Keeping Faith hits 50 million streams

Welsh drama series Keeping Faith has been hailed as "a phenomenon" after reaching the major milestone of being streamed 50 million times.

The BBC says the acclaimed thriller starring Eve Myles passed the mark this week, having debuted on the broadcaster's iPlayer in February 2018.

The show was originally broadcast in Welsh on S4C in November 2017, as Un Bore Mercher (One Wednesday Morning), before its English version premiered three months later.

It became the most popular show on BBC Wales in more than 25 years and, with more than 8.5 million downloads by May 2018, became the most downloaded non-network show on the BBC's iPlayer.

Nick Andrews, Head of Commissioning at BBC Wales, said in a statement the 50 million streams figure was "an astonishing number and a terrific milestone".

The cast and crew can be rightly proud about the impact their work has had not just here in Wales but across the UK. It's a phenomenon.

Created and written by Matthew Hall, and filmed concurrently in Welsh and English, the series tells the story of lawyer, wife, and mother Faith Howells (Myles), who strives to discover the truth about the sudden disappearance of her husband.

The final episode aired on BBC One on Saturday night.