How do I use Live Restart?

With Live Restart, you can restart a live programme straight away, before it becomes available on demand. How you use Live Restart depends on the device you're using.

First choose a BBC TV channel from the Channels menu. The programme currently being broadcast is listed as On Now. Then:

Connected TV

There are several ways to restart a live programme: 

  1. From the BBC iPlayer TV app
    You have the option to Watch live or Watch from start. Selecting 'Watch live' will start the programme at the current live position. Choosing 'Watch from the start' will start the programme at the beginning. You can also begin a live steam and then rewind the programme to the start using the arrows or rewind and enter buttons on your remote.

    Image showing the channel page on the iPlayer TV app with the options to Watch Live or Watch from the Start highlighted
     
  2. The live restart prompt
    If you're watching a BBC channel on a compatible TV, you may see a prompt on screen to advise that you can watch from the start. Depending on the device, you'll be able to either press the green button or the select/OK button on your remote control to load the BBC iPlayer app and start playback from the beginning. Press the yellow button, or the back button on Sky Q, to remove the on-screen prompt.
     
  3. The connected red button
    Press the red button on your remote to load the connected red button service. Once loaded you have the option to restart the current programme which will then load the BBC iPlayer app and start playing from the beginning. 

Not seeing the option to watch from the start? Your TV may not support Live Restart. Check this page for more info: Does my TV device support Live Restart?

Website

You have the option to Watch Live or Watch from start:

Image showing the channel page on the iPlayer website with the options to Watch Live or Watch from the Start highlighted
If you're watching from the live point, you can restart the programme, or rewind by up to two hours, using the on screen playback controls. The time shown above the bar is the time of day you're rewinding to.

Mobile or tablet app

Choose a channel from the rail in the Explore menu, then tap the Watch live button to start the live stream.

Screenshot of the BBC One channel page on the mobile app with the 'Watch live' button visible underneath
When the programme starts, tap the Start button to the right of the playback controls. You can also rewind in 10 second blocks, or use the progress bar to drag the live stream back to the time you'd like, up to two hours.

Image of the live playback screen on the mobile app with the 'Start' icon highlighted

Please note that Live Restart is not available on Chromecast (but we're aware of interest) and a few connected TVs. To check if your TV is supported see the Does my TV device support Live or Watch from Start? page.

Why doesn't Live Restart always take me back to the precise start of the programme?  

Live Restart uses scheduled broadcast times as a reference for when a programme starts. Schedules can and do change, so sometimes it may be slightly off. If this happens, you can always use the slider on the player to move forward or back to the precise point when the programme starts. 

Can I rewind the live stream as well?

If you're using the website or the mobile/tablet app, you can manually select a point in time in the live stream up to a maximum of two hours ago. If you're using the TV app, you can rewind to the beginning of the programme that's currently playing.

Why aren’t subtitles available when I use Live Restart?

Live subtitles are available through the BBC iPlayer website and the TV app. This is a trial on all of our channels apart from BBC Parliament, BBC Alba and S4C. We hope to roll out this functionality to the BBC iPlayer mobile/tablet app in the future. Our How do I use subtitles on BBC iPlayer? page has more info on using subtitles.