get_iplayer is back

2 March 2021

get_iplayer, software which allows you download from the BBC iplayer service, is back.

There are packages for e.g. MacOS with Brew, FreeBSD with pkg

By way of example, to download I May Destroy You with subtitles:

Firstly, let’s generate the get_iplayer commands so we can check them before running. Note that the URLs are just copied and pasted into the below array declaration and that the syntax below will work with both bash and zsh shells.

declare -a arr=(
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jz0n/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-1-eyes-eyes-eyes-eyes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jyxr/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-2-someone-is-lying
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k4x9/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-3-dont-forget-the-sea
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k56p/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-4-that-was-fun
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kc8m/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-5-it-just-came-up
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kc27/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-6-the-alliance
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kk4c/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-7-happy-animals
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kkcx/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-8-line-spectrum-border
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000krqd/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-9-social-media-is-a-great-way-to-connect
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000krhf/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-10-the-cause-the-cure
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kyd6/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-11-would-you-like-to-know-the-sex
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000ky9v/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-12-ego-death
)

for i in "${arr[@]}"
do
    echo get_iplayer \"$i\"
    echo get_iplayer --subtitles-only \"$i\"
done

This generates the following output:

get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jz0n/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-1-eyes-eyes-eyes-eyes"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jz0n/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-1-eyes-eyes-eyes-eyes"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jyxr/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-2-someone-is-lying"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jyxr/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-2-someone-is-lying"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k4x9/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-3-dont-forget-the-sea"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k4x9/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-3-dont-forget-the-sea"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k56p/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-4-that-was-fun"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k56p/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-4-that-was-fun"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kc8m/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-5-it-just-came-up"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kc8m/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-5-it-just-came-up"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kc27/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-6-the-alliance"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kc27/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-6-the-alliance"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kk4c/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-7-happy-animals"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kk4c/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-7-happy-animals"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kkcx/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-8-line-spectrum-border"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kkcx/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-8-line-spectrum-border"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000krqd/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-9-social-media-is-a-great-way-to-connect"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000krqd/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-9-social-media-is-a-great-way-to-connect"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000krhf/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-10-the-cause-the-cure"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000krhf/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-10-the-cause-the-cure"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kyd6/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-11-would-you-like-to-know-the-sex"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kyd6/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-11-would-you-like-to-know-the-sex"
get_iplayer "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000ky9v/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-12-ego-death"
get_iplayer --subtitles-only "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000ky9v/i-may-destroy-you-series-1-12-ego-death"

Secondly, to run and to download the episodes, just paste into the shell.