Are you on the search for the best BBC iPlayer films to watch right now? Then you’ve come to the right place.
The BBC iPlayer UK is one of the biggest streaming services right now. Millions of people across the globe use it to catch up with their favorite movies, documentaries, comedy and entertainment programs.
Such a huge range of content is available on this platform that it may be difficult to decide what to watch once you finally get the time. Luckily for you, we have already done all the heavy lifting and have come up with a list of the best films on BBC iPlayer that you can stream right now.
So, without further ado, here are the best BBC iPlayer films:
Bitter Lake (2015)
Genre: Documentary
Director: Adam Curtis
Writer: Adam Curtis
Cast: George W. Bush, Hamid Karzai, George Bush, Joanne Herring, Mike Martin
Run Time: 2h 20m
IMDb Rating: 8.1
Bitter Lake highlights how political leaders used to be confident enough to deliver narratives clarifying global affairs’ confusion. However, there aren’t any major stories nowadays, and politicians respond carelessly to every new issue, upsetting and misleading the public even more. The documentary film reveals why and how the grandiose tales that the government is telling us have become so oversimplified that we can no longer actually comprehend the world. The story takes place all over the world—in America, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Saudi Arabia—but Afghanistan is the key character. The movie is one of the BBC iPlayer films and illustrates the dynamics that emerged over the previous thirty years and eroded politics’ faith in its ability to grasp the outside world.
HyperNormalisation (2016)
Genre: Documentary
Director: Adam Curtis
Writer: Adam Curtis
Cast: Donald Trump, Victor Gotbaum, Adam Curtis, Vladimir Putin, Patti Smith
Run Time: 2h 46m
IMDb Rating: 8.2
Hyper Normalization offers an amazing account of how we came to be in this bizarre period of extreme doubt and ambiguity, when people who should be in authority are incapacitated and unsure of how to proceed. And where incidents that appear illogical and uncontrollable, such as Donald Trump’s election, Brexit, the Syrian war, the never-ending migration crisis, and so much more, keep taking place. In addition to explaining why all these catastrophic events are taking place, it also clarifies why neither our leaders nor we can fully understand them. The movie demonstrates how everyone in the West—not just the governments, media, and experts—have withdrawn within a constricted and entirely false representation of the outside world.
The Babadook (2014)
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Director: Jennifer Kent
Writer: Jennifer Kent
Cast: Essie Davis, Nothing Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Haley McElhinney, Barbara West
Run Time: 1h 34m
IMDb Rating: 6.8
The Babadook follows Amelia, a single mother who tragically lost her husband in a car accident on the way to deliver her baby to Samuel, who is their only child. She finds it difficult to adjust to life as a single mother, and her son’s persistent phobia of monsters and violent overreactions to them don’t exactly make things easier for her either. Her friends drift away as a result. And just when they thought things could not get any worse, they discover a bizarre book about the “Babadook” monster lurking in their home’s dark corners. If you’re a horror fan who’s bored of the same old tropes, check this out, as it is one of the best BBC iPlayer films.
Wonder Boys (2000)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Curtis Hanson
Writer: Steve Kloves
Cast: Michael Douglas, Toby Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr.,
Run Time: 1h 47m
IMDb Rating: 7.2
Grady Tripp, a lecturer at Carnegie Mellon, finds out that his committed mistress is expecting on the same day his third wife divorces him. Then, his literary agent shows up to pressure him into finishing a book that has been in the works for over seven years. The one-hit wonder and his agent both now require something new.
He wavers throughout the weekend instead of making decisions because of his marijuana consumption. James Leer, one of Grady’s students, may arouse the publisher’s homoerotic desires and make Grady feel like his father figure. As he catches himself spiraling from one mishap to the other, the weekend turns out to be much more difficult than he could have imagined.
Along with wonder boys you can watch many other comedy films available on BBC iPlayer.
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Director: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz
Writer: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz
Cast: Zack Gotsagen, Anne Pierce, Dakota Johnson, Bruce Dern, Shia LaBeouf
Run Time: 1h 37m
IMDb Rating: 7.4
A young boy with Down syndrome named Zak escapes from the nursing facility where he lives to pursue his goal of becoming a seasoned wrestler by enrolling at the wrestling academy The Salt Water Redneck. Tyler, a petty fugitive on the run, ends up becoming Zak’s unusual mentor and friend due to circumstances much bigger than them. Together, they navigate waterways, avoid getting caught, sip whiskey, discover God, catch fish, and persuade Eleanor, a lovely care home worker with a captivating past, to accompany them. This is one of the best BBC iPlayer films if you are in the mood for something lighthearted and fast-paced.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Howard Hawks
Writer: Dudley Nichols
Cast: Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett, Barry Fitzgerald
Run Time: 1h 42m
IMDb Rating: 7.2
A wild young lady named Susan Vance falls for serious palaeontologist Dr David Huxley, and chaos results. Susan is put in charge of Baby, a harmless leopard brought to her apartment in New York and designated for Susan’s aunt in Connecticut. Meanwhile, Dr Huxley is planning to get married and is keenly anxious about the advent of the brontosaurus bone needed to finish his study at the museum, which is intimately linked with Susan’s antics. Watch as the story deepens when Baby manages to escape, George the Terrier snatches the precious bone, and an unrestrained leopard runs away from a circus caravan.
I Am Greta (2020)
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Director: Nathan Grossman
Writer: Hanna Lejonqvist, Per K. Kirkegaard
Cast: Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Nicolas Svenningsen, António Guterres, Kyra Gantois
Run Time: 1h 37m
IMDb Rating: 7.7
Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old girl from Sweden, began a strike in her school in August 2018 in outrage against climate change. She posed the following question to adults: Why should she worry about her potential in education if they aren’t concerned about her future on the planet? Her strike grew into a mass movement within a few months. Today, Greta has become a well-known passionate activist for climate change. Greta’s support group has been monitoring her since her first walkout, and the documentary chronicles Greta on her ongoing campaign to persuade people to pay attention to experts when they talk about the concerns about the climate. If you’re looking for something relatively new on BBC iPlayer, this is the documentary for you!
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Writer: Curtis Siodmak, Ardeley Wray, James Harrison, Edith Barrett, James Bell
Cast: Frances Dee, Tom Conway,
Run Time: 1h 9m
IMDb Rating: 7.0
A budding nurse named Betsy travels to St. Sebastian, West Indies, to tend to Jessica Holland, the rich sugar plantation owner Paul Holland’s wife. When Betsy first sees Jessica, she appears to be walking in a daze. According to Dr Maxwell, Jessica suffered from a terrible tropical fever that scorched out parts of her spine and caused her to become zombie-like. Maxwell and Betsy recommend insulin shock therapy, and soon she starts to question whether voodoo could be able to heal her as well.
King Kong (1933)
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Sci-fi
Director: Marian C. Cooper, Earnest B. Schoedsack
Writer: Ruth Rose, James Ashmore Creelman,
Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher, Sam Hardy
Run Time: 1h 40m
IMDb Rating: 7.7
Skull Island is the ideal setting for Carl Denham to complete his film. He still has to recruit a female lead, though. This “soon-to-be-unlucky” personality is Ann Darrow, and she has no idea what’s in store for her. Nobody is certain of what they will discover in this place or why it is so enigmatic, but they will quickly learn these truths once they arrive. A huge gorilla inhabits this secret island, and it has Ann in its grips at the moment. In order to find Kong and Ann, Jack Driscoll, Carl and Ann’s new lover, must navigate the forest while dodging several deadly beasts.
Man on the Moon (1999)
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Director: Milos Foreman
Writer: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski
Cast: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Gerry Becker, Greyson Erik Pendry, Brittany Colonna
Run Time: 1h 58m
IMDb Rating: 7.4
This movie is a chronicle of the oddball comic Andy Kaufman, who, in addition to his part on Taxi, gained notoriety for his role as the world’s uncontested intergender wrestling champion. Jerry Lawler, a renowned wrestler who had consistently defeated women, grew weary of it all and chose to challenge Kaufman to a fight.
The movie explores a few of Kaufman’s comedic escapades in addition to his private life and relationships with people, including his manager George Shapiro, his closest friend and business partner Bob Zmuda, and his lover Lynne Margulies.
This is one of the best family movie on BBC iPlayer to watch.
Suspicion (1941)
Genre: Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Samson Raphaelson, Joan Harrison
Cast: Carey Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, May Whitty
Run Time: 1h 39m
IMDb Rating: 7.3
Lina McLaidlaw, a timid and conservative woman, meets Johnnie Aysgarth, a wild womaniser while riding a train through the English countryside. When they cross paths once more, Johnnie overhears her discussing her inheritance with her father and decides to pursue her romantically. Following their marriage, Lina learns that Johnnie is a penniless gambler who extracts money from his pals to maintain a good living standard. After seeing his old buddy and business associate in property investment, Beaky, in their house, Lina fears that Johnnie has murderous intentions for Beaky on their trip to Paris. When Beaky is killed, her fears are confirmed, and she finds herself wondering if she’s next.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Director: George A. Ramero
Writer: John A. Russo, George A. Ramero
Cast: Duan Jones, Judith O’ Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne
Run Time: 1h 36m
IMDb Rating: 7.8
In a lonely graveyard, Barbra and Johnny are visiting their dad’s grave when they are unexpectedly ambushed by zombies. Barbra escapes and seeks safety in what appears to be a farm home that has been deserted, where she is joined by Ben, who stops at the farmhouse for petrol. The two, surrounded by the zombies, are taken aback when they discover two couples and a fifth person have already sought shelter in the cellar. Animosity quickly emerges because everyone wants to be in control. As the night passes and their circumstances worsen, their odds of making it through are smaller by the second. This is one of the best BBC iPlayer films available to stream right now.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Billy Wilder
Writer: Agatha Christie, Billy Wilder
Cast: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, John Williams
Run Time: 1h 56m
IMDb Rating: 8.4
The renowned Sir Wilfrid Robarts decides to represent Leonard Vole after he is detained for the scandalous murder of a wealthy, middle-aged widow. He is meant to be enjoying bland, business-casual suits while he recovers from an almost deadly cardiac event. Though the case is extremely complex and Vole’s wife, the composed and coolly collected Christine Vole, serves as the sole witness to his alibi, the attraction of the civil proceedings is too strong for him to resist. When Christine decides to testify against the defence rather than for it, Sir. Wilfrid’s position is made much more difficult.
Into action and some thriller? Then do stream war movies on BBC iPlayer this year.
Papadopoulos & Sons (2012)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Marcus Markou
Writer: Marcus Markou
Cast: Carl Rice, Stephen Dillane, Selina Cadell, Frank Dillane, Georgia Groome
Run Time: 1h 45m
IMDb Rating: 5.9
Harry Papadopoulos, an entrepreneur who made it all on his own, has a huge home, accolades, and a glamorous lifestyle. An economic crisis strikes, though, and the banks pull back their sizable loans just before a once-in-a-lifetime home transaction. In a single second, Harry and his family lose everything they have, except for the abandoned Three Brothers Fish & Chip Shop, which is partly owned by Spiros, Harry’s flamboyant brother and longtime family foe. Harry and his family are compelled to abandon their rich lifestyles and move in with ‘Uncle Spiros’ to stay above the run-down Three Brothers chip shop.
Primary Colours (1998)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Mike Nichols
Writer: Elaine May
Cast: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Larry Hagman, Billy Bob Thornton
Run Time: 2h 23m
IMDb Rating: 6.7
In this movie adaptation of the best-selling novella about Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential election campaign, the youthful and talented Henry Burton is chosen to direct Governor Jack Stanton’s political campaign. Burton is drawn into the politician’s flamboyant lifestyle. He watches as Stanton, who doesn’t exactly know when and where to draw the line, struggles with his demanding wife Susan and an opinionated consultant named Richard Lemmons.
The Relic (1997)
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Sci-fi, Thriller
Director: Peter Hyams
Writer: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Cast: Penelope Anne Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore, Clayton Rohner
Run Time: 1h 50m
IMDb Rating: 5.8
Two boxes carrying a researcher’s discoveries are sent from South America to the Natural History Museum in Chicago, but when the containers get there, there doesn’t seem to be anything inside. However, authorities find horrible killings on the cargo ship that was allegedly transporting the containers to the United States. Soon after, there is a killing at the museum, and Lt. Vincent D’Agosta asks Dr Margo Green, a scholar there, for assistance while he conducts his investigation. Unbeknownst to everyone, a huge beast is prowling around the museum and preparing for a charity reception that the city’s mayor is scheduled to attend.
Small Axe (2020)
Genre: Drama, History
Director: Steve McQueen
Writer: Steve McQueen
Cast: Naomi Ackie, Gary Beadle, Khali Best, Neal Barry, Dennis Bovell:
Run Time: 1h
IMDb Rating: 7.8
A group of West Indian women discover an unofficial segregation policy when their son, Kingsley, who is 12 years old, is transferred to a school for children with special needs. This policy prevents many black kids from getting the education that they deserve.
Top Hat (1935)
Genre: Comedy Musical, Romance
Director: Mark Sandrich
Writer: Dwight Taylor, Allan Scott
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Erik Rhodes, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore
Run Time: 1h 41m
IMDb Rating: 7.7
Jerry Travers, a singer and dancer, is in London to debut his musical, which is being put together by his buddy Horace Hardwick. He spends the night in Horace’s apartment the night before the performance and develops feelings for Dale Tremont, the lady who resides in the room beneath theirs. However, Dale mistakenly thinks Jerry is Horace due to a mix-up. Horace’s marriage to her old friend Madge poses an issue, so Dale chooses to punish him. Will they ever figure it all out?
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Director: Orsen Welles, Fred Fleck
Writer: Booth Tarkington, Orsen Welles
Cast: Tom Holt, Joseph Cotten, Delores Costello, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead
Run Time: 1h 36m
IMDb Rating: 7.8
The daughter of a wealthy upper-class family named Isabel Amberson wishes to marry the youthful, attractive, but a little reckless Eugene Morgan, but she chooses to wed the uninteresting and stable Wilbur Minafer. George, their only kid, turns out to be a spoilt brat. After some time has passed, Eugene returns, a successful vehicle manufacturer and a widower. After Wilbur passes away, Eugene approaches Isabel once more and finds her open to the idea of marriage. However, George is annoyed by the attention being paid to his mom, so along with his eccentric aunt Fanny, he tries to ruin the relationship.
Sus (I) (2010)
Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Heath
Writer: Barrie Keeffe
Cast: Ralph Brown, Clint Dyer, Rafer Spall, Anjela Lauren Smith, Merlin Reeves-
Run Time: 1h 31m
IMDb Rating: 6.1
It is Election Night in 1979, and the setting is a police interview room. Delroy is named the prime suspect when his pregnant wife is discovered lifeless in a pool of blood. He is questioned by the aggressive lackey D.C. Wilby and the humorous, crazy racist D.S. Karn. They attempt to trick him into making a hasty confession while both of them are enthusiastic about the possibility of a resounding Conservative triumph. Watch as a torrent of evil violence follows cruel humiliation and culminates in a catastrophic outcome.
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Director: Christian Nyby
Writer: Charles Lederer, John W. Campbell Jr.
Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Douglas Spencer, Robert Cornthwaite, James Young
Run Time: 1h 27m
IMDb Rating: 7.1
Captain Pat Hendry, a pilot, is asked to travel to a far-flung station in 1949 to look into something that has crashed on Earth. Upon meeting Dr Arthur Carrington and his scientific team while in the air, he and his men find a spaceship buried in the frost and a preserved living form, which they transfer to the research facility. After thawing, the beast assaults the dogs and is left with only one arm. Captain Hendry considers the hazardous monster to be an intruder. Still, Dr Carrington defends the creature because he thinks that the possible scientific advancement is much more essential than human life.
12 Monkeys (1995)
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Director: Terry Gilliam
Writer: David Webb Peoples, Janet Peoples
Cast: Joseph Melito, Bruce Willis, Jon Seda, Michael Chance, Vernon Campbell
Run Time: 2h 9m
IMDb Rating: 8.0
Cole, a voluntary inmate, sent into the past to research a fatal virus that would wipe off 5,000,000,000 people in 1996–1997, lands in 1990 by accident.
He gets admitted to a psychiatric hospital after describing his situation to Dr Kathryn Railly. In 1996, he abducts Railly and uses her to track down the 12 Monkeys, a gang of radicals who want to unleash the infection on a few metropolitan cities. However, he is sought by the law for homicide and abduction and discovers that he loves Railly. Will he go back in time now or stay where he is?
Also watch Sci-Fi shows on BBC iPlayer if you liked this movie.
Conclusion
So, there you have it – these are some of the best BBC iPlayer films, and we have curated this list so that everyone can find something that suits their tastes. Have fun streaming!
With the help of a VPN, you can get BBC iPlayer on iPhone or any other device and enjoy any show or movie outside UK easily but what if BBC iPlayer stopped working with a VPN you can check our detailed guide for it.