UK Wii U owners have been waiting for the BBC iPlayer to come to their consoles for ages - the last we heard about it was back in January last year, when the esteemed broadcasting corporation insisted that it was still working hard on making an eShop release possible.

Seemingly without warning, that time has now come - the BBC iPlayer is at long last available to download in the UK. It's got a 94MB file size and grants access to a selection of on-demand programming from what is arguably one of the world's most famous broadcasters.

The download basically replicates the functionality of the standard iPlayer Smart TV app, and allows off-TV viewing on the GamePad - something which will come in useful at those times when you're fighting with family members over what to watch. Oh, and it supports HD playback, as well.

Let us know what you think by posting a comment below.

Thanks to the lovely Alex Olney for the image.