get_iplayer: BBC iPlayer/BBC Sounds Indexing Tool and PVR

Features

• Downloads TV and radio programmes from BBC iPlayer/BBC Sounds
• Allows multiple programmes to be downloaded using a single command
• Indexing of most available iPlayer/Sounds catch-up programmes from previous 30 days (not Red Button, iPlayer Exclusive, or Podcast-only)
• Caching of programme index with automatic updating
• Regex search on programme name
• Regex search on programme description and episode title
• Filter search results by channel
• Direct download via programme ID or URL
• PVR capability (may be used with cron or Task Scheduler)
• HTTP proxy support
• Perl 5.16+ required, plus LWP, LWP::Protocol::https, XML::LibXML, Mojolicious, and CGI modules
• Requires ffmpeg for conversion to MP4 and AtomicParsley for metadata tagging
• Runs on Linux/BSD (Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenBSD and others), macOS (10.10+), Windows (7/8/10)

NOTE:

• get_iplayer can only search for programmes that were scheduled for broadcast on BBC linear services within the previous 30 days, even if some are available for more than 30 days on the iPlayer/Sounds sites. Red button programmes, iPlayer box sets, web-only content, and BBC podcasts are not searchable. Programmes that are still available after 30 days must be located on the iPlayer/Sounds sites and downloaded directly via PID or URL.
• get_iplayer does not support downloading news/sport videos, other embedded media, archive programmes, special collections, educational material, programme clips or any content other than whole episodes of programmes scheduled for broadcast on BBC linear services within the previous 30 days. However, it is generally possible to download other content such as red button programmes, iPlayer box sets, or podcasts directly via PID or URL. get_iplayer DOES NOT support live recording from BBC channels.

Documentation

https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer/wiki

Installation

https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer/wiki/installation

Usage

get_iplayer --help
get_iplayer --basic-help
get_iplayer --long-help

Examples

• List all TV programmes (--type=tv set by default):

  get_iplayer ".*"

  Search output appears in this format:

  ...
  208:  Doctor Who: Series 7 Part 2 - 1. The Bells of Saint John, BBC One, b01rryzz
  209:  Doctor Who: Series 7 Part 2 - 2. The Rings Of Akhaten, BBC One, b01rx0lj
  210:  Doctor Who: Series 7 Part 2 - 3. Cold War, BBC One, b01s1cz7
  ...

  Format = <index>: <name> - <episode>, <channel>, <pid>

• List all TV programmes with long descriptions:

  get_iplayer --long ".*"

• List all radio programmes:

  get_iplayer --type=radio ".*"

• List all TV programmes with "doctor who" in the name (matching is case-insensitive):

  get_iplayer "doctor who"

• List all TV and radio programmes with "doctor who" in the name:

  get_iplayer --type tv,radio "doctor who"

• List all BBC One programmes:

  get_iplayer --channel="BBC One" ".*"

• List Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra programmes with "Book at Bedtime" in the title:

  get_iplayer --type=radio --channel="Radio 4" "Book at Bedtime"

• List only Radio 4 programmes with "Book at Bedtime" in the title:

  get_iplayer --type=radio --channel="Radio 4$" "Book at Bedtime"

  (The $ regular expression metacharacter matches "Radio 4" only at the end of the channel name, thus avoiding matches against "Radio 4 Extra")

• Record TV programme number 208 (index from search results) in HD, with fallback to lower quality if not available:

  get_iplayer --get 208 [default setting]

  or

  get_iplayer --get 208 --tv-quality=hd,sd,web,mobile [explicit setting]

• Record TV programme number 208 in lower resolution only (704x396@50):

  get_iplayer --get 208 --tv-quality=web

• Record TV programme number 208 and download subtitles in SubRip (SRT) format:

  get_iplayer --get 208 --subtitles

• Record multiple TV programmes (using index numbers from search results):

  get_iplayer --get 208 209 210

• Record a TV programme using its iPlayer URL:

  get_iplayer https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sc0wf/Doctors_Series_15_Perfect/

• Record a TV programme using the PID (b01sc0wf) from its iPlayer URL:

  get_iplayer --pid=b01sc0wf

• Record a radio programme using its Sounds URL:

  get_iplayer https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07gcv34

• Record a radio programme using the PID (b07gcv34) from its Sounds URL in high quality (320k), with fallback to lower quality if not available (default setting):

  get_iplayer --pid=b07gcv34 [default setting]

  OR

  get_iplayer --pid=b07gcv34 --radio-quality=high,std,med,low [explicit setting]

• Record a radio programme using the PID (b07gcv34) from its Sounds URL with lower bit rate only (96k):

  get_iplayer --pid=b07gcv34 --radio-quality=med

• Record multiple radio programmes (using PIDs from Sounds URLs):

  get_iplayer --pid=b07gcv34,b07h60ld [comma-separated list]

  OR

  get_iplayer --pid=b07gcv34 --pid=b07h60ld [multiple arguments]

NOTE: Sometimes you may not be able to download a listed programme immediately after broadcast (usually available within 24hrs of airing). Some BBC programmes may not be available from iPlayer/Sounds.