THE HIT thriller series Bodyguard starring Scots actor Richard Madden has helped the under scrutiny BBC iPlayer achieve a record number of views in 2018.
The award-winning Bodyguard drama edged out the drama Killing Eve to become the streaming service's biggest show of 2018 and the platform's most-watched programme ever.
The first episode of Bodyguard was watched 10,842,000 times – more than any other programme on the BBC service over a 12-month period.
Nice Face – the first episode of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s spy thriller Killing Eve – was watched 9,235,000 times, making it the second most-watched episode of the year.
Six of the year's top 10 episodes were from Bodyguard and the other four from Killing Eve.
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While scrutiny of the on-demand platform continues, the new data shows there were around 3.6bn views, which the BBC describes as 'requests' for programming on the service last year, 3m up on the previous year’s 3.3m.
The boom has been fuelled by Bodyguard and Killing Eve, both of which were box-setted and are still available on the platform.
The two shows have amassed more than 70m views between them over the course of their series.
The BBC was forced by the broadcast regulator Ofcom in November to conduct a public interest test (PIT) over plans to expand the BBC iPlayer.
The BBC wants to extend the period in which a programme can be viewed, beyond the standard 28-days which would see it move away from being seen as a catch-up service and allow it to compete with its rivals including Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The regulator said the PIT is needed to properly assess their value and potential impact on other broadcasters.
READ MORE: Golden Globes 2019: Richard Madden wins for Bodyguard
The BBC cannot acquire box-sets while the consultation takes place, with findings expected in the spring.
The move comes as more people turn to video on demand services, instead of traditional set time TV broadcasts.
Last year saw the lowest TV ratings for a Christmas Day since records began in 1981, with the most watched programme, Call The Midwife on BBC1, attracting just 8.7m.
Dan McGolpin, controller of programming for the BBC, said: “In 2018 we saw people who use iPlayer increasing the amount of time that they spend watching programmes on it.
"In a fiercely competitive market, with global streaming companies investing more and more in content, the challenge for 2019 is how to ensure that audiences can enjoy the full range and breadth of BBC programmes on iPlayer.”
McMafia, the James Norton-starring gangsta drama, was 2018's third most-watched programme, with its first episode earning 4,741,000 viewers.
Jodie Whittaker's debut as the 13th timelord in Doctor Who was fourth, with The Woman That Fell To Earth being watched by 3,965,000 people.
Meanwhile Welsh-language drama Keeping Faith took fifth place, with its debut being watched by 3,927,000 people in the same time period.
READ MORE: From a sexy psychopath to a hunky Scots bodyguard, what your TV crush says about you
The figures, compiled by the BBC, log the number of "requests" made by viewers to watch episodes on iPlayer.
This means the figures indicate how many times people pressed play on an episode and do not show how much of the episode they watched.
December was seen as an especially strong month for iPlayer, with a total of 298 million plays and an average of 9.6 million a day.
The month's most-watched programme was Mrs Wilson, which stars Ruth Wilson playing her grandmother.
The first episode was watched 2.1m times, beating The Apprentice's Christmas Chocolate episode which received 1.8m plays.
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