After winning near-perfect reviews and dominating the conversation since its release almost two weeks ago, Adolescence is now making TV history.
On Monday, it was revealed that the Netflix drama had become the first streaming-only show to become the most-watched show in the UK weekly ratings.
According to newly-released figures from the ratings data organisation Barb, the first episode of Adolescence was the most-watched episode of TV in the UK between 10 and 16 March.
Almost 6.5 million people watched the episode that week, with episode two falling just behind at around 5.9 million viewers.
The most-watched show on traditional TV that week was The Apprentice, which, by comparison, pulled in around 5.8 million people that week.
Rounding off the top five were Death In Paradise (also on around 5.8 million viewers) and episode three of Adolescence (about 5.1 million).
The fourth and final instalment of Adolescence was also in the top 10, with around 4.7 million people streaming it that week.
Prior to this, the Harlan Coben mystery Fool Me Once had held the biggest audience for a streaming show in the space of a week, with 6.3 million watching it in the first week of January 2024.
BBC News reported that it is now among the most-watched programmes of 2025, but still falls behind the likes of The Traitors, Call The Midwife and a BBC documentary about the final episode of Gavin & Stacey, which aired over Christmas.
Adolescence features Stephen Graham as the father of Jamie, a teenage boy who is accused of killing a girl in his class.
The hard-hitting show explores a number of themes, including masculinity and online radicalisation, with prime minister Keir Starmer backing calls for it to be screened in schools and parliament.
It also marked teen actor Owen Cooper’s first time on screen, with the 15-year-old next set to appear in one of 2026’s most-anticipated films.
All four episodes of Adolescence are available to stream now on Netflix.