You can watch, pause and rewind BBC programmes with your friends and family - here’s how

Are you keen to have some BBC viewing parties with your friends and family? (Photo: Shutterstock)Are you keen to have some BBC viewing parties with your friends and family? (Photo: Shutterstock)
Are you keen to have some BBC viewing parties with your friends and family? (Photo: Shutterstock)

Maybe you and your friends have already powered through all the programmes that you can watch using the Netflix Party feature, or maybe you don’t have a subscription to the streaming service.

Either way, it’s good news. Now you can start working through your BBC watchlist with your loved ones - from Killing Eve to Normal People.

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This is everything you need to know about the communal BBC Together feature, and how to use it.

What is BBC Together?

BBC Together is a new experimental service from the BBC, which allows people who are isolating away from the ones they love to continue watching TV with their friends and family.

The official BBC press office Twitter account tweeted, “Want to watch and listen to your favourite BBC programmes with your friends and family? @BBCRD have created #BBCTogether, allowing you to watch, pause and rewind together.”

Senior research and development producer at the BBC, Dr Libby Miller, said, “There may be physical distance between us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy great programmes with our friends, family, colleagues and classmates.

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“We wanted to see if technology could bring people together to watch and listen to BBC shows remotely as a shared experience, which we’ve done with BBC Together.”

A statement from the BBC explained that during lockdown, the BBC iPlayer tool has “become more popular than ever” with viewers as they find new ways to fill their time while living in lockdown.

How to use BBC Together

To use BBC Together, you’ll need to either create or log into your BBC iPlayer account on the website and then head to the BBC Together website here.

Then, go back to the BBC iPlayer website and have a browse. Once you’ve found the TV show of your choosing, copy its unique URL from the webpage.

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Back on the BBC Together website, you’ll see a box which you can paste that URL into.

Once you’ve done this, you can add your friends. Invite your friends or family to join your BBC viewing party by sharing a special link that’s generated after you’ve chosen your TV show.

Once everyone is watching, it’ll be the host (the person who created the viewing party) who will be in charge of things like pausing, rewinding and skipping forward, which will affect everyone’s screens, so that your viewing is in sync with each other.

Which shows can I watch on BBC iPlayer?

The BBC iPlayer website has loads of programmes to choose from, no matter what you or your mates are looking to watch.

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Here are 10 of the best programmes available on the BBC iPlayer website to get you started:

  • Killing Eve (three seasons)
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (one season)
  • Normal People (one season)
  • This Country (three seasons)
  • Doctor Who (12 seasons)
  • Pose (two seasons)
  • Line of Duty (five seasons)
  • Gavin and Stacey (three seasons)
  • Inside No. 9 (five seasons)
  • Stacey Dooley Investigates (one season)
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