Netflix’s Adolescence makes ratings history
March 25, 2025
By Nik Roseveare
Netflix series Adolescence has become the first streaming show to top the UK’s weekly TV ratings. The first episode of the crime drama was watched by 6.45 million people in its first week, according to ratings body Barb, citing data from March 10th to March 16th.
This is the largest audience for any streaming TV show in the UK in a single week, beating the 6.3 million who watched Fool Me Once on Netflix in January 2024.
The second episode of Adolescence was seen by 5.94 million and ranked second, with BBC One’s The Apprentice and Death in Paradise third and fourth respectively in Barb’s weekly chart with just under 5.8 million each. Episode 3 of Adolescence was fifth with 5.14 million, whilst the fourth (and final) episode was seen by 4.65 million.
Adolescence is now among the programmes with the highest seven-day ratings so far in 2025, behind the BBC’s The Traitors, Call The Midwife and the Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell documentary.
Adolescence premiered on Netflix on March 13th. Created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, and directed by Philip Barantini, it tells the story of a 13-year-old schoolboy who is arrested for the murder of a female classmate, and subsequently explores what drove him to commit such a brutal act. MP Anneliese Midgley has called for the series to be screened to Parliament and in schools, arguing it could help counter misogyny and violence against women and girls – a call which has been backed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
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