Line of Duty most watched iPlayer show
December 21, 2021
Figures released by the BBC indicate that police drama Line of Duty’s return is BBC iPlayer’s biggest episode of the year so far, with the first episode of the sixth series streamed 9.2 million times, and the boxset has been streamed 137 million times. In addition, consolidated figure show that 14.6 million people watched the first episode of series six in its first 28 days – with the series peaking at 15.9 million viewers for the final episode.
iPlayer is on track to break 6 billion streams in a year for the first time, with 5.9 billion up to the end of November – 586 million more than the same time last year.
Vigil, Time, The Serpent, and Italy vs England in the final of Euro 2020 also make iPlayer’s top ten episodes per programmes of the year. Consolidated figures also show the huge success of these programmes on both BBC broadcast channels and iPlayer, with Vigil (12.2m), Time (10.8m), The Serpent (8.3m) and Italy vs England in the final of Euro 2020 (17.8m) all being watched in their millions.
The Olympics and Euro 2020 both among the biggest titles of the year, plus boxsets of Pretty Little Liars, Waterloo Road, Doctor Who, and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK are all in the top ten.
“It’s been an incredible year for BBC iPlayer with a unique mix of programmes driving more viewing than ever before,” commented Dan McGolpin, director of BBC iPlayer and channels. “Line of Duty tops the tables and it’s fantastic to see so many other brand-new drama series also featuring highly alongside those memorable sporting moments from last summer and some of the best documentary series of the year. Of course the year’s not over yet and BBC iPlayer has something for everyone this Christmas, brand new boxsets like The Girl Before, A Very British Scandal and Around the World in 80 Days, a thrilling selection of blockbuster movies and an unrivalled collection of Christmas specials both past and present.”
As well as Line of Duty, 2021’s biggest episodes also included submarine thriller Vigil, prison drama Time, and the conclusion of Euro 2020 with the final between Italy and England. Other big hitters on iPlayer included crime thriller The Serpent, Northern Ireland-based police drama Bloodlands and Welsh mystery series The Pact. Consolidated figures also showed 10 million watched Bloodlands and 7.3 million watched The Pact within their first 28 days.
Continuing drama EastEnders had another successful year, with the show streamed 257 million times across the year so far – almost 100 million more than the same period last year, though the show went on extended hiatus in 2020 after a break in filming because of the Coronavirus outbreak.
BBC iPlayer’s top episodes per programme in 2021 so far are:
| Rank | Programme | Episode | Streams |
| 1 | Line of Duty | Series 6 – episode 1 | 9.2m |
| 2 | Vigil | Series 1 – episode 1 | 8.0m |
| 3 | Time | Series 1 – episode 1 | 7.3m |
| 4 | The Serpent | Series 1 – episode 1 | 6.3m |
| 5 | Euro 2020 | Final: Italy v England | 6.0m |
| 6 | Bloodlands | Series 1 – episode 1 | 5.1m |
| 7 | The Pact | Series 1 – episode 1 | 4.7m |
| 8 | Traces | Series 1 – episode 1 | 4.4m |
| 9 | A Perfect Planet | Volcano | 3.7m |
| 10 | Forensics: The Real CSI | Series 2 – An Admission of Murder | 3.6m |
The biggest titles on iPlayer this year so far are:
| Rank | Programme | Streams |
| 1 | Line of Duty | 137.1m |
| 2 | Olympics | 90.2m |
| 3 | Pretty Little Liars | 79.9m |
| 4 | Euro 2020 | 68.2m |
| 5 | Silent Witness | 62.3m |
| 6 | Waterloo Road | 45.3m |
| 7 | Doctor Who | 41.8m |
| 8 | Death in Paradise | 39.7m |
| 9 | The Serpent | 35.4m |
| 10 | RuPaul’s Drag Race UK | 33.3m |