How to watch BBC iPlayer in Australia

BBC iPlayer is a free streaming service with some great TV show and movie options for your viewing pleasure.

Australia isn’t exactly short of streaming services though. Between Netflix, Stan, Disney Plus, Prime Video, Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus, that’s not just a lot of content, but an ever growing monthly entertainment fee. Cue the entry of free-to-air catch-up services that offer a decent smattering of content.

BBC iPlayer is a great free-to-air streaming service with a catch: you have to be in the UK to access it. Or do you? Follow our guide to access BBC iPlayer content from Australia.

You need two things to watch BBC iPlayer in Australia. The first is a virtual private network (VPN) that’s adept at sidestepping BBC iPlayer’s geoblocking. And the second is a BBC iPlayer account, which is free to create.

Admittedly, you are asked to tick a confirmation box to verify you live in the UK, so as long as you don’t mind operating in the grey with that answer—something we would, of course, never officially recommend—creating a free account is a straightforward process. Simply connect to a VPN server in the UK, log in to your BBC iPlayer account and pick the content you want to play.

We’ve tested a lot of VPNs at Reviews.org and the good news is that most of them are fast to load the BBC iPlayer library and stream content. The best VPN for streaming is Windscribe VPN, which works well across BBC iPlayer as well as American and Australian streaming services. Here’s a look at the VPNs we’ve reviewed with the fastest streaming for BBC iPlayer.

Alternatively, Proton VPN, VPN Unlimited and Surfshark VPN worked okay with BBC iPlayer, offering moderate buffering speeds for movies and TV shows.

There’s some great content on BBC iPlayer that would otherwise require a subscription fee to stream in Australia. For example, His Dark Materials (on Binge) and Peaky Blinders (on Netflix) are two popular TV series available on BBC iPlayer.

If you prefer movies, you can find classics like Braveheart (on Disney Plus), Spider-Man: Homecoming (on Disney Plus) and Highlander (on Binge). Whatever your preference, there are hundreds of content choices across movies and TV series on BBC iPlayer.