'Mesmerising': Little Boy Blue is the poignant Stephen Graham and James Nelson-Joyce's ITV drama to binge

Stephen Graham's 2017 true crime drama Little Boy Blue is streaming now for free on ITVX. A difficult yet necessary watch, the four-episode miniseries tells the story of the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones and the criminal case which followed.

In 2007, Rhys was tragically shot dead after unknowingly walking into a gang shoot-out while on his way home from football practice in Croxteth, Liverpool. A year later, Sean Mercer was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison after being found guilty of his murder, while several others were also convicted of other offences.

The four-part series, which received the full support of Rhys' parents, follows Detective Superintendent Dave Kelly (Graham), who led the investigation to bring Rhys' killer to justice, as well as showing the Jones family's struggle with their grief and anger over the senseless tragedy.

Related: Best streaming services UK 2026 – including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV

Alongside Graham, the drama also stars This City Is Ours actor James Nelson-Joyce. Unforgotten's Sinéad Keenan and Brían F. O'Byrne star as Rhys' parents Melanie and Steve Jones.

For his performance, O'Byrne won the BAFTA TV award for Best Supporting Actor in 2018. The series was penned by BAFTA-winning writer Jeff Pope.

When the drama first aired, Radio Times described Graham's performance as "hair-raisingly impressive", while The Guardian said Keenan delivered "an amazing portrait of the intensity of a mother’s grief".

Over on IMDB, the series has received praise from viewers, with many singling it out as one of the best British true crime dramas.

"These kinds of 'stories' are the staple of 'conveyer-belt' fictional police procedurals, almost all of which fall well short of this mesmerising drama," wrote one viewer.

Another added: "Watching it felt more like a documentary than it did a drama. You feel the pain of Rhys' Parents, feel the stress Dave Kelly feels as he tries to solve this level of complexity for the maximum Justice that little eleven-year-old boy deserved."

Graham himself grew up only 10 minutes away from Rhys' home, which made working on the drama even more significant, as he told The i Paper in 2017: " I’m from those streets, I’m from that area, and for me there was an immense sense of pride in where I’m from.

“Not every kid from there picks up a gun. These kids need opportunities. It’s about tapping into them when they’re young and teaching them some respect

Little Boy Blue is available to stream now on ITVX.

Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of the world of K-pop, is here. Buy K-Pop in newsagents or online.

Reporter, Digital Spy  

Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.

Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.