diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/bbccouk.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/bbccouk.py
index 69d128974..75e608f99 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/bbccouk.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/bbccouk.py
@@ -162,6 +162,11 @@ def _real_extract(self, url):
         mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
         group_id = mobj.group('id')
 
+        webpage = self._download_webpage(url, group_id, 'Downloading video page')
+        if re.search(r'id="emp-error" class="notinuk">', webpage):
+            raise ExtractorError('Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only',
+                expected=True)
+
         playlist = self._download_xml('http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlist/%s' % group_id, group_id,
             'Downloading playlist XML')