The UK guide to streaming originals
TV that was born online.
Some of the most talked-about television of the last fifteen years never started on a channel. It premiered on a stream, a website or a catch-up player. We track 120 of those series — how they began, what they changed, and where you can watch them in the UK today.
Latest premieres by platform
- Netflix Adolescence 13 Mar 2025 · Crime
- Prime Fallout 10 Apr 2024 · Sci-fi
- Apple TV The Studio 26 Mar 2025 · Comedy
- Disney+ Andor 21 Sep 2022 · Sci-fi
- Hulu The Bear 23 Jun 2022 · Comedy
- Paramount+ Tulsa King 13 Nov 2022 · Crime
Four ways a show is born online
See them all on the timeline-
Premiere
81shows
Streaming original
Premiered as an original on a streaming service.
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Pick-up
10shows
Web series → TV
Began as a web series and was picked up by television.
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Revival
20shows
Rescued by streaming
Started on broadcast or cable TV and carried on online.
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iPlayer first
9shows
Online-first UK
A British series that premiered online first (BBC Three online, iPlayer, ITVX).
Latest additions
Everything, newest first-
2025–present · 1 season Returning
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2025 · 4 episodes Limited series
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2025–present · 2 seasons Returning
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2024 · 1 series Cancelled
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2024 · 7 episodes Limited series
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2024–present · 2 seasons Returning
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2024 · 3 seasons Cancelled
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2024–present · 2 seasons Returning
Featured lists
All lists-
List 01
23shows
British-made streaming originals
Series produced in the UK (alone or as co-productions) that premiered online first — on a streaming service, on BBC Three during its online-only year…
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List 02
12shows
Limited series worth a weekend
Stories with a beginning, a middle and an end: online originals made as limited series or miniseries.
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List 03
6shows
Cancelled after one season
Big swings that didn’t get a second go. Each of these online originals was cancelled after a single season.
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List 04
39shows
Award winners
Online originals that won one of television’s major awards — Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTA TV Awards, International Emmys or Peabodys.
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List 05
5shows
Subtitles on: originals not in English
Some of the biggest online originals weren’t made in English. Turn the subtitles on (or try the dub).
Channels, of a sort
Platform histories- 39NetflixOriginals since 2012
- 16Amazon Prime VideoOriginals since 2013
- 15Apple TVOriginals since 2019
- 5Disney+Originals since 2019
- 8HuluOriginals since 2011
- 5Paramount+Originals since 2016
- 6HBO MaxOriginals since 2020
- 2PeacockOriginals since 2020
- 8YouTubeOriginals since 2016
- 2DC UniverseOriginals since 2018
- 1Yahoo ScreenOriginals since 2011
- 1CrackleOriginals on this site
- 1VimeoOriginals since 2014
- 1Funny or DieOriginals since 2007
- 1Other websitesOriginals on this site
- 6BBC ThreeOriginals since 2016
- 3ITVXOriginals since 2022
Programme notes
All articlesBBC Three: the channel that went online
In 2016 the BBC took its youth channel off air and moved it to iPlayer; six years and several hits later, BBC Three came back to television.
A short history of streaming in the UK
Britain's streaming story began with broadcasters' catch-up players rather than Netflix: here are the key dates, from 4oD and iPlayer to Disney+ and ITVX.
Lilyhammer: was it really Netflix's first original?
A Norwegian mob comedy reached Netflix a year before House of Cards, but whether it counts as the service's first original depends on what you mean by 'original'.
Which platform made it?
Think you know your Netflix originals from your Apple ones? Try the quiz — one show at a time, no sign-up, nothing stored.