Since it’s release on March 20^th 2025 how has Last One Laughing UK (LOL UK) performed for Amazon Prime?

Streamers are notoriously secretive about their viewing figures and it’s pretty hard to pull out a final figure from anyone. Below is a roundup of what I could find (June 7^th). It may be next year before data filters out, to indicate exactly how this show performed, both on Amazon and in general.

The news, across the board, is VERY positive…but also pretty contradictory. All we know for certain is that – it was a massive hit and series 2 is commissioned!!

Note: No one has specified, in their reporting, whether these figures are UK mainland only – or a wider audience. I know, with Netflix, that I can use a VPN to connect as if in another country – but not sure if you can do that with Amazon as you go in through your Prime UK account. Anyway – bear in mind that I’ve made the assumption that these are all UK viewers.

Zeppotron / Initial

Just because it needs mentioning – the UK version was made by British TV Production companies Zeppotron and Initial (both a part of Banijay). Banijay is a global group, with their headquarters in Paris.

6.1m or 7.98m Views?

At the end of April I posted that it was being reported that, in the first 28 days, LOL UK had achieved 6.1m views.

I can’t really make sense of how anyone came to that figure as, for example, Metro’s analysis (on April 1^st) came up with:

• Episode 1 – 2,976,100
• Episode 2 – 2,527,300
• Episode 3 – 2,485,400

First up – why only 3 episodes? Amazon released 4 episodes (on March 20^th) and then followed a week later with the final 2.

Secondly – these figures add up to 7,988,800. Those numbers apparently came from BARB and were only for the first week – so how could the whole 6 episodes, in 28 days, only be reported as 6.1m?

Top 10 Charts

What none of these reports can tell us though is how many more millions of views were racked up by the 16 other countries that were watching and driving it into their Top 10 (as reported on Flixpatrol).

And no one has considered how many other countries were also watching, in the over 200 potential territories (that can view Prime). We can only guess at how popular it was (and still is).

For example – eight days after release it was Top 10 in 17 countries, dropping to 14 on April 3^rd. On April 14^th it was till Top 10 across 6 countries (25 days after release).

It seems to be constantly bubbling under the Top 10s – as demonstrated by the UK which ranked it as 10 on May 28^th but then it dropped out, only to pop back in at 10 again on the 1^st and 2nd June (and again on the 7th).

I suspect the 7.98m mentioned above is a mere drop in the ocean.

Comedy In Your Eye Review

Another perspective, on the show’s success, was added by this Comedy In Your Eye analysis. I’ll just pull out some key snippets:

• Original Japanese show was called Documental
• Over 20 country specific versions have been produced, for Amazon Prime. Hight profile host examples Graham Norton (Ire), Rebel Wilson (Aus), Trevor Noah (S. Af.).
• The set of LOK UK was slicker than the ones for other territories and gave it a more high-production feel.
• The 6.1m figure, for the first 28 days, is repeated and confirms it as “one of Amazon’s most successful UK original series”. Clarkson’s Farm 3^rd season launch drew 7.7m.
• They quote Episode 1 “2.8m in 7 days” and Episode 2 as “5.3m over 28 days”.
• 90% watched on a Smart TV, rather than a mobile device.
• Audience reviews were, overall, better than critics. IMHO – who cares what critics think?
• Prime’s ability to tap into the UK’s “deep-seated appreciation for panel show-style comedy”
• Its success is demonstrated by its ability to top the platform’s charts and “lead the entire UK streaming landscape” in its launch week.
• Palpable demand for more and clips from the show widely shared.

BARB Analysis

BARB themselves (Doug Whelpdale) have written an overview (see here) that is really pretty much summarised by the video below.

But a couple of points that are only in this text piece (if you don’t have time to browse it):

• Success of this show may make Amazon produce more comedy.
• Streamers often have a Top 5 shows that account for around 25% of their viewing and, in 2024, Amazon’s Top 5 accounted for 31% and the only comedy was Big Bang Theory.
• Production costs were very low (when compared to blockbusters such as Reacher) but can still bring in massive viewer numbers.
• LOL Japan has had 13 series and LOL Germany 4 – so it’s a format that has some mileage

Their perspective is interesting in that this article / video asks what LOL UK did for Amazon? In a nutshell – while connected to Prime, to look for LOL UK, people spotted other things that they might want to watch and Amazon’s overall viewing shot up (BARB shows us a pretty graph) and other streamers lost out.

Doug also explains how LOL Ireland got fairly paltry figures on release – but saw a MASSIVE leap (5x the original viewing figures) because of LOL UK.

Summary

What do I think this show achieved?

• Demonstrated that if you want a hit show – have Jimmy Carr host it!
• Showed that sometimes it’s “silly” comedy that works best – this show, despite being quite raunchy in places, had whole family’s binge watching it
• Delivered great viewing figures that guaranteed it an instant series 2
• Boosted Amazon viewing overall and hit the competitors where it hurts (I would put money on them noticing this and discussing how to replicate the success)
• Introduced millions to a series that they hadn’t heard of and drove up viewing of the versions from other countries
• Sold British comedy all around the world
• Bob Mortimer was propelled to legendary status and it won’t have done the careers of the other comics any harm

The next time you see people whining about how “middle aged white men” (Clarkson and Carr) shouldn’t be on TV…think of these numbers.