of respect. We’re all the same. And I think that’s how you get the best work and that’s how you get the best out of your people.”
Graham continued, “If you fill them with love and give them that opportunity. So whether or not you were an executive producer like the wonderful Jeremy from Plan B [Entertainment] or you were the fella that was cleaning the toilets in our winnebagos, we were all equal. So just look after each other and give your mates a cuddle or a kiss and tell them that you love them.”
Adolescence was up against HBO Max’s The Penguin, Netflix‘s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and Black Mirror and FX’s Dying for Sex. The series also won for best writing. (View the full winners list here and red carpet arrivals here.)
The psychological crime-drama series was tied with The Bear and The Pitt for earning 13 nominations this year. The win also comes after Baby Reindeer, another Netflix show created and filmed in the U.K. won big for the best limited series last year, picking up awards at the 2024 Emmys, Golden Globes and Gotham TV Awards.
Premiering on the streamer in March, Adolescence consists of four episodes with each filmed in one consecutive shot, follows Owen Cooper portraying 13-year-old Jamie Miller who is arrested on suspicion of murder and Erin Doherty play’s his clinical psychologist Briony Ariston. Meanwhile Graham plays Eddie Miller, Jamie’s dad. Cooper, 15, also took home the prize for best supporting actor in a limited series. He made history as the youngest nominee in his respective category. Doherty also won for best supporting actress in a limited series. Additionally, Graham won for best actor in a limited or anthology series or movie.
Following his first Emmy nomination in July, Cooper spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how he found out he was nominated. “I was just in my living room and then everyone rung me and said that I’d been nominated,” he said. “It got spoiled for me…which is a bit annoying.”
Cooper continued to praise the show’s ending. “I was only in a small bit of that, but that’s my favorite episode. If I was to watch the show, I would just watch episode four because I love everything about it,” he said. “The very last scene [when Jamie’s dad tucks his teddy bear into his bed], it’s so sad, but that’s my favorite scene in the whole show. I think Stephen and Christine [Tremarco] and Amélie [Pease] were just amazing. The ending was brilliant and everything that led up to it.”
Hosted by Nate Bargatze, the 77th Emmy Awards are telecast live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on CBS from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET.
