The best downloads are the ones you never have to think about. That is the promise of the getiplayer PVR: tell get_iplayer about a series once, and from then on it records each new episode for you, automatically, while the programme is still available. No checking listings, no racing the expiry window, no missed finales. This guide explains how the PVR works, how to save your first search, how to run it, and how to put it on a schedule so your series record themselves. If you follow one series closely, this feature alone justifies learning getiplayer.
What the PVR actually is
PVR stands for personal video recorder, and the idea mirrors a set-top box that records a series link. Inside get_iplayer, a PVR entry is simply a saved search: the programme name, plus any filters and options you attached to it. When you run the PVR, the tool refreshes its view of the listings, runs every saved search, and downloads anything new that matches and is not already in your recordings.
That last part matters. The PVR is patient and tidy. Run it daily and it quietly collects new episodes as they appear. Run it after a holiday and it catches up on what you missed, as long as those episodes are still inside their iPlayer window. It turns getiplayer from a tool you operate into a system that works for you in the background.
Step 1: Save a search with –pvr-add
You create a PVR entry with --pvr-add, a name for the search, and the search itself:
get_iplayer --pvr-add "MySeries" --type=tv "Series Name"
Pick a short, recognisable name for the entry, since you will see it in the list of saved searches. The search part can be as simple as a series title, or as refined as you like. Anything you can put on a normal getiplayer search can ride along: --type=tv or --type=radio, a --channel filter, even quality or subtitle options you want applied to every recording the search makes.
Before saving a search, test it as a plain search first. Run the same words without --pvr-add and read the results. If the test search finds exactly the programme you mean, the saved version will behave. If it finds too much, narrow it with a type or channel filter now, rather than discovering later that your PVR has been enthusiastically recording a different show with a similar name.
Step 2: Run the PVR
Running every saved search takes one short command:
get_iplayer --pvr
The tool works through your saved searches one at a time, refreshing the programme cache as needed, and downloads each new match. On the first run, expect it to collect whatever matching programmes are currently available, which for a new entry may be a small backlog of recent episodes. After that, runs are quick, because only genuinely new episodes need fetching.
Watch the output on your first couple of runs. It confirms the system is behaving: you will see each search checked, new episodes recorded, and quiet reports when there is nothing new. That quiet is the sound of the PVR working as intended.
Step 3: Put the PVR on a schedule
A PVR you must remember to run is only half automated. The usual finish is to schedule get_iplayer --pvr to run on its own, once a day or a few times a week.
- Linux and Mac: add the command to cron, the built-in scheduler, so it runs at a set time whether you are at the machine or not.
- Windows: create a basic task in Task Scheduler that runs the command on your chosen days.
Pick a time when the computer is on and connected. Early morning works well, since new episodes often appear overnight after broadcast. Once the schedule is set, recording a series needs no further effort from you at all; you just open your output folder and find new episodes waiting.
Where your saved searches live
Your PVR searches are stored in your user profile, inside the .get_iplayer folder, in a subfolder named pvr. Each saved search is kept there as its own small file. That location has two practical benefits. First, your searches survive program updates, because they live with your settings rather than with the getiplayer program files. Second, you can back them up by copying that folder, which is worth doing once your list of series has grown into something you would hate to rebuild.
Make the PVR work harder for you
A few refinements turn a basic PVR into a well-behaved recording system.
- Pair it with the options file. Set your output folder and other defaults once in the options file, and every PVR recording inherits them. Series land in the right place with the right naming, every time.
- Add subtitles by default. If you always want subtitles with your TV recordings, include
--subsin the searches you save, and every episode arrives with its SRT file. - Mix TV and radio freely. Nothing stops you saving radio searches alongside television ones. One PVR run can collect last night’s drama and this morning’s Sounds show together.
- Keep names specific. A search built on a full, exact series title plus a type filter misfires far less than a one-word search.
How many searches should you save?
Start small. One or two series you genuinely follow are enough to prove the system works and to learn how runs behave. From there, add searches as new series earn a place. A PVR list that grows gradually stays understandable; a list of forty searches created in one enthusiastic evening becomes a mystery you have to audit when something unexpected downloads.
A sensible rhythm is to glance at what the PVR collected every week or so. You will spot a search that is matching too widely, perhaps catching a spin-off with a similar name, and you can tighten it with a channel or type filter. You will also notice series that have ended, whose searches can simply sit idle; they cost nothing while the programme is away and spring back to life if it returns.
One honest limitation
The PVR can only record what is still available. Programmes remain on iPlayer and Sounds for a limited window, often around 30 days, and if your computer is off or the schedule lapses for longer than that, the missing episodes may have expired before the PVR next runs. A daily schedule makes that scenario unlikely, and it is the main reason daily beats weekly for series you care about. And as with all getiplayer use, iPlayer is a UK service for TV licence holders, and recordings are for personal use under the BBC’s terms.
Conclusion
The getiplayer PVR is a small feature that changes how the whole tool feels. Save a series with --pvr-add, run everything with --pvr, and schedule that run with cron or Task Scheduler so it happens without you. Pair it with an options file for consistent folders and naming, and your favourite programmes simply accumulate in the background, safe from the expiry window. Set it up for one series today, and by next week you will wonder why you ever recorded episodes by hand.
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