LINE Of Duty has been named BBC iPlayer’s biggest show of 2021.
The boxset of the police corruption thriller has been streamed more than 137 million times this year so far, the BBC said.
The first episode of the sixth series, which follows the actions of AC-12 and stars Martin Compston, was streamed 9.2 million times and consolidated figures show the same episode was watched by 14.6 million people in its first 28 days.
Meanwhile, the much-anticipated final episode was iPlayer’s most popular episode, peaking at 15.9 million viewers, according to BBC figures.
Line Of Duty beat programmes such as Pretty Little Liars, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, Doctor Who, Silent Witness and the Olympics to become the biggest title on iPlayer this year so far.
READ MORE: Is this Line of Duty star taking the corruption fight to Downing Street?
The first episode of Vigil, a six-part drama series starring Suranne Jones as a police detective investigating a murder at sea, was iPlayer’s second most streamed episode, with eight million streams this year.
The show is made by World Productions, the company behind Line Of Duty.
The debut episodes of prison drama Time, exotic crime thriller The Serpent, and Welsh mystery series The Pact were also in the top 10 iPlayer episodes between January 1 to November 30.
The Uefa Euro 2020 final on July 11, in which England lost to Italy on penalties, placed fifth with six million streams.
Another big hitter on the BBC was Northern Ireland-based police drama Bloodlands, a programme which was watched by 10 million people within its first 28 days, BBC consolidated figures show.
EastEnders was streamed 257 million times across the year so far, almost 100 million more than the same period last year.
BBC iPlayer is on track for more than six billion streams in 2021, more than half a million than last year, making it its best year on record.
Dan McGolpin, director of BBC iPlayer and channels, said: “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.
“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, and an unrivalled collection of Christmas specials both past and present.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here