The Hack has just launched on ITV, though you may not know that its co-writer Jack Thorne is behind some unmissable past dramas too. After starting out on the likes of Shameless, Skins and the various This Is England TV shows, he has racked-up quite an impressive CV over the years.
This includes 2025’s breakout Netflix drama Adolescence, which he co-wrote with Stephen Graham and recently won a series of Emmys for.
We’ve now rounded-up 7 more of his most unmissable dramas that you can watch right now.
What to Read NextToxic Town
Released earlier in 2025 too, Toxic Town follows the true story of the Corby toxic waste case, in which a group of mothers in the Northamptonshire town took their council to the High Court. It came after their children were born with limb differences, the mothers believing that it was due to failure to clear toxic waste from the steelworks.
Netflix
Featuring a starry cast that includes Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker, The White Lotus’ Aimee Lou Wood and The Hack’s own Robert Carlyle, the series was described as “a story of immense hope and undeniable heartbreak with its people at its centre” in Digital Spy’s four-star review.
Available to stream now on Netflix.
BBC
Best Interests
Best Interests features Michael Sheen and Sharon Horgan as parents who face a moral battle when their daughter with a rare form of muscular dystrophy contracts a chest infection, with doctors recommending it in her best interests to halt treatment. However, the couple disagree, which leads to a legal battle.
DS suggested it was a “sensitive exploration of a complicated issue” that “does not preach”, adding: “That’s not to say that it hasn’t got something to say for itself, but what you take away from it is bound to be subjective.”
Available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
Channel 4
Help
This one-off TV film written by Thorne was called “one of the most important shows of the Covid era” by DS, and focuses on a care home worker in Liverpool as the pandemic hits as she also looks after a middle-aged man with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham lead this powerful drama alongside The Responder’s Ian Hart, The Full Monty’s Lesley Sharp and The Royle Family’s Sue Johnston.
Available to stream now on Channel 4.
Channel 4
The Accident
Sarah Lancashire headlines this four-part Channel 4 series from Thorne, which is loosely inspired by the Grenfell Tower and Aberfan disasters. The drama takes place in a Welsh town as a group of teenagers are killed following an explosion at a regeneration project, with a big fight for justice ensuing.
The 2019 show also features Stella’s Mark Lewis Jones, Kaos’ Nabhaan Rizwan, After Love’s Joanna Scanlan and Killing Eve’s Adrian Scarborough.
Available to stream now on Channel 4.
Dean Rogers//Channel 4
The Virtues
This acclaimed series saw Thorne re-team with This Is England’s Shane Meadows, with Stephen Graham leading the cast alongside Mary & George’s Niamh Algar and This Is England ’88’s Helen Behan.
The drama focuses on a man whose wife and young son leave him for a new life in Australia, as he decides to go back to his native Ireland and reconnect with his estranged sister. However, while there he uncovers repressed trauma stemming from an incident in his past.
Available to stream now on Channel 4.
Channel 4
Kiri
Another team-up between Thorne and Lancashire, this miniseries follows the abduction of a young Black girl who lives with white foster parents, with her disappearance having a huge ripple effect in the local community.
Kiri became a huge hit for Channel 4 when it launched in 2018, with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus calling it a “triumph of acutely-written characters and bravura performances”. Conclave’s Lucian Msamati, The Lazarus Project’s Paapa Essiedu and Sinners’ Wunmi Mosaku also star.
Available to stream now on Channel 4.
Channel 4
National Treasure
Thorne won a BAFTA for his work on this 2016 miniseries, which DS called “one of the best and most affecting bits of television in ages” at the time.
National Treasure was written in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal, and stars the late Robbie Coltrane as a once-successful comedian called Paul Finchley who is accused of rape by several young women. The series also features strong performances by Julie Walters as wife Marie and Andrea Riseborough as daughter Dee.
Available to stream now on Channel 4.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Â Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.