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Since its debut on the streaming service, Netflix viewers have been hooked on Adolescence, the four-part British miniseries centering around the investigation into the murder of a high school student. It’s a stunningly good, if occasionally difficult, piece of filmmaking that showcases a cast including Peaky Blinders’ Stephen Graham (who also co-wrote the series), The Crown’s Erin Doherty, and newcomer Owen Cooper as the accused, Jamie Miller — but, as special as the series undoubtedly is, it’s also part of a body of work that showcases some of the best British television drama of the past few years. If four episodes of Adolescence left you wanting more, then I present for your consideration: Three British TV shows that helped make Adolescence was it is.

This is For Your Consideration, in which we try to come to terms with the inescapable fact that, honestly, there’s too much out there to have time to watch, read, or hear everything — by making some suggestions about things that you might have overlooked but would enjoy, anyway. Think of it as recommendations from a well-meaning friend.

This is England: Love in a time of unfortunate fashion choices, skinhead racists, and classic music

The entirety of This Is England encompasses one feature film and three spin-off miniseries, titled This is England ’86, This Is England ’88, and This Is England ’90. As much as slice-of-life series about a group of friends as they grow up and out of skinhead culture of the 1980s as any singular story, This Is England — written and directed by Shane Meadows, although Jack Thorne (who co-wrote Adolescence) helps with the writing of the miniseries spin-offs — brings the same kind of humanistic approach to difficult cultural questions surrounding violence and trauma as the new hit Netflix show without offering any easy answers… although, thankfully, there’s a welcome undercurrent of kindness and love to offset the more difficult aspects of the series.

Available on: AMC+ (movie), Prime Video (series)

The Virtues: the lost British classic that’s the proto-Adolescence

Another series from Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne, The Virtues feels very much like a midway point between This Is England and Adolescence; Stephen Graham plays Joseph, a man whose life fall apart when his ex-wife and son leave the country to move to Australia, causing him to relapse into alcoholism and, in the process, uncover memories from his childhood he’d repressed for years. Heartbreaking, moving, and shocking, this is a four-part series that refuses to allow the audience any easy answers or shelter from a difficult emotional journey, culminating in a movie-length final episode that refuses to go where you’re expecting, yet everything feels well-earned and entirely honest throughout the entire thing.

Available on: Unfortunately, this isn’t streaming or on DVD/Blu-ray in the US; you’ll have to track down a UK disc, but it’s worth the effort. (If Netflix wants to pick it up, I don’t think anyone would complain…)

Boiling Point: The Bear, but British and unwilling to fall for its own hype

Another movie that turned into a TV show, Boiling Point is notable because (a) it’s the show that The Bear thinks it is, if it didn’t get so wrapped up in its own hype, and (b) the original movie is directed by Adolescence’s Philip Barantini using the same one-shot-no-edits method as the Netflix show. As The Bear reference suggests, it’s set in a busy restaurant that has drawn a lot of attention, although it still struggles to survive, and the original movie follows one particularly difficult service, with the series following from there. It’s tense, it’s smart, and it’s unwilling to take any prisoners, including its own characters. By the time you’ve finished the movie, you won’t be able to stop yourself picking up the show immediately after.

Available on: Peacock (movie), Netflix (series)