The second series of critically acclaimed BBC Three comedy Bad Education, written by and starring Jack Whitehall, returned to the channel last night to an overnight audience of 832k (4.6 per cent share – up from 4.3 per cent last series).
And as part of a new initiative to premiere all BBC Three scripted comedies on BBC iPlayer before their TV broadcast, episode one of Bad Education received a phenomenal 1.5 million iPlayer requests over the last seven days.
Zai Bennett, Controller of BBC Three, says: "Jack Whitehall's Bad Education is back on BBC Three with a bang, with 832k viewers last night and 1.5m requests on iPlayer over the last seven days. What a fantastic start to our new BBC Three innovation of premiering all scripted comedies on BBC iPlayer. I couldn't be more thrilled with the reception Bad Education (series 2)'s first episode has received. Giving our viewers more choice in the way they enjoy programmes is a really important initiative on BBC Three and this outstanding result is testament to the quality of Jack's show and how much the audience appreciate it."
Victoria Jaye, Head of BBC TV Content, Online and IPTV, says: "We couldn't be more delighted with how fans have responded to us premiering BBC Three's comedy, Bad Education (series 2) on BBC iPlayer - with 1.5 million requests for the first episode in the seven day premiere window. This significant demand on BBC iPlayer and a strong overnight TV audience of 832k on BBC Three demonstrates how BBC iPlayer is a complementary platform to our broadcast channels, enabling us to schedule programmes in new ways that our audience truly values."