David Farnor | On 21, Apr 2020

The BBC is bringing a number of new box sets back to iPlayer to help keep people entertained as people in the UK remain under lockdown, including the recent hit supernatural drama Dracula and the Tom Hardy-starring Taboo, as well as popular comedies The Kumars at No.42 and My Family.

The BBC has seen record numbers of viewers in recent weeks. Monday 23rd March was iPlayer’s most popular day ever, with a record 20.4 million requests to stream programmes on the service, as the Prime Minister addressed the nation. This is the first time iPlayer has seen more than 20m programmes requested in a day.

BBC iPlayer recently added both seasons of The A Word, David Walliams children’s shows Billionaire Boy, The Midnight Gang, and Grandpa’s Escape, plus a number of programmes in the Performance Live series, as part of Culture in Quarantine. These new shows joined a number of high-profile box sets recently added, including Devs, Spooks, French and Saunders, The Missing, Baptiste, Wallander, The Honourable Woman and Waking the Dead.

Now, it’s bringing back even more box sets, Alongside Taboo and Dracula will be productions from the Royal Shakespeare Company. These include some of the bard’s best-known plays. Other programmes returning to iPlayer include both seasons of Bafta-winning drama Doctor Foster, all 11 seasons of long-running sitcom My Family, comedy entertainment show The Kumars at No.42, and every episode of detective drama Strike. And, from BBC Wales, the arrival of comedy series Tourist Trap as well as Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience.

Here’s the line-up:

Added this week

Dracula
Taboo
Tourist Trap
Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience

23rd April

Hamlet (starring Paapa Essiedu)
Macbeth (starring Christopher Eccleston)
Much Ado About Nothing
Erica Whyman’s Romeo and Juliet
Othello (starring Lucian Msamati)
The Merchant of Venice (starring Patsy Ferran)
Emma Rice’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Tempest (starring Roger Allam, Colin Morgan)

24th April

My Family

12th June

Doctor Foster

13th June

The Kumars at No. 42

18th June
Strike

Recently added

Waking the Dead: Season 1 to 9
French and Saunders: Season 1 to 6
Wallander: Season 1 to 4
The Honourable Woman: Season 1
The Missing: Season 1 and 2
Baptiste: Season 1
The A-Word: Season 1 and 2

 

BBC steps up iPlayer box sets during coronavirus crisis

18th March 2020

The BBC is stepping up its TV and streaming game as the country faces growing concerns and an increasing number of people indoors at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

With many people self-isolating or working from home, schools set to close from Friday 20th March and all non-essential travel recommended to be avoided, the Beeb is doubling down on its role to bring news and information to audiences in a fast-moving situation, and counter confusion and misinformation. It also has a mandate to entertain audiences, and will be expanding its iPlayer catalogue to do so.

Speaking today, Director General Tony Hall confirmed that many favourite shows will be brought back to the catch-up service, including Spooks, The Missing, Waking The Dead, French and Saunders, Wallander and The Honourable Woman, as well as more from BBC Three.

An “exciting new iPlayer experience for children” will also be launched, offering a wide range of entertaining and educational series through an interface that is “easy to use and easy for them to find what’s relevant to them”.

BBC One has promised to do everything it can to maintain Breakfast and the One, Six and Ten news, also broadcasting a weekly prime-time Coronavirus special on Wednesdays. Question Time will be moved to 8pm on Thursdays, with call-in audiences and remote guests, while Newsround bulletins will air throughout the day on CBBC. The planned closure of the Red Button text news and information service has also been pushed back..

Using The One Show as a consumer programme show for all aspects of the crisis, the Beeb will provide health and well-being advice, keeping fit and healthy eating tips, as well as links to other BBC output that can help and support.

In BBC One daytime, Health Check UK Live will directly address the concerns of viewers who are in isolation, offering tips on how to keep healthy and happy at home.

Subject to outside broadcast capacity and its partners, BBC One aims to broadcast a weekly Sunday morning church service, and explore how to support other religions and denominations, including in the run-up to Ramadan.

Older age group exercise routines and other fitness programming will also be provided, while the BBC Food website around collections of recipes and advice on what can be made with essentials, especially for older people and low-income families.

Subject to further work and discussions with the Department for Education, devolved administrations and schools, the BBC is also exploring a daily educational programme for different key stages or year groups – with a complementary self-learning programme for students to follow, broadcast on BBC Red Button and made available on-demand on BBC iPlayer.

The BBC also aims to increasing educational programming on BBC iPlayer, bringing together the best from BBC Bitesize, BBC Teach and the wider BBC portfolio where educationally appropriate.

BBC Four and BBC Red Button will look to dedicate a block of programming each weekday evening to show programmes that support the GCSE and A Level curriculum.

Director-General Tony Hall says: “We all know these are challenging times for each and every one of us. As the national broadcaster, the BBC has a special role to play at this time of national need.”

Here’s the full line-up of BBC iPlayer box sets arriving in the coming weeks:

26th March

Waking the Dead: Season 1 to 9
French and Saunders: Season 1 to 6

30th March

Wallander: Season 1 to 4
The Honourable Woman: Season 1

31st March

The Missing: Season 1 and 2
Baptiste: Season 1

9th April

The A-Word: Season 1 and 2

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