Record fortnight for BBC on iPlayer

and new dramas and Black Narcissus helped BBC iPlayer break viewing records over the ‘ festive fortnight’, the broadcaster has said.

The platform saw 245m streams between December 21 2020 and January 3 2021, up by 16 per cent on the same period last year, as millions of people were plunged into Tier 4 restrictions over the festive period, ahead of the new lockdown. There were 1.5m streams of the Christmas Day episode of EastEnders, the same number as for the Call the Midwife Christmas special and the film Spider- Man: Homecoming.

Black Narcissus, which follows a group of Anglo- Catholic nuns as they travel to a remote part of Nepal to set up a branch of their order, but are soon beset by temptation, stars Gemma Arterton, inset, and the late Doncaster- born Dame Diana Rigg and was streamed 1.3m times.

Meanwhile The Serpent, based on the true story of how murderer Charles Sobhraj – who was the chief suspect in unsolved murders of young Western travellers across India, Thailand and Nepal – was captured, got a million streams.

New Year’s Day provided bumper numbers, with 21.2m streams, making it the most popular new year ever on iPlayer, up 18 per cent year- on- year.

Mrs Brown’s Boys, Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who and the 2019 Gavin and Stacey Christmas special all also helped deliver big numbers.

BBC Sounds also enjoyed a strong period, with more than 45m plays in the same fortnight, an increase of 36 per cent compared to last year.

The most popular podcasts were Grounded with Louis Theroux, which featured new episodes with Ruby Wax and Frankie Boyle. Charlotte Moore, chief content officer at the BBC, said: “The unparalleled range of programmes on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds delivered a record breaking Christmas this year.”