Archive Access for Non-Commercial Use

BBC Programme Listings

To find listings information, people, dates or times of a particular programme, BBC Programme Listings is a searchable database of the BBC's broadcasts from 1923-2009 derived from the Radio Times magazine listings.

BBC Television Archive

The British Film Institute (BFI) provides public, on-request access to the BBC Television Archive. It provides research and viewing services but does not supply copies of BBC Television content.

BBC Radio Archive

The British Library Sound Archive provides public on-request access to, and listening facilities for, a collection of BBC radio recordings. It cannot supply copies of BBC material.

BBC Written Archives

The BBC Written Archives Centre contains thousands of files, scripts and working papers from all parts of the BBC, since the BBC's formation in 1922.

BBC Photo Library

A commercial, fee paying service which licenses BBC copyright images for editorial use in digital and print media. This service is not available to members of the public for private use.

BBC Contributor Access Service

People who have made a substantial contribution to a BBC programme, either as a featured or named contributor, may be able to purchase a copy for personal use.

BBC Sound Effects

Some of the BBC SFX collection is now available for personal, educational or research purposes. For commercial use you can access and license the whole collection through a third party.

Educational access

The entire digitised BBC broadcast archive is now available to teachers, schools and students in formal education in the UK. BBC Teach has information on how it can be accessed.

BBC Studios Learning

BBC Studios Learning license full-length programmes for educational purposes. A number of providers offer access to BBC broadcasts for UK HE and FE institutions in possession of an ERA licence, including BoB National, Planet eStream and ClickView.