get_iplayer

BBC iPlayer TV and radio downloader

TLDR

Search for programs

$ get_iplayer "[search term]"

Download a program

$ get_iplayer --get [index_number]

Download by PID

$ get_iplayer --pid [pid]

List TV programs

$ get_iplayer --type=tv "[search]"

List radio programs

$ get_iplayer --type=radio "[search]"

Set output directory

$ get_iplayer --output [/path/to/dir] --get [index]

Download in specific quality

$ get_iplayer --tvmode=best --get [index]

SYNOPSIS

get_iplayer [options] [search...]

get_iplayer downloads BBC iPlayer TV and radio programs from the BBC's streaming service. It provides search functionality across the iPlayer catalog, quality selection, and automated PVR-style scheduling for recording programs.The tool can download both on-demand and live content, with support for subtitles and metadata. It maintains a local cache of available programs for faster searching and supports batch downloads.Programs on iPlayer are typically available for 30 days after broadcast, though some content may have different availability windows based on BBC rights agreements.

PARAMETERS

--get index

Download by index number.

--pid pid

Download by program PID.

--type type

Media type (tv, radio, podcast).

--output dir

Output directory.

--tvmode mode

TV quality preference (fhd, hd, sd, web, mobile), comma-delimited in descending preference.

--radiomode mode

Radio quality preference (high, std, med, low).

--pvr

Run PVR scheduler.

--refresh

Refresh program cache.

--url URL

Record the PIDs from the specified iPlayer episode URLs.

--subtitles

Download subtitles when available.

--audio-only

Only download the audio stream for TV programmes (produces .m4a file).

--file-prefix TEMPLATE

Filename prefix template (excluding directory and extension).

--attempts N

Number of attempts to make or resume a failed connection.

CONFIGURATION

~/.get_iplayer/options

User preferences file for default options and settings.

~/.get_iplayer/presets

Custom quality and recording presets.

INSTALL

sudo dnf install get_iplayer

brew install get_iplayer

nix profile install nixpkgs#get_iplayer

CAVEATS

Only works with BBC content and typically requires a UK IP address. Programs expire after 30 days on iPlayer (some content has different availability windows). Requires ffmpeg for downloading and converting streams.