get_iplayer is a nifty little tool that allows you to download iPlayer programmes (either radio or TV) to your computer.
Installation on Debian is very easy. Just fire up a terminal, and use apt-get.
You can, of course, use synaptic or any other package management tool that interfaces with apt, but I use apt-get
richard@eee:~$ sudo apt-get install get-iplayer
apt-get will ask you to confirm that you want to install the dependencies, which is fine.
Once it is installed, you can browse available programmes, download specific programmes, or download any programme that matches a string. Examples are below:
Browse Programmes
richard@eee:~$ get_iplayer torchwood
get_iplayer v2.78, Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Phil Lewis
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use --warranty.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain
conditions; use --conditions for details.
Matches:
704: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 1, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
705: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 2, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
706: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 3, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
707: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 4, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
708: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 5, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
709: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 6, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
710: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 7, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
711: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 8, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
712: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 9, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
713: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 10, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,Popular,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed,
INFO: 10 Matching Programmes
Download Specific Programme
richard@eee:~$ get_iplayer --get 713
get_iplayer v2.78, Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Phil Lewis
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use --warranty.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain
conditions; use --conditions for details.
Matches:
713: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 10, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,Popular,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed,
INFO: 1 Matching Programmes
This will then go on to download the programme.
Download all programmes matching a string
richard@eee:~$ get_iplayer --get Torchwood
get_iplayer v2.78, Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Phil Lewis
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use --warranty.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain
conditions; use --conditions for details.
Matches:
704: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 1, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
705: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 2, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
706: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 3, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
707: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 4, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
708: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 5, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
709: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 6, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
710: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 7, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
711: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 8, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
712: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 9, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed
713: Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 10, BBC HD, Audio Described,Drama,Guidance,Popular,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,audiodescribed,
INFO: 10 Matching Programmes
Downloading a programme from a URL
If you've found the programme you want on the iPlayer website, then you can download from a specific URL. To do this:
richard@eee:~$ get_iplayer --get "http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b014vy02/Doctor_Who_Series_6_The_God_Complex/"
get_iplayer v2.78, Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Phil Lewis
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use --warranty.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain
conditions; use --conditions for details.
INFO: Trying pid: b014vy02 using type: tv
INFO Trying to stream pid using type tv
INFO: pid found in cache
Matches:
208: Doctor Who: Series 6 - 11. The God Complex, BBC One, Drama,Highlights,Popular,SciFi & Fantasy,TV, default,
INFO: 1 Matching Programmes
Note the quotation marks around the URL. These are required
It is worth noting that get_iplayer will default to downloading as an FLV file (which won't play on everything) unless it can find ffmpeg on the system. To install ffmpeg, just run
richard@eee:~$ apt-get install ffmpeg
then get_iplayer will convert it to a nice mp4 for you
