Graeme Armstrong’s bestselling novel THE YOUNG TEAM to be adapted into BBC drama series

THE YOUNG TEAM, a six-part drama series based on Graeme Armstrong’s award-winning debut novel, has been commissioned by the BBC, with Graeme adapting for screen himself. Set and filmed in North Lanarkshire, where Graeme himself grew up, the series will air on BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland and BBC One at a date to be confirmed.

In THE YOUNG TEAM, 15-year-old Azzy Williams and his pals roam the streets of Airdrie, bottles of Buckfast in hand and techno playing from tinny speakers. Azzy is ready: ready to smoke, pop pills, drink wine and fight. He longs to become fully initiated into local gang the Young Team Posse (YTP). But when Azzy, determined to prove himself, makes a bold move, a brutal gang conflict ensues with Azzy very firmly at its heart. THE YOUNG TEAM will follow Azzy on his journey from boyhood to manhood as he and his mates become postcode warriors in a toxic cycle that threatens to consume them. An unflinching look at the realities of addiction and gang violence, this ambitious series will tell a powerful, visceral story about the realities of life for young, disenfranchised people, and the fight for a different future.

The series will be made by BAFTA-winning independent producers Synchronicity Films (THE TATOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ, Sky Atlantic/Peacock/Stan; MAYFLIES, BBC One), who optioned the TV rights from Conrad Williams at Blake Friedmann. The executive producers are Claire Mundell for Synchronicity Films, Gaynor Holmes for the BBC, and Gavin Smith for BBC Scotland.

THE YOUNG TEAM has had a major impact, not only on readers, but whole communities since it was first published by Picador in 2020, and has been translated into Spanish and Italian. Graeme’s reputation as one of Britian’s most exciting voices has since been cemented by his inclusion on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list in 2023, and his upcoming second novel RAVEHEART, set to be published by 4th Estate in Spring 2026.

Graeme has previously appeared on the BBC in two documentaries he presented for the broadcaster: SCOTLAND THE RAVE, which aired in 2021, and STREET GANGS, which followed in 2023.

‘I have been working on THE YOUNG TEAM project for 12 years At the beginning, I was only 21 and in the first days of my recovery from a decade of territorial gang violence, substance abuse and addiction. To say it’s been a labour of love is an understatement. Alongside creating a respectful representation of Scottish working class life and the trials of growing up amidst a ‘young team’ gang culture, entrenched for generations, the work on both page and screen has given me the opportunity to reach young people at risk, working in violence prevention to affect change in their lives.

This has been the privilege of my life but it comes with enormous responsibility, as does our task to capture this unique culture on film. The impact of storytelling like this changed my destiny and, ultimately, saved me. The BBC and Synchronicity adaptation will take this legacy to new peaks, creating powerful drama which connects with a current UK audience living under the shadow of rising violence, gangs and blade culture. We understand these profound challenges and are well placed to tell this story through lived experience and a shared commitment to accuracy. The solution lies in the community and that is where this story originated. I cannot wait to get stuck in and see THE YOUNG TEAM brought to life by such a trusted network as the BBC and with the tenacity and absolute passion of my friends and colleagues at Synchronicity Films.’ – Graeme Armstrong

‘Working with Graeme on the adaptation of his staggeringly accomplished debut novel THE YOUNG TEAM is at the heart of what we do at Synchronicity and it’s an absolute honour to watch his brilliance as he starts his screenwriting career,’ said Claire Mundell, Founder and Creative Director of Synchronicity Films.

‘Having explored gang culture in documentary form we’re thrilled to be adapting Graeme’s hit novel and bringing the complex characters to life on screen and showcasing THE YOUNG TEAM gang to viewers around the country. THE YOUNG TEAM has been such a culturally significant novel for Scotland and for the BBC to be the broadcaster bringing this powerful story to television truly is an honour,’ added Louise Thornton, Head of Commissioning for BBC Scotland.

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: ‘THE YOUNG TEAM's unflinching and compelling depiction of gang life, inspired by Graeme’s personal experiences, has proven hugely popular with readers since its publication five years ago. We feel privileged that for his first TV drama Graeme has chosen to adapt his book for the BBC, working alongside the team at Synchronicity Films, and we can’t wait to bring Azzy and co to the screen.’

Photo: Robin Farquhar-Thomson

About Graeme Armstrong

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. Overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English at the University of Stirling. He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Strathclyde. Graeme regularly works within the community visiting prisons and schools, giving talks on his experiences of gang-culture and substance abuse. He promotes a message of anti-violence and abstinence-based recovery. His bestselling debut novel, THE YOUNG TEAM (Picador, 2020), is inspired by his experiences. It won a Betty Trask Award, a Somerset Maugham Award, and the Scots Book o the Year 2021.

Praise for Graeme Armstrong and THE YOUNG TEAM

‘Graeme Armstrong is the real deal.’ – Douglas Stuart

‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – Mike Wade, The Times

‘Gives us a voice from a place – geographically and socio-economically – we don’t often hear from’ – John Self, The Times

‘Armstrong’s hard-hitting novel is TRAINSPOTTING for a new generation’ – Independent

‘A swaggering, incendiary debut… Sharp yet tender and mischievously funny, THE YOUNG TEAM pitches Armstrong straight into the first division of Scottish writers.’ – Jude Cook, The Guardian

Follow Graeme on X, BlueSky and Instagram

Granta ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ author Graeme Armstrong’s RAVEHEART Pre-Empted by 4th Estate

Photo: Alice Zoo

RAVEHEART, a love letter to rave and thrilling ride of a novel by Graeme Armstrong, has been acquired in a hotly contested pre-empt by HarperCollins imprint 4th Estate. A high NRG, whip-smart look at the state of modern Britain through the eyes of a disparate band of rave rebels, RAVEHEART is George Orwell’s 1984 meets cult classic film HUMAN TRAFFIC.

The novel will be published in Spring 2026 after Michelle Kane, Publishing Director, bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Juliet Pickering. In a separate deal, multi-BAFTA winning production company Warp Films (THIS IS ENGLAND, FOUR LIONS, EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE) have optioned TV/Film rights from Conrad Williams.

‘I feel lucky to have both my dream imprint at 4th Estate and editor, Michelle Kane, at the helm on this fever dream of a novel which has taken the best bit of a decade to create,’ said Graeme. ‘While the majority of my work on the page, screen and community deals with hard-hitting social themes, RAVEHEART speaks to the pure joy of rave culture we experienced first-hand in its mid-2000s renaissance in Scotland, and to an ever more challenging world beyond. The incredible heritage of Scottish rave pioneers before us, combined with our generation’s bedroom bootlegging PCDJ craze made for years of endless energy (albeit some chemical) pure passion and mad memories. These are the nostalgic driving forces of RAVEHEART, and I can’t wait to share it with the rave and literary communities. Glowsticks at the ready, troops. We’re going in.’

‘Graeme Armstrong is a once in a generation writer – vivid, uncompromising, whip-smart and powerful – and this novel comes at the reader with the kind of force that challenges their world view,’ Michelle Kane added. ‘Terrifyingly prescient and uproariously funny, RAVEHEART is set to be a modern classic and to say that I am excited to be working with a writer like Graeme who is such a singular and original talent is to understate it – we have huge ambition for him at 4th Estate and we are extremely excited and honoured to have him on the list.’

Juliet Pickering says: ‘RAVEHEART is like nothing else – playing with form, politics, character, place – and it should be injected into our veins: a fizzing, witty, total high of a novel, brilliantly deconstructing the bigotry of modern politics, and one of the best novels on male friendship I’ve ever read. I can’t wait for everyone else to feel its heady, knockout punch to the brain.’

William Patterson – better known as DJ Turbo – is living a soulless existence after his glory days as resident spinner at a local Coatbridge ice rink, The Time Capsule, have been snatched from him. As a far-right UK regime sweeps to power, ‘The New Greatest Britishest Party’ cracks down on youth, culture, drugs and – the final straw – electronica. Incensed by a blanket ban of their beloved tunes, Turbo and his comrades launch a rave revolt – resurrecting the illegal warehouse parties of the past in this new darker, monolithic Greatest Britain, as a powerful act of resistance.

But, as the political situation escalates and secret police surveil every corner of society, Turbo and his troops fly ever closer to the sun in the dangerous world of the anti-rave abolitionist paramilitary. Mixing classic hardcore anthems, nu-gen euphoria enthusiasts and psychotropic chemical courtships, they will fight the war for the rave. Deciding who to trust… and who may betray the cause is everything. The future of the whole nation is on the line… can Turbo be the hero not just of rave, but of Scotland?

Hilarious, tragic and incredibly clever all at once, this unique, narcotic trip of a novel is a modern, meta, mayhem-filled cultural coup d'état and cult-classic in the making, written in an inimitable and energetic voice, from one of the most electrifying young writers in Britain today.

About Graeme Armstrong

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling; where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Masters’ in Creative Writing. He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Strathclyde.

Graeme regularly works within the community visiting prisons and schools, giving talks on his experiences of gang-culture and substance abuse. He promotes a message of anti-violence and abstinence-based recovery.

His bestselling debut novel, THE YOUNG TEAM (Picador, 2020), is inspired by his experiences. It won a Betty Trask Award, a Somerset Maugham Award, and the Scots Book o the Year 2021.

In 2021, Graeme presented SCOTLAND THE RAVE, a documentary broadcast by the BBC that explored Scotland’s rave and PCDJ culture, subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland and RTS Scotland Award 2022. His second documentary series, STREET GANGS, where Graeme reflects on his own past as an ex-gang member to try to understand life inside a modern gang, aired on the BBC in October 2023.

In 2023, Graeme was chosen as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, an accolade that is awarded once a decade.

Praise for Graeme Armstrong

‘Graeme Armstrong is the real deal.’ – Douglas Stuart

‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – Mike Wade, The Times

‘Has proved the novel form is still alive and kicking… a genuine literary phenomenon… Indeed, Armstrong is that rare thing, a writer whose work has become a tangible part of a social material, as has Armstrong himself.’ – James Taylor, Metal Magazine

‘Armstrong makes language slam-dance and pirouette, using an endless variety of relishable words and phrases.’ – The Guardian

‘His work is vivid, dynamic and sharp as a whip; his capacity to surprise the reader distinct and powerful.’ – Janice Galloway

Follow Graeme on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram.

Graeme Armstrong’s documentary STREET GANGS to air on BBC

Credit: BBC

STREET GANGS, a new documentary series presented by Graeme Armstrong and inspired by his novel THE YOUNG TEAM, will premiere on the BBC this Wednesday (5 October 2023). In Scotland, the programme will be broadcast on BBC Scotland at 10pm on Wednesday; viewers in both Scotland and the rest of the UK will be able to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after.

In the three-part series ex-gang member Graeme Armstrong travels to forgotten areas of Scotland to shine a light on the allure of gang life. He encounters drill musicians and street gang members, while also exploring his own past, and tries to understand why young people are seduced by the perceived glamour and excitement of gang life by speaking to young people themselves. The series will also include interviews with the actor and filmmaker Peter Mullan (TRAINSPOTTING, MY NAME IS JOE, NEDS) and Dundonian rapper Eugene.

About the series, Graeme told Connie McLaughlin for BBC Radio Scotland: ‘this is the natural evolution for me now – if you’re not part of the gang, you’re trying to prevent gang culture… If you want to interrupt something like gang culture, you need to understand it. Looking at the past will tell you a lot of information about it, but what we need to do is go and listen and speak to young people, and see what they want to say: so we’ve given a voice to people who don’t have one, and that opportunity, that’s what the series is all about. There’s two journeys: there’s my journey into the past, but there’s also these kids’ journey into the future.’

You can hear more of Graeme’s interview with BBC Radio Scotland here (from 1:11:10).

The series is produced by Harry Bell for Tern TV, and the series producer is Pete Stanton. The directors are Jo Pagan and Alistair Ferguson, as part of BBC Scotland and Screen Scotland’s new initiative backing emerging directors.

About Graeme Armstrong

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling; where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Masters’ in Creative Writing. He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Strathclyde.

Graeme regularly works within the community visiting prisons and schools, giving talks on his experiences of gang-culture and substance abuse. He promotes a message of anti-violence and abstinence-based recovery.

His bestselling debut novel, THE YOUNG TEAM (Picador, 2020), is inspired by his experiences. It won a Betty Trask Award, a Somerset Maugham Award, and the Scots Book o the Year 2021.

In 2021, Graeme presented Scotland: The Rave, a documentary broadcast by the BBC that explored Scotland’s rave and PCDJ culture, subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland and RTS Scotland Award 2022.

In 2023, Graeme was chosen as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, an accolade that is awarded once a decade.

Praise for Graeme Armstrong and THE YOUNG TEAM

‘Graeme Armstrong is the real deal.’ – Douglas Stuart

‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – Mike Wade, The Times

‘Has proved the novel form is still alive and kicking… a genuine literary phenomenon… Indeed, Armstrong is that rare thing, a writer whose work has become a tangible part of a social material, as has Armstrong himself.’ – James Taylor, Metal Magazine

‘Gives us a voice from a place – geographically and socio-economically – we don’t often hear from’ – John Self, The Times

‘Armstrong’s hard-hitting novel is TRAINSPOTTING for a new generation’ – Independent

‘An instant Scottish classic… While its dialect might make THE YOUNG TEAM seem like a story rooted in the specificity of its location, the novel’s exploration of mental health and drug use tells a universal tale of working-class masculinity’ — The Skinny

‘A swaggering, incendiary debut… Sharp yet tender and mischievously funny, THE YOUNG TEAM pitches Armstrong straight into the first division of Scottish writers.’ – Jude Cook, The Guardian

Follow Graeme on Twitter