The most-watched series on US Netflix has just dropped on BBC iPlayer

Legal drama racked up an impressive 57 billion minutes of viewing time in the States in 2023

Suits lovers can prepare to welcome a whole new wave of viewers to the fandom as the show is now available on BBC iPlayer, nearly two months after the broadcaster acquired the series in a deal with NBCUniversal.

Though the hit legal drama concluded in 2019, it has remained a favourite on various streaming services ever since and was the most-watched acquired show on Netflix US in 2023.

Now, UK fans can watch the series – which famously stars Meghan Markle – on-demand via the BBC’s streaming service.

The show features Patrick J Adams as Mike Ross, an intelligent college dropout who winds up working as a law associate for top attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), despite not having a law school qualification.

Together, Mike and Harvey work to win crucial cases while concealing Mike’s lack of a legal degree.

Meghan Markle starred in seven of the show’s nine seasons as Rachel Zane, a paralegal at the law firm who begins a relationship with Mike.

However, she departed the programme in 2017 after beginning a relationship with Prince Harry, marking the end of her acting career.

Since the series landed on Netflix in the US last summer, it has racked up over 57 billion minutes of streaming time, breaking records for the most-watched acquired title.

Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Mike (Patrick J Adams) in Suits (BBC/NBC Universal/Open 4 Business Productions/Shane Mahood)

The show has been available on Netflix in the UK for several years, but reached BBC iPlayer on Friday (10 May).

“Since when has suits been on BBC iPlayer? I’ve already seen it 100 times, guess one more re-run won’t hurt,” one excited fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

When asked about the impressive viewing numbers Suits has racked up, Meghan admitted that she had “no idea” what was causing the show’s recent uptick in popularity.

“It was great to work on, such a great cast and crew. We had such a fun time. I was on it for seven seasons – so quite a bit,” she said at Variety’s Power of Women event in November.

At the time, the show had hit 45 billion viewing hours, a figure the Duchess deemed “wild”, before quipping: “But who’s counting?”

Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits season 2 (BBC/NBC Universal/Open 4 Business Productions/Christos Kalohoridis)

Along with Suits, the BBC also gained the rights to the mockumentary series St Denis Medical and the TV continuation of the Best Man films, The Best Man: The Final Chapters.

Sue Deeks, Head of BBC Programme Acquisition, said in a statement in March: “This is a really exciting and enjoyable trio of star-studded series: the hotly-anticipated comedy, St Denis Medical, the sassy, romantic comedy-drama, The Best Man: The Final Chapters, and the smart and stylish legal drama, Suits.

“We couldn’t be more delighted to bring them all to BBC viewers.”

Suits is available on BBC iPlayer now, with St Denis Medical and The Best Man: The Final Chapters to follow in due course.