‘Adolescence’ Becomes First-Ever Streaming Show to Top British T.V. Ratings

We have recently written about how legendary video game designer Hideo Kojima praised Netflix’s Adolescence, a four-part crime drama series about a boy who is charged with murdering a girl from the same school. But it’s not just Kojima.

The series has received universal acclaim from both critics and fans, and is considered a true masterpiece, both in terms of its acting and narration, as well as its technical aspects. The series has been attracting a lot of attention, and we can now confirm that it has made television history in the United Kingdom.

Based on the data revealed by BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board), Adolescence has become the first streaming series in the history of British television that managed to become #1 on the ratings list. This means that it outperformed all broadcast shows, including some traditional hits like The Apprentice and Death in Paradise.

The first episode of the series drew 6.45 million viewers in its debut week, which – in itself – became a new British record, surpassing the previous streaming record of 6.3 million set by (also) Netflix’s Fool Me Once back in January 2024. But it did not stop there.

The second episode drew an amazing 5.94 million viewers, showing that the series indeed had the potential to retain the high numbers. Comparison-wise, BBC One’s The Apprentice and Death in Paradise attracted “just” 5.79 and 5.75 million viewers, respectively. The third and fourth episodes of Adolescence also had some amazing numbers, drawing 5.14 million and 4.65 million viewers, respectively, but these were not record numbers.

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