Since the release of its second batch of episodes in late July, The Witcher season 3 has held firm on the top spot of Netflix UK's most-watched TV shows list... or it did, at least, but now a surprise pick has usurped it.
Now, sitting above Henry Cavill's last hurrah as Geralt as well as other Netflix Originals like The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, Manifest season 4, Too Hot to Handle, Sweet Magnolias season 3 and How to Become a Cult Leader is a British crime drama from Channel 5.
This is Witness Number 3, a four-part crime show from 2022 that originally aired on Channel 5 in the UK (and it's available to stream on Hulu in the US).
The current most-watched show on Netflix UK at the time of writing is Witness Number 3, a Channel 5 four-parter from 2022 that was recently added to the streamer (it's on Hulu in the US).
Witness Number 3 tells the story of a single mum and hairdresser named Jodie (played by Bodyguard's Nina Toussaint-White) who witnesses a killing and finds herself targeted by everyone from corrupt police to a gang in order to stop her acting as a witness. She has to find out who to trust in the police to survive her ordeal.
As with many other shows from Channel 5, it's a grim and gritty police procedural, and it also stars Ruaridh Mollica, Sion Daniel Young and Clare Dunne.
Though it's considered one of the best Channel 5 dramas of recent years, Witness Number 3 is still a surprise hit given that the vast majority of Netflix's most-watched shows are its own Originals.
The Witcher season 3 has been dominating the streamer's rankings since its release, despite its divisive response amongst critics and fans, so it's a surprise that this crime drama has toppled it. The show isn't even new to streaming, being available to watch on ITVX, Britbox and Paramount Plus prior to its Netflix release.
The TV rankings on Netflix are often different from the movies list, where we often see non-Netflix productions do particularly well, which makes this a particular victory for Channel 5. At the time of writing only five of the top 10 movies are by Netflix, while seven of the TV shows are (WN3 is joined by Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday at #8 and Young Sheldon at #9).
There's no point in us giving you a recommendation on this show or not; your mind was likely made up when we described it as "grim and gritty", and if that's your kind of show then you should follow suit with many other Netflix subscribers and check it out.
