Netflix’s Adolescence is continuing its record-breaking march.
Adolescence’s first ep, which has dominated the global cultural zeitgeist over the past fortnight, has become the first ever UK streaming show to top the weekly British ratings chart while also amassing the biggest audience for any streaming TV show in the UK in a single week.
According to ratings agency Barb, the first ep was watched by nearly 6.5 million viewers in its first week, while ep 2 was close behind on 6 million. Both these figures bested the most-watched linear show, The Apprentice, which was watched by 5.8 million when consolidated seven-day viewing figures are taken into account. The week being measured was between March 10 and March 16 and Adolescence only launched on March 13, meaning that for three days in the week the show wasn’t even available.
Philip Barantini and Stephen Graham’s big hitter, which has generated worldwide debates about social media and teenage masculinity, has also beaten the likes of Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer and The Gentlemen to take the biggest audience for any streaming TV show in the UK. Its rating continues to rise.
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The landmark is a demonstration of the power of streaming in 2025, although it is perhaps surprising that it has taken this long for a show like Adolescence to break the record in the digital age. While linear continues to still draw big audiences, we revealed recently that Netflix was the most-watched TV service in the UK for three months last year, overtaking BBC One for the first time. Netflix UK content boss Anne Mensah has earned plaudits for greenlighting a string of hits such as Adolescence and Baby Reindeer.
Worldwide, Adolescence was comfortably topping the charts in its first week with 24 million views and almost 100 million hours watched. Running Point was second with 6 million. Global Netflix data for the past seven days will be released later today, at which point we will be able to see how well Adolescence has performed in its second seven-day run.
Penned by Jack Thorne and starring Graham, Ashley Walters and breakout teen Owen Cooper, Adolescence centers on a 13-year-old schoolboy named Jamie Miller who is arrested for the murder of a female classmate. Each of its four episodes was shot in one continuous take. It is produced for Netflix by Warp Films, Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Matriarch Productions.
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