ADOLESCENCE CREATOR JACK THORNE on Golden Globes, Being an Outsider & the Dark Side of Social Media

Great Company with Jamie Laing

Jampot

Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.6 • 951 Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You might not know Jack Thorne’s name but you’ll definitely know his work. He’s the award-winning writer behind Adolescence, Skins, This is England and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

For years, he has created intense, thought-provoking dramas - stories that speak to millions of us around the world. His work doesn’t just entertain, it creates conversations about who we are and the world we live in.

I loved this conversation with Jack. What surprised me most was learning that behind his success is someone who grew up feeling like he didn’t quite belong. It was through his writing that Jack found his purpose: telling stories that matter.

We cover:

Locking eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio during his Golden Globes speech
Adolescence and the dark side of social media
E.T. - the film that made Jack fall in love with cinema
His creative partnership and friendship with Stephen Graham
How his autism diagnosis helped him make sense of his past

If you take one thing from this conversation, let it be this: stories have a quiet power to help us see the world, and ourselves, a little differently.

You can watch Jack's Lord of The Flies series now. All episodes are available on BBC iPlayer.

Jack Thorne is Great Company.

If you enjoyed the show, you can also follow us:

Instagram- @greatcompanypodcast

TikTok - @greatcompanypodcast

And if you've got thoughts, questions and comments, you can email us at: greatcompany@jampotproductions.co.uk

This episode is sponsored by The AA, the UK’s No.1 breakdown provider. It’s OK with the AA, they’re the fastest major breakdown provider with more patrols up and down the country, 24/7, 365 days a year. So, if you want that peace of mind and be back on the road in no time - Join today at theaa.com/Great T&Cs apply. Verify claims at theaa.com/best

THE CREDITS

Executive Producer: Ewan Newbigging-Lister

Producer: Helen Burke & Jack Claramunt

Assistant Producer: Issy Weeks-Hankins

Video: Jake Ji & Josh Bennett

Social Media: Laura Coughlan

Audio: Rafi Amsili Geovannetti

Great Company is an original podcast from JamPot

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Coming up on Great Company.
0:02.0	Just firstly with adolescents, congratulations.
0:04.0	Dad, I ever done anything?
0:06.0	It's been entirely discombobulating.
0:08.0	This is extraordinary. Thank you for this. We will treasure it.
0:11.0	It's got 141 million views.
0:13.0	It took us all by surprise. It was the shock of our lives.
0:18.0	You've created a show that's changed how people think about society and our children growing up in it.
0:23.5	And the thing about algorithms is, as soon as you're watching the darker stuff, more darker stuff gets fed.
0:28.8	And soon, that's all you're consuming.
0:30.9	That's where I thought Jamie would go.
0:33.2	What do you think we should be doing as a society to help kids like Jamie?
0:39.4	Hi, I'm Jack Thorne, and I'm in great company.
0:42.3	Jack Thorne, the co-creator, the writer of adolescence.
0:45.9	How do you change Harry Potter? How do you write Lord of the Files? How do you make these adaptations?
0:50.0	I've often written about best friends because I think I've always wanted one.
0:53.5	I remember having this thought when I was 10 that I might never have any friends. And everyone was in relationships with each other and I was sort of outside it. I am autistic. I definitely think that does play a role. I don't think I really had a best friend until the age of 32. And then I married her. You mentioned that you got ill, what happened?
1:11.1	So when I was in my final year of university,
1:13.6	I had a sort of complete physical breakdown.
1:16.9	I became allergic to sunlight, radiators,
1:19.9	and finally I became allergic to body movement.
1:22.2	For about 15 years, I was quite seriously disabled by it.
	...

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