Youth-focused "Fresh," about the escapades of a group of college freshmen, began life as five-minute webisodes produced by the BBC's teen website Switch.
Beginning in the fall, seven 30-minute episodes will air on BBC2's teen-branded block Switch and digital web BBC3.
The BBC is increasingly experimenting with online shows invariably aimed at young auds. It also announced Thursday that it has commissioned U.K. digital production company Conker Media to create and produce an interactive, digital thriller, "The Well," aimed at teens. Show will air in the fall on BBC2's Switch block and be extended online, where users can play a game related to the storylines.
A similar experiment Stateside was a dismal failure.
"Quarterlife," a successful Web series from Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, aired as an hourlong on NBC in February 2008. It was yanked after the first episode pulled in just 3.1 million viewers and finished out its run on sibling net Bravo.
