Three Girls May’s most popular programme on BBC iPlayer
David Farnor | On 29, Jun 2017
BBC One drama Three Girls was the most-watched drama on BBC iPlayer in May.
The three-part drama – which starred Maxine Peake, Lesley Sharpe and Lisa Riley – was based on the true stories of victims of grooming and sexual abuse in Rochdale. Broadcast over three nights in a row, the box set saw more than 9.3 million requests on BBC iPlayer in May, while averaging a consolidated audience of 8.1 million (31.2 per cent share) across its airings on BBC One.
Three Girls attracted a younger than average audience, with 18.5 percent of viewers falling in the 16-34 age bracket, an average of 1.5m young viewers per episode (not including BBC iPlayer). That gives it one of the youngest audiences for a new BBC drama this year, alongside The Moorside.
Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s Director of Content, says: “Three Girls was a brave BBC One drama that took the audience to challenging places and really engaged young viewers. I would like to thank the girls for their extraordinary courage in allowing us to tell their story and to the care and attention taken by the programme makers.”
Hilary Salmon, the Three Girls Executive Producer for BBC Studios, adds: “Three Girls was made with a real commitment to telling the girls’ stories as truthfully as possible and to raising awareness of the issues among that age group. The fact that the series has resonated with so many people – and particularly the young – is both satisfying and humbling.”
The first episode of Three Girls is now BBC iPlayer’s second biggest episode of the year so far, with 3.4 million requests – beating Sherlock’s fourth season opener into third place, with 3.3 million requests. The only episode more popular in 2017 so far has been the first episode of the Tom Hardy drama Taboo, which got a massive 4.1 million requests.
Other dramas rounding out the top 20 most popular programmes on BBC iPlayer in May include Line Of Duty Season 4, Doctor Who and EastEnders. The strong performance from BBC dramas in May has also helped BBC iPlayer grow requests by almost a third on the same month last year. In total, BBC iPlayer received 271 million TV programme requests in May, a 29 per cent year-on-year increase.
The only non-drama programme in the top 20 was Panorama’s Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On, which saw over a million requests.
Panorama Madeleine McCann: 10 years on made up the rest of the top 20.
EastEnders spin-off Kate and Alfie: Redwater also performed well, with 912k requests, while comedy White Gold enjoyed a strong 829k requests for its first episode – released all at once as a box set, the show has become iPlayer’s second most popular comedy of 2017, and has now been renewed for Season 2.
One of the few non-drama programme in the top 20 was Panorama’s Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On, which saw over a million requests. BBC Three also made an appearance in the top 20, with Stacey Dooley Investigates Mums Selling Their Kids for Sex racking up 772k requests, just ahead of the first episode BBC One drama Paula (711k requests).