The latest 28 day viewing data confirms the BBC has kicked off 2026 by captivating audiences with unmissable content as huge audiences come to BBC iPlayer and TV for a thrilling start to the year.
The Traitors Series 4 Episode 1 has become the most watched episode of the civilian series to date, launching to a staggering 13.3m in 28 days, making it the second biggest launch across the market since at least 2022 (only behind The Celebrity Traitors), with 57% of viewing coming from iPlayer (7.6m), making it one of the biggest titles across BVOD (Broadcaster Video on Demand). A third of the audience were from C2DE socio economic backgrounds (4.3m) and nearly a quarter of the audience were 16-34 year olds (3m / 23%), making it the third biggest young audience for the launch of any series across the market since 2025 (after Adolescence and The Celebrity Traitors).
In addition to this, the highly anticipated return of The Night Manager drew a huge 8.7m in 28 days for episode one of the second series, making it the biggest BBC drama debut episode since Vigil series two in 2023 with 8.8m and 55% of viewing coming via iPlayer (4.8m). It achieved 2.6m viewers from C2DE socio economic backgrounds and 0.6m 16-34s.
The Traitors and The Night Manager are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
The Traitors series four is produced by Studio Lambert Scotland for BBC One and BBC iPlayer and was commissioned by Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment Commissioning for the BBC. The executive producers for Studio Lambert Scotland are Mike Cotton, Sarah Fay, Lewis Thurlow and Darrell Olsen for The Traitors. The Production Executives are Lynette Woods-Reynolds, Gemma Scholes and Faye Donaldson. The Commissioning Editors for the BBC are Neil McCallum and Syeda Irtizaali.
The Traitors (Dutch title: De Verraders) was created and developed by IDTV, in cooperation with RTL Creative Unit. The original series was produced by IDTV. All3Media International is global partner for The Traitors and handles format and tape sales worldwide. Studio Lambert is part of All3Media.
The Night Manager series 2 is made by the award-winning London and LA-based independent studio The Ink Factory (The Pigeon Tunnel, The Little Drummer Girl) in association with Character 7, Demarest Films and 127 Wall, and in co-production with Spanish collaborator Nostromo Pictures. It is created and executive produced by David Farr, based on the characters created by John le Carré. Directed in full by BAFTA winner Georgi Banks-Davies (I Hate Suzie, Paper Girls), the series expands the story beyond the source material of the titular novel for the first time.
The lead executive producer, as on series one, is Character 7’s Stephen Garrett. Further executive producers include Stephen and Simon Cornwell, Michele Wolkoff, and Tessa Inkelaar for The Ink Factory; Joe Tsai and Arthur Wang for 127 Wall; Adrián Guerra for Nostromo Pictures; Georgi Banks-Davies, Hugh Laurie, and Tom Hiddleston; William D. Johnson for Demarest Films, Nick Cornwell for John le Carré, Susanne Bier, Chris Rice for FIFTH SEASON and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC.
C2DE is a standard UK audience measure from Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB), grouping viewers by household employment status and occupation.
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