(Credits: Netflix)

In an outcome that’s nothing other than predictable, a star-studded Netflix series predicated on a murder has annihilated the competition to debut as the streaming service’s number one most-watched series.

Leaving its rivals in the dust, creator and show-runner Jenna Lamia’s six-episode mini-series The Perfect Couple amassed over 103 million viewing hours and in excess of 20 million views, almost three times as many as the second-placed show.

The platform has turned death and despair into one of its most popular forms of content. Therefore, with Nicole Kidman continuing her small screen obsession, which has seen her lend her talents to Big Little Lies, The Undoing, Nine Perfect Strangers, Special Ops: Lioness, and Expats in the last few years alone, it was always bound to be a monster hit for Netflix.

Following a classic setup, The Perfect Couple finds Kidman and Liev Schrieber’s titular spouses at the centre of a murder mystery when a body washes up on the shores near their home, causing everyone who descended upon their Nantucket abode for a lavish wedding to stay put while the culprit is rooted out.

As often tends to be the case, crime is dominating the most-watched list this week, with Worst Ex Ever holding onto second place as the offshoot of Worst Roommate Ever justifies Netflix’s decision to expand the nascent franchise.

The first season of Prison Break is another new addition to the top ten, with plenty of subscribers about to discover, to their dismay, that the series never gets any better than that. American Murder: Laci Peterson is still hanging around after four weeks, too, underlining that Netflix users can always be relied upon to indulge their morbid tendencies.

Reality TV is another heavy presence on the charts, with the eighth season of Selling Sunset being joined by the second run of competition series Outlast, while some heavyweight holdovers continue to linger, including Jeff Goldblum’s blackly comic fantasy Kaos, the first half of Emily in Paris‘ fourth season, and the final run of comic book adaptation The Umbrella Academy.

With an Oscar-winning star and a twist-happy murder mystery to saucer their eyeballs with, though, nothing else can hold a candle to The Perfect Couple.

The 10 most popular series on Netflix this week:

• The Perfect Couple
• Worst Ex Ever: Season 1
• Kaos
• Emily in Paris: Season 4
• Prison Break: Season 1
• Selling Sunset: Season 8
• Outlast: Season 2
• American Murder: Laci Peterson
• Mermaid Magic: Season 1
• The Umbrella Academy: Season 4