The streaming service may currently have almost 50 original shows lingering in purgatory waiting to discover if they’ll be afforded the opportunity to continue, but one of Netflix’s longest-running episodic exclusives has quietly re-cemented itself as a guaranteed draw after season 7 of Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons locked down a plum spot on the most-watched charts.
Originating as a Channel 5 original in the United Kingdom that was distributed on-demand by the platform, since its second season the documentary has been a through-and-through Netflix OG, with Raphael Rowe stepping in for Paul Connolly as the host from its sophomore run onward.
He’s the perfect frontman in the cruelest since considering Rowe spent 12 years behind bars for crimes that he was ultimately acquitted of and to which he always protested his innocence, lending Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons a sense of experience and authenticity that not a whole lot of similar offerings can compete with.
Even after seven seasons – which comfortably makes it one of Netflix’s lengthiest ongoing programs – subscribers are still as keen to dive into the harsh realities of those locked up as ever. Per FlixPatrol, Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons returned as one of the 10 most popular shows on the entire content library, having debuted at number eight on the worldwide rankings by securing a lofty debut in 40 nations around the globe.
Should it be renewed once again, then it’ll officially be tied with Spanish-language teen drama Elite as the Netflix original with the most seasons in terms of nothing but volume, which would be quite the achievement.