An episode of Sherlock was the most watched programme on BBC iPlayer last year.
The first episode of the detective drama’s third series, titled ‘The Empty Hearse’, was requested 4.2 million times after first being broadcast on BBC One in January 2014.
Meanwhile, the second, third and fourth most requested programmes on iPlayer in 2014 were all episodes of Top Gear, which occupies a total of four spots in the top ten. Top Gear has already been named the most popular show on iPlayer over the festive period.
The two other new Sherlock episodes broadcast in 2014 also occupy spots in the iPlayer Top Ten, alongside episodes of Doctor Who and Outnumbered and BBC Three’s fact-based one-off drama Murdered By My Boyfriend.
Overall, BBC iPlayer attracted 3.5 billion requests to view programmes in 2014 – up from 3.1 billion the previous year, and the service’s highest total yet.
The 2014 iPlayer Top Ten, according to the BBC:
1. Sherlock – Series 3, Episode 1
2. Top Gear – Series 21, Episode 1
3. Top Gear – Series 21, Episode 3
4. Top Gear – Series 21, Burma Special – Part 1
5. Sherlock – Series 3, Episode 2
6. Sherlock – Series 3, Episode 3
7. Top Gear – Series 21, Episode 2
8. Murdered by My Boyfriend
9. Outnumbered
10. Doctor Who – Series 8, Episode 1