iPlayer extends week-long limit

The millions of TV addicts hooked on the BBC's iPlayer will now have even longer to catch up with new shows, thanks to the latest feature from Auntie.

After last week's announcement of higher quality streams using the H.264 standard, the Beeb has now revealed it plans to trial 'series stacking' on the iPlayer.

The new feature will be introduced in mid-September, giving viewers the chance to catch up on every episode of a handful of series after they've been broadcast. Traditionally, programmes disappear from the iPlayer service after the seven days: series stacking will see them stay on the service for the duration of the programme's run.

Simon Nelson, controller of multiplatform and portfolio at BBC Vision, said in a statement: "Series stacking will really make the unmissable, unmissable. Now, you'll be able to join a series half way through following a friend's recommendation and catch up on all the previous episodes -- or watch them all in one go over a weekend."

Viewers can look forward to stacking shows from new series such as Merlin, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Survivors and BBC Three's Clone. Others include returning series Bruce Parry's Amazon and BBC Four's The Story of Maths.

The success of this feature will also determine whether it becomes available for BBC's download service and also on to other platforms including the Nintendo Wii and Virgin Media.

However, telly addicts won't be able to get all their favourite shows through series stacking. The body that oversees and regulates the BBC -- the BBC Trust -- has limited the amount of BBC's on-demand TV content that can be made available for series stacking at 15 per cent. The figure will be reviewed after 24 months.