BBC Global iPlayer

BBC Global iPlayer banner

BBC GLOBAL iPLAYER was the BBC's international version of its UK-only on-demand video app iPlayer.

It launched in July 2011 initially exclusively for Apple iPad users. A few months later the app could also be downloaded onto iPod Touch and iPhone devices.

• BBC launches Global iPlayer

The international app had one feature not available in the UK - the ability to download and store content to watch offline.

Initially, Global iPlayer was available in 11 European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Programmes were in English only without subtitles.

The subscription cost €6.99 Euro per month, with the option of an annual subscription priced at €49.99 Euro.

• Global iPlayer in Germany

From December 2011, the streaming site was available in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, with the service extended to two markets outside Europe: Canada (for CAD$8.99 pm / CAD$84.99 pa) and Australia (AUD$7.49 pm).

• Global Player expanded

After only four years operation, the service was closed to all markets on 26 June 2015. It was believed that plans to roll-out the app in the US threatened local cable providers who had rights to much of the same content, although the BBC denied this, citing the app was only ever considered to be a "pilot" to test the market for online streaming services.

It was a pilot that proved to be highly successful - as less than five months later, the UK-only exclusive BBC Store opened, and two years later came the US-only subscription VOD service BritBox...

• BBC Global iPlayer closes

Doctor Who on BBC Global iPlayer

Among the wide selection of old and new BBC programmes was a small range of both Classic Doctor Who serials (the first five Doctors only) and New Series episodes.

The following classic serials (all episodically) are known to have been available, but there may have been more. The Dalek serials were branded as Daleks Forever! specials:

Menu screen showing Daleks Forever! selection

• The Aztecs
• The Sensorites
• Planet of Giants
• The Dalek Invasion of Earth
• The Chase
• The Ark
• The Tomb of the Cybermen
• The Dominators
• The Mind Robber
• The Krotons
• The Seeds of Death
• Spearhead from Space
• Doctor Who and the Silurians
• Terror of the Autons
• Colony in Space
• The Curse of Peladon
• The Mutants
• The Three Doctors
• Carnival of Monsters
• The Green Death
• The Time Warrior
• Death to the Daleks
• The Monster of Peladon
• Robot
• The Ark in Space
• The Sontaran Experiment
• Pyramids of Mars
• The Masque of Mandragora
• The Invisible Enemy
• Underworld
• The Stones of Blood
• The Androids of Tara
• Destiny of the Daleks
• City of Death
• Enlightenment
• The Caves of Androzani