This is the first in a two part series on how to watch/get British TV worldwide (specifically America).
For Part Two in This Series, check out How to Get British TV Worldwide Part 2: Paying for it.
I’ll just flat our say that I love British TV. The BBC could make a documentary about maggots and I’d watch it excited interest. The television networks in the UK put out some of the finest television on the world. So fine, that it finds its way to the far corners of the world, just like American TV does. This will be a guide to help you download BBC TV shows, download ITV, download BBC News and where to find British TV on the Web.
What make British TV so distinctive from American TV? Well, in the case of the BBC, the lack of commercials. In the UK, television is not guided by pleasing and acquiring advertisers. This means that the networks focus on making quality content that people actually watch. This can range from the latest costume drama to interesting documentaries.
In America, we have BBC America, which does an OK job at bringing over the best of British TV. But it’s laden with commercials, shows are cut to fit American timeslots and shows are also heavily censored to match American sensibilities. Not to mention the fact that they show way too many repeats.
The BBC Luanched the iPlayer last year to give access to British TV show downloads after they aired. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, it’s only available in the UK due to license implications.
So, what is the Anglophile to do to download British TV and get the latest and best British TV in it’s original form? Where can you download Doctor Who almost as soon as it airs?
Behold the internet and the power of Bittorrent. Bittorrent will help you get the best British TV Online and download BBC TV shows.
Bittorrent is a peer to peer downloading system. I won’t go into much detail about, you can read about it here. But Bittorrent basically makes downloading large videos files much faster than conventional downloads.
People who wish to share Bittorrent files gather on index sites, which usually have restricted membership with sharing requirements. There are three major sites for British TV Bittorrent downloads.
So, how does it work? Join one of the sites below and download what’s called a torrent file. Open the file in a Bittorent program (Bittorrent for Windows and Transmission for Mac). Once you open the file, it should start downloading. It’s important to keep the program open even after your download is done so you keep sharing the file and build your share ratio.
Now, where are the best sites to download British TV?
1. UKNova
UKNova has been around the longest and I’ve been a member myself for nearly five years (Powerusers unite!). So they don’t run afoul of the authorities, they have a lot of rules on what can and cannot be shared on the site. For example, if a show will be on DVD right after it airs on TV, it is not allowed. If something is out on DVD, it cannot be shared, period. They don’t encourage piracy, they encourage sharing of TV shows that are not available in other places and rare shows that are hard to find. It’s a fantastic resource
Currently, they are maxed out on membership. However, every day they purge their database of inactive users and a few slots open up. Watch this this page and see if you can sign up that day. They don’t have invites.
The best part of UKNova is the community. Members are very active on the message boards, very friendly and helpful. They also sponsor charity events, have their own streaming radio station.
Keep in mind that if you download you must share more than you download. The site keeps track of your share ratio and you must share or else you can be kicked off.
UKNova operates on a 28 day cycle, which means files only stay on the site for a month. So, UKNova is not a good place to find something you’re looking for if it aired last year or long ago.
2. TheBox.bz
I discovered TheBoz.bz a couple years ago. It’s sort of the bastard child of UKNova. They are not affiliated with each other in anyway. What makes Thebox.bz different is that anything goes. They don’t have any restrictions on what can or cannot be shared, it just has to be British TV.
They have no time limits, meaning you can find rare shows and shows from a long time ago, still available for download. A great resource for Classic Doctor Who videos.
I haven’t participated much in the community and I don’t really spend much time of the site because I’m a diehard UKNova user. I only use this site to find something that’s hard to find or download something that UKNova won’t allow.
TheBox.bz is much more hardcore about maintaining a good ratio. You have to share and upload torrents or else they won’t let you download anything. It’s a pain but worth it to share.
3. MVGroup
MVGroup is a much smaller group and it’s not limited to British TV. Their goal is spread knowledge and education by posting high quality copies of Documentaries and other educational programs.
I’ve gotten some of my best archived videos from here. I highly recommend it. You can sign up here.
Secondary Sources:
You can find most popular British TV shows on the other major Bittorrent sites such as these:
Best of luck trying to find and download British TV. It’s worth the effort, especially to download BBC TV and download BBC News. Next up I’ll write about how you can pay to watch British TV anywhere in the world.
Looking for a way to watch British TV Live in the US or anywhere else in the world legally? Then Check out UKTV2C – the original UK TV Slingbox Service.
Author Info - Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile with an obsession for Britain that borders on psychosis. He keeps Anglotopia running in his spare time, always dreaming of his next trip to England, wishing he lived there - specifically Dorset - and is always trying to figure out a way to move to England. It will happen one day. Keep up with him on Twitter here. Read more from this author
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dream of living in the UK a reality.
Great article!
Please could you tell me how to pay to get British TV, I am currently living in Venezuela.
Thanks
I’m just across the water in Trinidad & Tobago. I use demonoid.com as it’s virus protected and porn free, great for downloading UK tv, use the torrent search and sometimes try different variations or spellings of shows as you might not find what you want first time. Also there are UK server host services, you pay a monthly fee, about 5 quid, pay by paypal, and all your web browsing goes through a UK server, so your given a UK IP address, that way you cheat the BBC / ITV websites into thinking your in the UK and you can access the programme content.
Barring that, when i was last in England i bought my folks 100 blank dvd’s, they record stuff and mail it out to me. they enjoy doing it, and it’s nice to get a letter every two weeks.
hope that helps
Stuart
Thanks for your comments Boris.
I should have the second article up this week. Check back soon!
Finding this website made my day! Oh my gosh I loved that article.
Welcome! Glad it made your day!
I shall check some of these out, we watch BBC America, but I miss me Brit TV.
There is also a great service you can get – thetelly.net
I gather it was set up by an expat in the US, who like us, missed British telly and started a company that sets you up with a slingbox from a datacenter back home. So you can watch everything live over the Internet. I’ve had it for over a year now and the quality gets better and better that now I don’t even notice any difference (I have cable broadband). You get about 40 channels or so live — I couldn’t believe it the day I got it — I kept waiting for the catch. I still use the sites above though more like a DVR and when I want HD. Although, thetelly.net has one service where you can even record. Not a bad price either. Check it out here.
BBC America is a sham. I used to love that channel when it was first added to DirecTV. But the straw that broke the camels back was when they decided to pull Eastenders. I sent email after email and they said that it was not pulling the viewership. Which I know for a fact is crap. The other red flag was all of the repeats that they constantly play. They would rather show 20 epsisodes of the same program than put on some really classic British TV. Maybe some Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers, Casualty, etc. And they definitely need to bring back Eastenders! Keep up the great work. Love the site! As for BBC America “chuck it in the bin!”
Hi guys I am a Brit living in NZ and I miss Brit TV badly. I am on UK Nova but want to get on Box.bz Has anyone got an invite I can have? Please? Ta. Fraser
Hello there Fraser I could send you an invite, just leave your mail address.
Kind regards,
Luc
Hi Luc,,,,, if you have a spare invite it would be gratefully received here in Patong, Thailand. Merci….. G
Hi Luc,
Would you kindly be able to help me with an invite to watch Box.bz. I am British living in U.S. and miss watching all the British TV programmes.
Thank you.
Thanks for the great article. I don’t know where you live but I am in Sydney, Australia, and, like you, am just waiting to get back to the UK. I miss it so much and wish I had never left. Luckily I have a way of getting back but not just yet, so, I am over the moon to be able to watch British TV which I have always loved, especially all the wonderful crime shows. Keep up the good work and perhaps I will see you there in the future.