Mother of God! Line Of Duty lands at the top of BBC iPlayer’s most watched shows of 2021

Virgin Radio

21 Dec 2021, 13:01

The beloved police drama beat the likes of Doctor Who and Silent Witness to be crowned the biggest title on the BBC platform this year. 

According to the BBC, it seems fans just couldn't get enough of AC-12. The thriller was streamed more than 137 millions times this year so far. 

Starring Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston, the final series of Line Of Duty finally revealed who the illusive criminal mastermind 'H' was when the final episode aired in May.

The first episode of the sixth series was streamed 9.2 million times, and the same episode was watched by 14.6m people in its first 28 days on the site. 

The list of shows it beat include Pretty Little Liars, Ru Pau’s Drag Race UK and even the 2020 Olympics. 

Next up on the most-streamed episodes across iPlayer goes to the debut episode of Vigil.

The six-part drama stars Suranne Jones as a police detective investigating a murder at sea, and comes from the same production company as Line Of Duty - World Productions. 

Director of BBC iPlayer and channels Dan McGolpin 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.

“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.”

First episodes of drama Time, The Serpent and The Pact also made the list of most streamed, while the Uefa Euro 2020 final back in July landed in fifth with 6 million streams. 

Across the entire platform, iPlayer has accumulated a staggering six billion streams in 2021, half a million more than last year, marking its best year on record.

Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio seems delighted with the news, and took to Twitter to share his reaction.

He wrote: "Congratulations and thanks to the whole Line Of Duty production team and thanks most of all to every one of our amazing fans - we're honoured and grateful."