BBC iPlayer has been available as an online catchup service for television and radio programmes. iOS and Android users have been able to enjoy their own dedicated mobile apps for some time now, but Windows Phone owners have been left out – until now.

This free app is very much what you would expect and takes much the same form as versions available for other platforms, albeit with a Windows Phone twist. You’ll find support for live tiles, and while this is not an app in the strictest sense of the word – if we’re going to be honest about it, it’s basically a new shell for the iPlayer website –it still gets the job done admirably.

Television and radio shows can be streamed on demand over wifi or data connections and it’s easy to track down what you are looking for. A search option is available making it possible to search for specific shows, but you can also browse through categories and work through the programming schedule.

Radio shows can be played in the background while you continue to use your phone for other things, and in the case of both TV and radio it is possible to build up a list of favorites so you can easily jump to the content you want to access most often.

It’s worth pointing out that this is only available for Windows Phone 8. Anyone with a 7.5 device will have to look elsewhere for their catchup needs.