Enola Holmes 3 writer explains how new film tackling colonial history is different from the first two

As fans wait for Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne to potentially reunite on a follow-up to Adolescence, they won't have to wait long at all for a different collaboration between two of the key figures behind the acclaimed series.

That's because Jack Thorne has returned to write Enola Holmes 3, having written the previous two films, while Adolescence director Philip Barantini is taking over duties behind the camera.

So far, all we know about the new film, which is coming later this year, is that it will see Millie Bobby Brown's Enola traveling to Malta, where "personal and professional dreams collide in a case more tangled and treacherous than any she has faced before".

However, Thorne has now revealed a few further details about what fans can expect, when speaking with us exclusively for our video interview series The Radio Times Writers' Room, in which we get to know what makes screenwriters tick.

When asked how the new film will differ to the previous two, Thorne said: "Well, it's interesting because it's with a different director for the first time. I worked with Harry on the first two films, and loved working with Harry Bradbeer. And then Harry decided not to do the third film, and so Phil Barantini from Adolescence, came in – and Boiling Point and all the other brilliant things he's done.

"And again, when you're in a partnership, as I was with Harry, and then you're in a different partnership, as I am with Phil, you find different elements.

"And Millie's grown up. Millie's got a baby now, Millie's totally different to the Millie that I first met when first thinking about Enola Holmes. And so it was trying to capture what it is to be a grown up Enola Holmes, it was trying to capture what is a Phil Barantini version of Enola Holmes."

Teasing some slight plot details, Thorne added: "I had some unfinished business with Enola Holmes, that I wanted to do in a totally different way, that told a different side of British society. I always thought of Enola Holmes as a sort of cheat, as a way of understanding 19th century British society.

"The first film was about land reform and vote reform, the second film was about the birth of the unions, and the third film looks at our colonial history. And just trying to capture those different elements I find really exciting, but also trying to capture a Phil Barantini film, and also trying to capture what it is to write for Millie now."

Before fans get to see Enola Holmes 3, they can watch Thorne's latest project Lord of the Flies, a four-part adaptation of William Golding's novel which is coming to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday 8th February.

In his chat for The Radio Times Writers' Room, Thorne also spoke about his work on series including His Dark Materials, This Is England and, of course, Adolescence, while giving some very slight teases about the upcoming Beatles movies.

Jack Thorne's interview for The Radio Times Writers' Room is available to watch in full now on RadioTimes.com.

Enola Holmes 3 will be released on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream. Lord of the Flies will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Sunday 8th February 2026.

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