How to Watch the BAFTA’s Live and Online for Free

The Oscars shouldn’t be a Hollywood award event that only takes place in America. Unbeknownst to some, the UK has their own Hollywood award show called the BAFTA’s (British Academy of Film and Television Awards).

It’s taking place on February 18th this year, and it’d be a shame for anyone outside the UK to miss it. Unfortunately, in most cases, it’s only broadcast in the UK.

History of the BAFTA’s

The BAFTA’s are held every year in London and are the equivalent of the Academy Awards in America. Founded in 1947 by David Lean as the British Film Academy, it merged with The Guild of Television Producers and Directors. This new organization formed The Society of Film and Television, which then became The British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1976.

Its charitable purpose is to “support, develop and promote the art forms of the moving image, by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public.” And in addition to high profile award ceremonies, it holds educational events including film screenings and tribute evenings.

One of the most notable winners from last year’s BAFTA’s was the critically acclaimed movie, The Revenant. Which not only finally landed Leonardo Dicaprio on the award scene map, but the film also took home three other awards for best cinematography, best film, and best sound design.

Another big favorite from last year was Mad Max: Fury Road; it won 4 awards for best editing, costume design, production design, and make-up and hair work. You could say these two films stole the show but as you might also realize the awards they received at the BAFTA’s were a good precursor to their eventual triumphs at the Oscar’s later in the year.

Using a VPN

The BAFTAs are hosted exclusively by the BBC, so BBC America and BBC One are your primary sources. Online they are hosted on BBC iPlayer. Normally you would have to pay a steep price on your cable subscription or have to live in the UK to even access these channels, but I’m going to show you how to do it from anywhere.

However, before we discuss anything else you need a VPN connection because BBC iPlayer determines your IP Address and if you live outside the UK, you will automatically be excluded from the show.

We recommend ExpressVPN as its one of the premier VPNs on the planet and has servers all over the world – including the UK. VPNs serve a dual purpose when it comes to streaming content online.

Firstly they encrypt your traffic so that no one knows what you are doing online. This means your ISP will not block you or throttle your traffic when accessing streaming content.

Secondly and perhaps more importantly, in this case, they mask your IP address. By making it appear as if you’re in a different country, VPNs bypass the geo-restrictions that companies like the BBC put on their content.

Take advantage of the special promotion we’ve managed to get for all of our readers and get 49% of the price of a VPN subscription simply by clicking the link. If you’re interested in finding out more about VPNs, please check out our post on the topic

Once you’ve got your VPN service up and running, set it to the UK and go to the BBC iPlayer to start watching.

Here’s a more detailed guide of how to watch BBC iPlayer abroad.

Other Options

Now while iPlayer might be the best way to watch it online, it’s not the only way. There are apps like Live NetTV and Mobdro that offer access to live streams. You can also access it through Kodi and some add-ons for entertainment. Kodi even has some IPTV links that you can try out for live TV!

Whichever option you choose though, it’s critical that you get a VPN setup and configured.