Subtitles turn a good download into a flexible one. Maybe you watch with the sound down on a train, maybe someone in your household is hard of hearing, or maybe you just catch more of a fast-talking drama with the words on screen. With getiplayer, subtitles are a single option away. This guide shows you how to add subtitles to your get_iplayer TV downloads, how to fetch subtitles on their own, what format they arrive in, and what to do when a programme has none. The whole thing takes one extra word in the commands you already know.
How subtitles work in get_iplayer
When you download a TV programme with get_iplayer, subtitles are not included unless you ask. Add the --subs option and, where the BBC provides subtitles for that programme, the tool downloads them alongside the video. They arrive as an SRT file, a small plain-text subtitle file, sitting next to your MP4 in the output folder.
The SRT format is the friendliest one you could hope for. Nearly every media player understands it, it works on computers, phones, and smart TVs, and because it is plain text it stays tiny. In most players, a subtitle file that shares the video’s name and folder is picked up automatically when you press play, so your programmes simply start with subtitles available.
Two honest limits apply. Subtitles exist only where the BBC provides them for that broadcast, and they are in English. Most BBC television carries them, but an occasional programme does not, and no option can invent subtitles the BBC never made.
Download a programme with subtitles
The recipe is your usual download plus one option:
get_iplayer --get --subs "Programme Name"
Everything proceeds as normal. The video downloads, ffmpeg builds your MP4, and the subtitle file lands beside it. You can combine --subs with your other regular options, so a download with subtitles, a thumbnail, and a chosen output folder looks like this:
get_iplayer --get --subs --thumb --output /media/tv "Programme Name"
If you download by search index number or by PID, --subs works there too. It is a property of the download, not of how you found the programme.
Check the subtitles are really there
After your first subtitled download, look in the output folder. You should see two files with matching names: the MP4 video and an SRT file. Open the video in your usual player and turn subtitles on; the words should appear in time with the speech.
If the SRT file is missing, work through the likely reasons in order. First, the programme may genuinely have no subtitles from the BBC. Second, check you really did include --subs; it is an easy option to forget, and a plain download never includes subtitles by default. Third, try another programme with known subtitles to confirm your setup works, which separates a programme problem from a settings problem.
Download subtitles on their own
Sometimes you want the words without the programme. Perhaps you already recorded the episode earlier and forgot the subtitles, or you want the text of a documentary for reference. get_iplayer covers this with --subsonly:
get_iplayer --subsonly "Programme Name"
The tool fetches just the subtitle file and skips the video entirely, so it finishes in seconds. The SRT lands in the same output folder as a normal download. Give it the same base name as your existing video file and your player will pair them up.
Working with the SRT file itself
Because an SRT file is plain text, it is unusually easy to live with. You can open it in any text editor and read the dialogue with timings beside it. You can rename it, as long as the video keeps the same base name, and your player will still pair the two. You can move it with the video to another device, store it in a different folder, or keep a copy for reference after the video itself is long deleted.
That simplicity helps with organisation too. If you keep a tidy media library, subtitle files take up so little room that there is no reason to strip them out, and having them already in place means every programme in your collection is ready for a viewer who needs words on screen, whenever that day comes.
Do radio downloads have subtitles?
The subtitle options belong to television. Radio programmes are pure audio, so a BBC Sounds download arrives as an M4A or MP3 file with nothing to switch on or off. If you follow a radio show and need a text version, that is a job for the programme’s page on the BBC website rather than for get_iplayer. Inside getiplayer, --subs and --subsonly do their work on TV recordings, which is where subtitles exist to be fetched.
Make subtitles part of your routine
If subtitles are something you always want, stop typing the option. Two habits cover most people.
- Save it in the options file. Settings in your get_iplayer options file apply to every run, so adding subtitles there means every TV download, including PVR recordings, comes with its SRT. The options file guide below shows the format.
- Include it in PVR searches. When you save a series with
--pvr-add, add--substo that search and every new episode arrives subtitled automatically.
Either approach beats remembering an option at the command line, because the downloads you forget to subtitle are always the ones you end up wanting words for.
A few practical notes
Subtitle files are small enough to ignore from a storage point of view; a whole series of SRT files weighs less than a single minute of video. They also travel well. If you copy a programme to a phone or a USB stick for a TV, copy the SRT with it and keep the two names matched, and the subtitles come along.
One more point is worth knowing: subtitles come from the broadcast itself, so they follow the broadcast version of the programme. If a programme was edited for repeat, the subtitles match that edit, because both came down the same pipe from the BBC. In practice they line up with your video because get_iplayer fetched both from the same source at the same time.
There is one more quiet benefit worth mentioning. Because subtitles live in their own file rather than being burned into the picture, you stay in control: watch with them, watch without them, or hand the programme to someone who needs them, all from the same download. Nothing about the video itself has to change.
Conclusion
Subtitles in getiplayer are refreshingly simple: add --subs to any TV download and the BBC’s subtitles arrive as an SRT file beside your MP4, ready for almost any player. Use --subsonly when you need just the text, and save the option in your options file or your PVR searches if subtitles are your default. The only real limit is the BBC’s own provision: where subtitles exist, getiplayer brings them to you; where they do not, no downloader can help. For accessible, flexible viewing, it is the easiest upgrade your downloads will ever get.
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