Killing Eve beats Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders to become BBC iPlayer's biggest show of 2019

Killing Eve's closest competitor was Jed Mercurio's police drama Line of Duty, which settled for second place with 27 million requests.

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Notably, Waller-Bridge can lay claim to two other positions on the iPlayer top ten, as the first season of Killing Eve was the sixth most-watched show (22 million), with Fleabag in at number 6 (20 million).

Long-running shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The Apprentice and Silent Witness were also strong performers this year, while brand new drama The Capture starring Holliday Grainger also made the top 10.

BBC iPlayer's biggest series of 2019:

1. Killing Eve: Series 2 - 40.3 million
2. Line of Duty: Series 5 - 27.3 million
3. Peaky Blinders: Series 5 - 26.6 million
4. Strictly Come Dancing: Series 17 - 23.8 million
5. Killing Eve: Series 1 - 22.3 million
6. Fleabag: Series 2 - 20.3 million
7. The Apprentice: Series 15 - 19.9 million
8. The Capture: Series 1 - 19.2 million
9. MasterChef: Series 15 - 19 million
10. Silent Witness: Series 22 - 18.1 million

While Line of Duty may have missed out on the title of biggest series, the acclaimed drama can boast the honour of having the single most popular episode of the year.

The first episode of the latest series was viewed 5.8 million times on BBC iPlayer, just under 100,000 more than Peaky Blinders' series five premiere which placed second.

Sport was also a big deal on BBC iPlayer this year, with the FIFA Women's World Cup receiving 8.7 million requests throughout the duration of the contest, while the men's singles Wimbledon final had 1.6 million.

Charlotte Moore, director of content at the BBC, says: "It's been a huge year for BBC iPlayer – as well as record-breaking figures, it's become an entertainment destination in its own right; and with approval for new programmes to be available for a minimum of 12 months, this will deliver real value for licence fee payers. In 2020 we will go even further to make it the best watch ever from binge-worthy series to the biggest live TV moments."