The story
A sharp-tongued young woman in London, never named, runs a cash-strapped guinea pig café, careers from one bad decision to the next and confides in the audience with a knowing glance or aside to camera, joking her way past whatever she would rather not face. Her buttoned-up sister Claire, her awkward father and his new partner keep pulling her back into family life, where every attempt at closeness gets complicated.
Why it matters
Fleabag is the defining hit of BBC Three's online-only era: commissioned for the digital channel with Amazon as co-production partner, it premiered there before any broadcast repeat. Its second series won six Emmys in 2019, making it the first British show to take Best Comedy Series, proof that an online-first commission could compete with anything on television.
Born online
Made by Two Brothers Pictures for the digital BBC Three in a co-production deal with Amazon Studios, Fleabag premiered on 21 July 2016, during BBC Three's online-only years; a BBC Two repeat run followed from August 2016. Series two was released on BBC Three, by then only available online, at the same time as its BBC One broadcast.
Notable facts
- It is adapted from Phoebe Waller-Bridge's one-woman play, first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2013. (source)
- Amazon Prime Video premiered it in the United States in September 2016. (source)
- In September 2019 it became the first British show to win Best Comedy Series at the Emmys. (source)
- In 2026 it ranked fifth on The New York Times' list of the 100 greatest TV series of the 21st century. (source)