Development means viewers will be able to watch on-demand programmes on iPads and iPhones while abroad

Viewers will now be able to watch the latest series of Doctor Who and other BBC favourites while travelling and on holiday abroad, with the corporation allowing programmes to be downloaded from the iPlayer to tablets and smartphones for the first time.

From Tuesday, licence-fee payers will be able to download BBC programmes from the iPlayer video-on-demand service and watch them offline on Apple's iPhone and iPad at no extra cost, including while abroad. The download function will launch on Google Android smartphones in the near future.

The development marks a significant shift for BBC iPlayer, which has previously only allowed viewers to stream programmes to tablets and mobile devices with broadband connections or download them to watch on a desktop computer.

Daniel Danker, the BBC's general manager of on-demand programmes, said: "This fundamentally changes one of the most annoying restrictions about viewing programmes. It means audiences are liberated from the constraints [of online-only viewing] and it fundamentally changes what it means to go on holiday."

He added: "With mobile downloads, you can now load up your mobile phone or tablet with hours and hours of BBC programmes, then watch them on the road, on the tube, on a plane, without worrying about having an internet connection or running up a mobile data bill."

Once downloaded, programmes will be available for 30 days, or within seven days of being watched. Up to 50 hours of TV will fit on a 16GB iPhone or iPad, or 25 hours of higher-definition content.

Users must have a wi-fi connection to download BBC programmes, but will soon be able to select shows for offline viewing via a 3G signal.

The launch is part of BBC plans to take the five-year-old iPlayer beyond the laptop, catch-up programming and tech-savvy users.

A boom in the number of smartphone owners in the UK has seen mobile requests for the iPlayer rocket 142% in the past year to 30m a month. The iPad is now the second most popular way to watch the iPlayer, after the PC. According to the BBC, a fifth of all UK adults use the iPlayer once a week.

The BBC is likely to face some private criticism from commercial rivals for its decision not to charge for downloads. ITV is attempting to introduce micropayments for its catch-up ITV Player, while Channel 4's 4OD is currently free to air.

BSkyB's recently launched Now TV, offering VOD films to consumers without a Sky pay-TV subscription for a monthly or single movie fee.

Danker said it would not be fair to ask licence-fee payers to stump up more money to download TV shows, but conceded that it was an "obvious" premium feature that commercial rivals could charge for.

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