This collection maps the origins of the Netflix series Sex Education in relation to the genre of teenage high school dramas and comedies, exploring the four-season narrative arc and analysing the principal themes and characters.

The Netflix series Sex Education has been a standout critical and popular success and has featured among Netflix's most watched content in 190 countries throughout its 4 seasons. Its fresh and exciting portrayals of teenagers and their friendships, relationships, identities and sexualities demand new frameworks for understanding gender and genre, as well as the dynamics of streaming and interaction with the audience.

This collection considers the aesthetics of the series and its main philosophical, ethical and political aspects. It investigates the creative process behind the ground-and-taboo-breaking series, examining it as a cultural product that is both old and new in that it relies on tried and tested generic formulae while also being responsive to new identity formations.

Deborah Shaw is Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

Rob Stone is Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK.