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09th Dec 2020

Normal People continues record-breaking streak as BBC’s most-streamed series of the year

Sarah Finnan

Securing the top spot as the BBC’s most-streamed series of the year, the first episode of Normal People was streamed over 6 million times. 

Taking the world by storm when it was released earlier this year, the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s hit novel, Normal People, has continued its record-breaking streak ever since.

Making its online debut in late April, the series was watched by audiences around the world with the BBC now confirming it was the most-streamed series on the iPlayer this year… not that anyone is surprised.

A firm favourite with fans of the book, the series tells the story of Marianne (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones) Connell (played by Paul Mescal), two Sligo teenagers who begin a relationship while in school before meeting up again while in college at Trinity.

Noting a 33 per cent rise in the number of iPlayer streams this year on last, Normal People accounted for the large majority of watches with the first episode of the series being viewed 6,378,000 times.

Boasting over 5.3 billion streams across all content this year, Killing Eve was the second most-watched series on the platform with 39,344,000 streams, while MasterChef ranked third with 22,206,000 streams and legal drama The Split came in at number four with 18,939,000 streams.

Commenting on this year’s stats, Dan McGolpin, Controller of BBC iPlayer, said:

“It’s pleasing to see the sensational adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People take top slot as the biggest series of the year and there have been other brand new drama series among the most popular, such as Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You, The Nest and The Secrets She Keeps as well as hugely popular returners like Killing Eve and The Split.”

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