BBC iPlayer introduces Pretty Little Liars and brings The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air back to the BBC

Published: 30 November 2020

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and its all-star cast will amuse and entertain a new generation through BBC iPlayer and there is an opportunity to re-indulge for those who enjoyed the series on BBC screens the first time around.”

— Dan McGolpin, Controller, BBC iPlayer

It will be the first time since 2004 that the hit nineties comedy The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will be back on the BBC. The classic series, which launched 30 years ago and originally aired on BBC Two in the UK, will drop on BBC iPlayer on New Year’s Day with all 148 episodes from six seasons available to watch.

It launched the screen career of Will Smith who plays a fictionalised version of himself that famously moves to live in Bel-Air, California with his Auntie and Uncle (starring Janet Hubert/Daphne Maxwell Reid and the late James Avery, alongside Alfonso Ribeiro, Karyn Parsons, and Tatyana M. Ali, as Smith’s cousins and Joseph Marcell as the butler Geoffrey).

With its signature blend of hilarity and sincerity, it is recognised as one of the most iconic sitcoms of the 90s, and has remained culturally relevant – influencing writers and actors from all over the world ever since it first aired. Decades later, the series continues to appeal to future generations.

Pretty Little Liars ran for seven series from 2010 and has become a cult classic. Set in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series follows the lives of four girls whose friendship falls apart following the disappearance of the group’s leader Alison DiLaurentis (played by Sasha Pieterse).

A year after she disappeared, the estranged friends, Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale), Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson), Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell) and Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario), begin receiving messages from ‘A’ who threatens to unearth some of their deepest secrets. The mystery thriller is based on the best-selling book series written by Sara Shepherd with the television series developed and executive produced by I. Marlene King.

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists is a single season spin-off and a UK premiere which features the return of Alison DiLaurentis (again played by Sasha Pieterse). This time the story is centred around a murder in the college town of Beacon Heights where on the surface everything seems perfect – from their top-tier college to their overachieving residents. But nothing in Beacon Heights is as it appears to be. The stress of needing to be perfect leads to the town’s first murder. Behind every Perfectionist is a secret, a lie and a needed alibi.

All series of Pretty Little Liars will also arrive on BBC iPlayer on New Years Day. Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists will be available at a later date.

Dan McGolpin, Controller of BBC iPlayer says: “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and its all-star cast will amuse and entertain a new generation through BBC iPlayer and there is an opportunity to re-indulge for those who enjoyed the series on BBC screens the first time around.

“Together with new series Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists and all previous series of Pretty Little Liars, we will have more choice than ever before to kick-off 2021. Whatever your age and whatever your mood, there is a series waiting for you on BBC iPlayer.”

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Pretty Little Liars and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists were acquired for BBC iPlayer from Warner Bros. International Television by Sue Deeks, Head of Programme Acquisition, BBC.

Notes to Editors

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was produced by The Stuffed Dog Company and Quincy Jones Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Pretty Little Liars was produced by Alloy Entertainment, Long Lake Media and Russian Hill Productions in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television.

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists was produced by Alloy Entertainment and Long Lake Media in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air joins recent comedy hits Love Life, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens; Shrill; Dave; Twenties and What We Do In The Shadows in a select collection from the U.S. to complement the vast range of new and classic British comedy series on BBC iPlayer. Other comedy titles streaming now include This Country, The Young Offenders, Ghosts, Fleabag, Mrs Brown’s Boys, Man Like Mobeen, Famalam, Sara Pascoe’s Out of Her Mind, This Time with Alan Partridge and King Gary. The classic comedy selection includes full series of Gavin and Stacey, The Real McCoy, The Vicar of Dibley, The Catherine Tate Show, Citizen Khan, The Royle Family, Outnumbered, Blackadder, Gimme Gimme Gimme and The Kumars at No. 42.

Pretty Little Liars and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists join the huge range of new and classic drama offered on BBC iPlayer. New Series for 2020 include Normal People, Industry, Small Axe, RoadKill, I May Destroy You, Noughts and Crosses, Dracula, The Salisbury Poisonings, The Secrets She Keeps, Mrs America, DEVS, Cardinal, Five Bedrooms, Get Even, Fort Salem, and Good Trouble. Returning dramas from 2020 include Killing Eve, His Dark Materials, Doctor Who, Silent Witness, Our Girl, The A Word, London Kills and Last Tango In Halifax. They sit alongside classic drama series like Spooks, Sherlock, Taboo, Luther, Doctor Foster, Wallander, Life On Mars, Hustle, Merlin, Atlantis, The Musketeers, Waterloo Road, Cutting It, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and The Bridge.

BW