Forgotten Stephen Graham drama hailed ‘stupendous’ soars up Netflix chart after Adolescence

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The gritty true crime drama starring Stephen Graham has entered Netflix’s top 10 after Adolescence’s smash success.

As Adolescence breaks new viewing records as the most-watched UK show on Netflix ever, a lesser-known series starring the Line of Duty actor is also rising the ranks, currently at number eight in the UK.

Originally released on ITV in 2022, The Walk-In stars Stephen, 51, as a journalist who works with a mole in a dangerous neo-Nazi organisation to expose their plans before they can kill again.

Written by acclaimed screenwriter Jeff Pope, it is based on the true story of how a far-right plan to kill an MP was foiled by an inside man.

The Line of Duty and Boiling Point star plays reformed neo-Nazi Matthew Collins – who, after being approached by police, works with an undercover mole to infiltrate a dangerous group who are hell-bent on starting a race riot in the UK.

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The series’ star-studded cast also includes Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star Jason Flemyng, Shameless actor Dean Lennox Kelly and EastEnders’ Tracy-Ann Oberman.

Stephen Graham stars in crime thriller The Walk-In (Credits: ITV/Shutterstock)

After originally airing in 2022, the five-part series is available to stream in full on Netflix.

Matthew Collins, upon whose story the series is based, was once the South London organiser for the National Front, a volunteer for the British National Party, and a member of the neo-Nazi group Combat 18.

After taking part in the Welling riots in 1993, he became a mole for the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight – being paid in book tokens for his work.

When his role was exposed, Matthew went into hiding in Australia for the next ten years, subsequently returning to Britain to make a new life for himself as an anti-fascistactivist and lecturer.

Stephen plays a reformed neo-Nazi turned activist (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock) This Is England co-star Matthew Ellis plays Stephen’s mole (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

The series picks up with Matthew as he identifies a dangerous far-right sect, making themselves out to be a clean-cut group of young white men.

Its story also follows This Is England star Andrew Ellis as mole Robbie Mullen, who begins feeding Matthew information after the murder of MP Jo Cox.

After receiving an e-mail detailing their plan to murder a second MP, Andrew works with Robbie to foil their future plans.

Stephen Graham smiling on the red carpet (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

The miniseries currently boasts an 80% fresh critic score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an audience score of 76%.

Critics and viewers alike were impressed with Stephen Graham’s ‘gripping’ performance, hailing it as ‘necessary’ viewing for our fractured time.

‘Fantastic frightening series, all the more scary because it’s true and we all know some of the characters. Stephen Graham could not do a bad performance if he tried but he is excellent in this,’ Nick Payne wrote on Google.

‘Stephen Graham is amongst my favourite actors and he is once again, stupendous in this series as well,’ Nishant Jha echoed.

‘Just give Stephen Graham every award on the planet. Masterpiece after masterpiece,’ Jonny Williams said on X.

‘Watching The Walk -In on Netflix, a masterpiece…’ shezai added.

‘Absolutely brilliant,’ Damian James shared.

Meanwhile, Keith Watson, a critic for Metro.co.uk described it as ‘intense,’ highlighting its ‘sincere intentions and important message.’

The series is based on a true story (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock) Comment nowAre you watching The Walk-In?Comment Now

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show in October 2022, Stephen revealed how important the role was to him.

‘It’s very close to my heart – it’s a very poignant and powerful drama that’s really relevant to what is happening today,’ Stephen said.

‘It is a wonderful piece and what I really like is being part of something that puts a mirror up to society.

‘I was a bit nervous at first about people’s reaction to it, but the way it has been received is phenomenal.’

This article was first published on December 2, 2024.

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