The BBC has commissioned a BBC Three drama strand exclusively for BBC iPlayer, describing the initiative as “a bold and exciting venture” between BBC iPlayer, BBC Three and BBC Drama Production to commission six original short films over two years, written and directed by the best up-and-coming writing and directing talent from across the UK.

The strand builds on BBC iPlayer’s strategy to showcase more exclusive content within the service in 2013 and on the BBC Writersroom’s ongoing commitment to bring the best new writers to UK audiences.

During 2012, the BBC brought selected online-only programmes to audiences via BBC iPlayer. These included BBC Three Feed My Funny new talent comedy pilots, a Doctor Who mini-series called Pond Life, and curated archive programmes for BBC Four. These proved popular on BBC iPlayer, with Pond Life receiving over 5 million requests, the BBC Three comedy pilots over 1 million requests and the BBC Four archive programmes receiving over 2 million cumulative requests.

According to Victoria Jaye, BBC Head of IPTV and TV Online Content, this “ambitious” new strand builds on BBC iPlayer as a creative platform to bring original British drama to audiences online, and explores storytelling outside of a scheduled TV slot or duration. “Audiences will be able to discover, share and enjoy these dramas whenever and wherever they choose,” she said.

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