The Serpent is the most popular show on iPlayer since Normal People

Crime thriller The Serpent has become iPlayer’s most popular new BBC programme since Normal People, with 31 million streams across the series to date. The eight-part drama launched on New Year’s Day and concluded its BBC One run on Valentine’s Day. It starred Tahar Rahim, Jenna Coleman, Billy Howle and Ellie Bamber.

The Serpent’s first episode is also BBC iPlayer’s most streamed episode of anything, across all genres, since Normal People last spring, with over 5.5 million streams on iPlayer alone so far.

Including linear viewing, episode one has received a 30-day consolidated figure of 9 million viewers (the highest figure for a new BBC title since The Salisbury Poisonings), with episode two consolidating at 7.4 million viewers.

Damien Timmer and Preethi Mavahalli, executive producers for Mammoth Screen say: “It’s been a privilege to tell the real life story of Herman and Angela Knippenberg’s dogged pursuit of justice, and to have a chance to reclaim the stories of the young travellers whose lives were so cruelly cut short. We’re absolutely thrilled to see the British public come to the series in such vast numbers.”

Inspired by real events, the series tells the story of how the conman and murderer Charles Sobhraj was brought to justice. You can read the full press release from the BBC for more details.