Adolescence may become one of the biggest Netflix shows ever after shattering record

Adolescence is busy breaking more records at Netflix, and the British crime drama is on course to become one of the streamer’s biggest limited shows of all-time.

Adolescence has been little short of a phenomenon since it dropped on March 13, 2025, setting social media aflame with conversation and debate, while breaking a bunch of records on Netflix.

The series – which is inspired real events, as well as a long-running true crime documentary – revolves around the arrest of a 13-year-old boy accused of murder, with the four episodes focusing on how the fallout from that crime affects his family, his school, and the boy himself.

The show has received praise for its remarkable central performances, and for the fact that each episode is shot in a single unbroken take, elements that have contributed to the huge success.

Adolescence sets record for limited series on Netflix

Netflix

Adolescence reached 24.3 million viewers during its first week of release, making it the most watched show on Netflix from March 10-16, 2025.

The show continued its run in week two – March 17-23 – with Adolescence accruing a further 42 million views, taking the running total to 66.3 million. According to Variety, that’s more than any Netflix limited series has achieved in two weeks, and Adolescence hit that number in 11 days.

Adolescence has also shattered TV records in the UK, become the first streaming show to top the weekly British chart while also scoring the biggest audience for any streaming series in a single week.

Deadline first covered the stats from Barb, who reported that 6.5 million watched Episode 1, and 6 million viewed Episode 2, putting them both ahead of The Apprentice, which was the biggest terrestrial show in the UK on 5.8 million.

All four episodes of Adolescence are now streaming on Netflix. For more on the show, these are the Adolescence filming locations, and here’s why Adolescence Season 2 will never happen. You can also learn more about why Jamie killed Katie in Netflix’s Adolescence, and the other shocking Stephen Graham show you can binge now.