Last Updated on May 2, 2025
Can You Watch BBC iPlayer Abroad?
Yes, it is possible to watch BBC iPlayer abroad !
All the major UK TV stations broadcast online, BBC, ITV, Sky and Channels 4 and 5. Unfortunately as you’re probably be aware although you can watch all of these from the UK, they are normally inaccessible outside Britain.
Why Can’t I Watch the BBC Outside the UK?
Well, the reason you can’t watch the BBC iPlayer and lots of other channels abroad is largely due to your IP address. It’s something most of us find out fairly quickly when we move or travel abroad. This is the unique network address assigned to every device when it connect to the internet. Unfortunately your IP address can also be used to accurately determine your location. Most websites now lookup your location from this address and many of them use it to determine your experience.
What basically happens is that when you visit a website, it will look up your address and check which country you are in. For British TV stations anything outside the United Kingdom and you’ll usually get a polite message informing you it’s not accessible. The same happens with most media sites in countries all over the world, normally they restrict access to their domestic markets. So for example all the major US TV stations broadcast online but you can only access them normally if you’re physically located in the USA.
However for many years people have been using various privacy tools to circumvent this problem. Most of them give you the ability to unblock channels from anywhere in the world, so if you choose wisely you can actually watch UK TV abroad free as well as enjoying sites in lots of other countries.
So Can I Watch the BBC iPlayer Abroad – Outside the United Kingdom?
Yes fortunately you can and its relatively straight forward. You need to hide your location from the BBC website or the app. Although you cannot change your real IP address, it’s actually quite easy to hide it. Watch the video below as it explains how it’s done.
but there are a few other that still work with BBC iPlayer.
Using a VPN to Watch BBC iPlayer Outside the UK
Just to summarize you’re simply hiding your real address when connecting to BBC iPlayer. It’s actually impossible to change your IP address without access to an ISP (Internet Service Provider). Yet it’s not actually necessary, masking your real location is all that is required. The same method works with all media channels in the United Kingdom. So you can use the exact same method for other channels like Sky, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 etc – it’s fairly quick and easy to do. It doesn’t matter where you are – Greece, Spain, Australia or the US – it should still work fine.
Unfortunately currently in 2024 there is no longer a practical free method to doing this. A few years ago you could use things like free proxies which were all over the internet. Unfortunately all of these are now much too slow and are also on blacklists which most major sites will check. This means that they are blocked by the BBC automatically and most other online media stations too.
Choosing the Best VPN to Access Streaming Sites like the BBC
There are lots of VPN services available which can protect your privacy and data online. Most of them are pretty good for hiding your IP address and real location too. What they’re not always so good at is bypassing geo-blocks and filters. Indeed the problem is that many of the largest websites particularly those from media companies like the BBC don’t like these VPN connections. They are taking action and increasingly more and more of the VPNs are being blocked especially by TV companies in the UK !
BBC Blocks Many Major VPN Services
The BBC has become one of the most aggressive sites in detecting and blocking VPN access. It’s quite surprising as they were previously quite ambivalent towards this workaround. In 2023 though they have managed to stop many people from using this method.
Many of us have had issues with services like CyberGhost or Express VPN who promise access to the BBC and ITV but in practice they often don’t work? It’s often because in an increasingly competitive market, they’re simply putting too many people on the same servers and addresses. This makes them very easy to block, which happens over and over again !
Many VPN Companies are routinely blocked access from the BBC and ITV plus many other media companies.
I know I’ve nearly tried them all! The biggest ones will work well sometimes although can be erratic. Though you may find that the blocks are becoming longer and more frequent. Many companies have stopped supporting access to BBC iPlayer completely simply because it takes so much time and effort to maintain access.
Choose the Best VPN Account Designed to Work with BBC iPlayer
There’s no doubt that it takes effort to ensure access to BBC iPlayer in 2025 for VPN companies. Many have found it’s not worth the time and effort and have stopped trying. So be careful when choosing a service, having a few UK servers is no longer enough. If too many people use the same IP address to stream from a particular site – e.g. everyone watching the News or Match of the Day on the BBC iPlayer – then the VPN can be detected. In normal circumstance people don’t share IP addresses to this extent – it’s almost certainly a VPN or proxy server being used.
Download NordVPN and Use Their BBC Servers
This is the VPN service used in the video above – it’s called NordVPN and has one of the biggest VPN networks in the world. Normally sheer scale isn’t a guarantee of access with regards the BBC iPlayer, simply because more people will use it concurrently. However they have developed an alternative solution to optimize access to the BBC iPlayer. Instead of trying to maintain access across their entire range of UK servers, they are focusing on providing access through a select number of servers.
They check the number of people using these servers and routinely switch the UK IP addresses so they’re not flagged. It’s not completely 100% guaranteed but seems to be very close and you should have little problems accessing the BBC using one of these.
BBC iPlayer Optimized Servers (NordVPN)
If you do try NordVPN to access BBC iPlayer abroad then you should definitely use these servers when watching. Forget the auto-connect feature, select one of these servers instead.
UK# 1840-1847, 1850-1863, 1865, 1869, 1873, 1875-1878, 1880-1881, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1919-1920.
You Can See the Latest Discounts Here –
NordVPN Discount Page
FAQ Additional Information
Here’s few questions that have been received on this site.
Do I need a UK TV Licence for the BBC ?
Often people worry that they won;t be able to watch the BBC even using a VPN as they don’t have a UK TV licence. It’s not actually an issue as this requirement is not enforced outside the UK where you can’t actually buy one anyway. If asked on the BBC site you should simply say that you do have a UK TV license, there’s no check or validation.
Do I Need a UK Postcode for BBC iPlayer?
To stream most programmes from BBC iPlayer in 2022 you will need a BBC user account. These are completely free of charge and are used to keep track of your viewing and suggest new programmes you might like. You just need a valid email address and to supply a username, password and your age. You will also be asked for a UK postcode which is Britain’s version of the US Zip code. However you don’t have to live at this address, you just need to supply one – as long as it’s valid then everything will work fine. Can’t find one – try this page there’s lots of postcodes that work with BBC iPlayer
Unlock the Internet with a VPN
These servers are useful if you want to watch channels from other countries, or access different version of media sites like Netflix (the US one is much better than the UK one for example) So don’t just stick with British sites, there’s some great media site available for free in most developed countries. However if your focus is on the UK with literally hundreds of UK addresses to help you watch British TV online. Don’t forget it’s not just the BBC you can watch all the other UK stations are accessible – you can watch ITV player abroad too if you register an account as well as Channel 4 and 5.
You can also access other UK sites too, if you fancy a flutter then all the betting sites like Betfair will work. Plus you can watch Sky Go abroad too, although you will need access to a Sky subscription for this to work. If you’re short on cash then check out the FAQ below – “watch bbc iplayer abroad free without vpn” for a great short term fix which costs nothing.
The technology is much more sophisticated than most other sites which are often simply a basic software connected to a few secure proxy servers. This has software which allows you to encrypt, switch countries and even speeds up your connection in many cases. The network of servers are fast, support is responsive and all subscriptions are non-recurring. There’s no simpler way of being able to watch BBC iPlayer in Europe free of charge, plus to being able to watch UK TV free as well.
Support for all Your Streaming Devices to Watch BBC Abroad
An important point is that the ability to watch TV stations is not advertised on the site anywhere. Although disconcerting for people wanting to use this , it is crucial, as the sites that advertise openly about accessing BBC iPlayer for instance frequently get closed down or their servers blocked – taking your subscription with them.
The software sits in your task bar and you just click to change your location, you can also use your account on other devices like iPads, phones and tablets. They have apps to support most of your devices, just look for the guides in the members area. There are also versions which work with Android and Mac OS X, all included in the subscription use one or all of them on all your devices.
Fake VPN Review Sites for Access to BBC Shows
The internet is full of review sites for various VPNs. Most of them are completely useless for choosing a VPN to watch the BBC abroad. There’s nothing wrong with the products they list but it’s not a proper check to see if they work with the BBC. They usually ranks everything really highly with the one that pays them the highest commission slightly better at number one (usually ExpressVPN at time of writing) !
Access to the BBC iPlayer changes all the time – anything online can be out of date in week or so (including this page!). You should always check with the VPN provider prior to buying or ensure that they have a money back guarantee you can use if it stops working.
Can you Watch BBC iPlayer Abroad Free without VPN Access?
Unfortunately all the simple free methods to watch BBC iPlayer outside UK borders stopped working a few years ago. It used to be possible to use free proxies or free VPN services to hide your IP address and stream the BBC iPlayer anywhere in the world. These all stopped working several years ago as the media companies like the BBC started to detect and block the use of these tools. Now you need a company who’s prepared to invest in the time and technology to avoid these blocks, which of course costs money.
There is a company who offers a free trial of a Smart DNS solution which does work with the BBC iPlayer for 14 days – here’s the Free Trial Smart DNS. The only completely free method which might work is to use something called TOR which can hide your IP address. You’ll need to configure it to use a UK exit node but it should work. The problem with using TOR is speed which can be a real problem when streaming HD video.