How to Watch UKTV Play in Canada (March 2024)

Monday, March 18, 2024

UKTV Play is a free-to-air BBC-owned multichannel broadcaster that is only available in the UK. The only way to watch UKTV Play in Canada is with the help of a VPN.

The service is free for people accessing it in the UK, but if you try to use it while in Canada (without a VPN), you will encounter an error message like the one below:

“Error Code 2: Could not download the video. Please use the retry button.”

Uktv-play-error-code

You may not immediately get this message, but instead, have to sit through a few advertisements before it is revealed to you.

If you want to avoid this and access UKTV Play in Canada, you will need to use a VPN. ExpressVPN is our recommended choice – 3 Months Free.

Our Recommended VPN – ExpressVPN

expressvpn-interface

ExpressVPN is our recommended choice when it comes to unblocking UKTV Play in Canada as it easily bypasses its geo-restrictions and keeps your online identity safe while streaming.

Get yourself ExpressVPN today and enjoy 3 extra months for free. You also get a 30-day money-back guarantee so use all of its features risk-free for 30-days.

Try ExpressVPN


How to Watch UKTV Play in Canada

Before you can start streaming UKTV Play in Canada with a VPN, you would first need to register your account with the service. 

Registering is quite simple and doesn’t much of your time. Once you have registered, follow these steps:

Step 1: Subscribe to your VPN of choice (ExpressVPN is our #1 choice)

Step 2: Download and Install the VPN app on your device

Step 3: Open the app and enter your login details

Step 4: Connect to a UK Server (e.g. Docklands)

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Step 5: Open the UKTV Play website and click on “Get Started

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Step 6: Enter all the required info to register

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Step 7: Click on A-Z from the top bar

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Step 8: Choose a show to watch, e.g. Adolf Hitler’s War

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Step 9: Click on the play button

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Step 10: Enjoy Streaming

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Try ExpressVPN


What are the Best VPNs to Watch UKTV Play in Canada?

There is no overall top VPN since many offer distinct features that put it ahead of others in certain categories. However, when it comes to watching UKTV in Canada, ExpressVPN is certainly the best choice.

1. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN (Most recommended) manages to slide in as the top of the best VPNs to watch UKTV Play. It has multiple servers in UK Servers. These servers help it in unblocking UKTV Play and other websites.

ExpressVPN is known for its blazing fast speed and strong encryption (256-bit encryption) and that is what makes it the very best VPN. Five members of your family can simultaneously use this VPN and enjoy the content.

You can also watch, Now TV, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, etc. in Canada as well by unblocking them by changing your location through ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN service costs you $6.67/month (3 Months Free). Comparatively, it can be expensive but its features are worth the price. It also offers a 30-days money-back guarantee.

Here is an image where I was able to unblock Mel Giedryc: Unforgivable on UKTV Play also with the help of ExpressVPN:

mel-giedroyc-unforgivable-streaming


2. Surfshark

Surfshark VPN comes with a 2-year subscription plan worth just $2.49/month, it is truly amazing value for money.

This single subscription will grant you access to the service across an unlimited number of devices simultaneously.

This means that you and your family can all watch UKTV simultaneously, whether you’re in the UK or in Canada.

You get access to 3200+ servers located in 65 countries with the VPN, and many of these are UK servers, so you’ll never be lacking when you’re in the mood to watch some UKTV.

Those great features we mentioned earlier include a No Borders mode, which unblocks the service in restricted regions, and a camouflage mode, which lets you hide from your ISP.


3. NordVPN

NordVPN, at just $3.29/month for its 2-year subscription plan, is very close to Surfshark in terms of value for money, as well as a great offering on its own.

If you were wondering how well this stacks up to Surfshark’s server count, NordVPN has over 440 UK servers and a total of 5441 servers around the world.

Its higher global server count means that you will likely get greater access to services around the globe. And the tons of UK servers mean you’ll always have backups.

Now to features: double-protection will let you disguise your IP address twice, and its CyberSec mode will keep you away from harmful sites and malicious content.

And, as is the general rule with the premium VPN market, NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, giving you the chance to give it a test run before committing.


Why do you need a VPN to Unblock UKTV Play in Canada?

You may now know how to unblock UKTV in Canada, but maybe not why it needs unblocking in the first place. The reason why UKTV is blocked is because of geo-restriction.

Geo-restriction is the selective restriction of services to particular regions. This is the result of licensing issues. 

Companies and organizations require licensing agreements with the current legal owners of the content in order to show it in their respective regions.

In order for UKTV to stream to Canada or any other country other than the UK, they would need to acquire separate licenses to do so.

Hence, UKTV’s online platform is restricted to its country of origin. However, a VPN will let you bypass this restriction.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) makes use of private servers to mimic a private network, this will allow you to disguise your IP address, and your online ID in a way. 

Normally, when you open the UKTV Play website, the service would recognize your IP address as a Canadian one. But with a VPN connected to a UK server, it will think you’re a UK resident with a UK IP address.

You might not want to pay for a service like this and turn to VPNs that tout themselves as being free. Be wary of them, for many are just shells for malware and adware.

We’ve gone through many VPNs, and the ones that are free usually have limited options, adware or malicious programs, and other content. Though some, like Hotspot Shield, are legitimate.

The reason why this is usually the case is that the private servers required to run a VPN service have high maintenance costs. If a service is free, that cost must be met through other means.

This is why a premium paid VPN is needed. The VPNs we’ve recommended are known to be safe and are known to work very well with unblocking UKTV while in Canada.


How to Watch UKTV Play on Smartphone

Step 1: Connect to the UK server over ExpressVPN

Step 2: Install the UKTV Play app from the Playstore

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Step 3: Open the app and click on “sign in

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Step 4: Enter your credentials

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Step 5: Go to the “categories” from the bottom menu bar

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Step 6: Select a category for shows to watch, e.g. Comedy, and choose a show to watch, e.g.Birds of a Feather

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Step 7: Click on the “play button

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Step 8: Start streaming

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Try ExpressVPN


How to Download Channel 4 Videos in Canada

Step 1: Download OBS on your windows

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Step 2: Open the app and click on the plus sign at the bottom

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Step 3: First click on “window capture” and then click on “start recording

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Step 4: Open UKTV Play, play a movie/show and switch to full screen

Step 5: Keep playing the video to record it till the end

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What Can You Watch on UKTV Play in Canada?

Wondering what you can watch now that you’ve finally gotten access to UKTV Play in Canada? Well, we can give you a bit of a jump start on your binging with our list:

uktvplay-shows

  • A Place to Call Home
  • Adolf Hitler’s War
  • American Pickers
  • Bad Girls
  • Bergerac
  • Copper
  • Dave News
  • Doctor Finlay
  • Flack
  • Fast Justice
  • Mrs. Mandela
  • Outsiders
  • Peak Practice
  • Private Lives
  • Porters
  • Rebus
  • Sharpe

UKTV Play Device Compatibility

UKTV Play is compatible with all of these devices:

  • Windows
  • Mac
  • Linux
  • iOS
  • Android
  • Xbox One
  • Roku
  • Amazon Fire Sticks and Fire TVs
  • Apple TVs
  • Samsung Smart TVs
  • Sony Bravia YouView 2020 Devices
  • Chromecast
  • Virgin Media
  • Freesat

Other Streaming Services to Watch in Canada

Apart from the UKTV Play, let’s have a look at other streaming services that Canucks can watch in their country with the help of a VPN. These services are:

Voot is an Indian-online streaming service that is unavailable outside its premises except for when you’re connected to a VPN. It offers content from every genre there is for free but supports ads between the streaming.

Zee5 is available in several countries but the club subscription is only for the Indian audience. It offers its engaging content to around 190 countries for free.

SonyLIV entertains both free and premium content, needless to say, the premium account has more content and more benefits. Besides, as it is only limited to India, you will need to ask one of your Indian relatives to use their number for login.

Hotstar India and Canada have different libraries and are not available in other countries without using a VPN. Hotstar is although a free service, you can watch the free content as well without subscribing.


UKTV Play FAQs

How Can I Watch UK TV in Canada?

This question refers to general British television. These streaming sites all usually have the same kind of geo-restriction issue, so using a VPN like ExpressVPN will likely still help here.

How Can I Get UKTV Play on My TV?

If you have a smart TV, you might have the option to get UKTV Play, however not many have it. Most new Samsung Smart TVs can access UKTV Play.

You can also use external devices like Amazon Fire Sticks and Chromecasts to give you access to UKTV Play on your Smart TV if it doesn’t have in-built functionality.

Is UKTV Play Free on Now TV?

Though no additional fee is required to access UKTV Play content on Now TV, the initial (and subsequent) subscription fees for ‘Now TV’ will still have to be paid.


Closing Words

UKTV Play is completely free to watch, but in the UK only. The only way to watch UKTV Play in Canada is with a VPN.

You just need to register with UKTV Play which requires your basic information and a valid UK postal code that you can retrieve easily from the internet.

Having said that, you can finally watch UKTV in Canada without having to worry about it being restricted, or any other international service being restricted for that matter.

However, that’s not all a VPN is for. With a VPN, you not only gain access to new entertainment, but you also get tougher security and greater privacy.

There’s no denying that with a VPN you will be much safer browsing the internet, and a lot freer to do so, without worrying about your data being stolen or used against you.

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