Sorry, slightly off topic.....
First of all thanks for the heads up on this, bit of a lightweight article but godd to watch all the same. I wish they had taken a moment to cover the "new" aspects of production and the acclaim of the Aero Supersports and GT3 aspects.
You are right the iPlayer is pretty well constructed to protect content. It does not allow Non UK IP addresses and it locks the content to the download device and account.
I travel a lot and so often want to watch UK TV when I am bored with jetlag in a foreign hotel. I spent a little time digging through some options and if it helps then you might find this gives you some options.
You have two more legal choices the slightly geeky one is to use a "UK Proxy". This means that you link to a machine that is based in the UK and so has an IP address from the UK. You perform a "pass-through" then it forwards your content to the site you are after. There are a number of ways of doing this but please be aware of the usual rules of engagement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server has a reasonable overview of them.
Never ever use a username and password that you use anywhere else. Not even if it shows a padlock and SSL/HTTPS as this can be obtained through a proxy. Do not enter any accurate personal information that will allow social engineering. Ensure your virus stuff is fully functioning and if you do choose a proxy google it for good/bad information.
The benefit of this is the ability to see stuff real time, select iPlayer, 4oD, Skyplayer and others for download to your remote personal machine. If you don't need that and are just looking to store weekly programs (topgear anyone) then there is an easier and more secure option if you can find a friend willing to donate some bandwidth.
The second choice relies on a good close friend in the UK and a couple of bits of hardware. If a friend in the UK has good DSL link then on the end of it you place a Slingbox (Sony location free TV and some PC based programs can also do this) and either Sky+, PVR, TiVo or others. You setup port forwarding on the router to allow remote access.
You get the software for the Slingbox in your remote location. The Slingbox allows you to pop in through the DSL from your remote location and control the TiVo thingy to setup recordings. Then you can press the keys and start the playback over the DSL to your remote site as well. There are multimedia demos on their site if you prefer it visually. Ideally you need something like 2Mb/512 for a good streaming session but it can optimise.
It is best to be concious of the data volume limits that most ISPs are placing on DSL links if you do the Slingbox as it can quickly eat this up, a single 30 min program can take 25% of a basic DSL monthly limit if used at the wrong time of day (5pm-midnight GB time).
I would recommend you get a seperate TiVo and Slingbox and not share your friends, it can avoid internal strife if someone cancels the wrong recording ! Perhaps a husband getting a light boiling because "he" recorded something of a more unusual nature on Channel 4 late at night and then sit back and watch the fun....none of us would do that would we now...
If you fancy being a deeply sad geek and have a donor PC in the UK then you can also use PC toys like remote desktop, go-to-my-pc and other VNC client things but given most of us have wood in our cars I won't go there.
Of course the highly illegal way would be to use torrents as most things are available on the boards however these are currently in a dubious position due to piratebay.org having been given the slapping of a lifetime. Knowing what was being shared on these boards I guess it is quite fair but it is also causing problems for people just trying to stay connected for general stuff.
If any of our non-UK based members need a hand then PM me.
