The family whose home was used in the hit Netflix series Adolescence have spoken about feeling like they won the ‘postcode lottery’.
Last week the four-part series, set in Northwest England, was released on the streaming service, where it quickly soared to the top of the charts.
Created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, it stars the latter as Eddie Miller, whose family faces a shocking reckoning when his 13-year-old son Jamie (Owen Cooper) is accused of murder. It explores the radicalisation of young boys on the internet, misogyny and incel culture.
Shot in one take, the series has been called a ‘masterpiece’, with viewers also praising the gripping performances.
Now, the family who live inside the home have spoken about seeing their property transform before appearing on screen.
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The £230,000 three-bedroom home of Bethany Fletcher and Dylan Naylor in South Kirkby, Pontefract, Yorkshire was the setting of the Miller family home in Adolescence.
One day the family received a letter through the post from the Warp Films production company explaining they were interested in using the house to film a TV series.
‘I thought it was a scam at first as I had no idea that this was how it worked,’ Bethany said.
‘I gave the number left on the letter a ring anyway and before I knew it an hour later the around 20 people had shown up mapping it out, taking pictures, and moving stuff around.’
Confused by what they were watching unfold, the couple’s neighbours started recording registration plates.
‘They thought we were being robbed as they had no idea what was going on,’ Dylan explained.
They were then told the production company would get in contact within two weeks if they wanted to use the home in the show. Soon after Stephen turned up to have a look around – much to their shock.
‘I was star struck when he walked through our door,’ she said.
‘A production team had been on the phone briefly asking not to share the news Stephen would be in town, but I misheard what he had said.’
Dylan said having Stephen arrive was ‘surreal’.
They were then told their home had been selected, with desirable features confirming the decision including its positioning at the end of a long street, the natural light, and how it was a short distance to the production park located a five-minute drive away.
Last summer the couple and their children – Theo, 3, and Louis, 2 – had to move out of their detached, 1960s house for three months while cameras were rolling.
Before production began the house was given an overhaul, with the kitchen table the only fitting belonging to the family that features on the show.
Instead, other furniture was added in by the crew, who even re-wallpapered the entire house.
‘Everything was replaced. All the furniture was changed, the walls were wallpapered over. I’m talking absolutely everything, the pots and pans and knives and forks,’ he said.
‘They even changed the garage door, took out the front garden fences, and added a plastic grey cover to our front door.’
When it came time to return the house back to its original furnishings the crew accidentally took a photo of Dylan as a child after mistaking it as a prop picture of Owen.
The family did however get to keep some of the props, including a bed, living room lamps, curtains and flowers.
Living in the home while rehearsals took place over two weeks, the couple then had to move out, living in his parent’s home for a month before going to stay in Bethany’s mother’s next door neighbours’ house for three weeks.
After being paid a fee for the property’s usage, Bethany and Dylan now plan to buy the home, which was her childhood abode still owned by her mother Sharron.
Dylan, a self-employed floor layer, said the experience was ‘like winning the postcode lottery’.
‘Who knew all this could happen from a letter through our front door,’ they added.
After watching the series, they had nothing but praise for the acclaimed programme, saying they ‘loved it every bit’.
Bethany went on to share: ‘It still doesn’t feel real that it’s our house on TV. People are always surprised when we tell them.’
Much of Adolescence was filmed in Pontefract, with director Philip Barantini previously speaking about the production being based there.
‘We knew it was going to be set somewhere in the north of England, and we also knew it would be from somewhere around wherever our Jamie was from, because it would have been unfair to make him do an accent,’ he said.
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Cooper is from Warrington, about 60 miles away.
They also utilised the nearby Production Park, a 100,000 square foot production hub that has a state-of-the-art film studio.
‘It was a massive, brilliant space, and we were able to build our police station there, and also our [police] interview room. It became the nerve centre of the entire production,’ the director added.
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Adolescence is streaming on Netflix.
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