get-iplayer hasn't downloaded properly for a long time, but youtube-dl works great. get-iplayer is still the best iplayer search though, and I already have a download_history, so this script bridges the gap and gives you the best of both worlds.

get-iplayer-next.sh

#! /bin/bash

DOWNLOAD_HISTORY="$HOME/.get_iplayer/download_history"

already_downloaded(){
    if [ "$(grep -c $1 ~/.get_iplayer/download_history)" -gt 0 ]; then
        return
    else
        false
    fi
}

download()
{
    youtube-dl "https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/$1"
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        add_to_download_history $1
    fi
}

add_to_download_history()
{
    echo "$1|Downloaded by get_iplayer_next||||||||||||||||" >> "$DOWNLOAD_HISTORY"
}

RESULTS=$(get-iplayer "$@" --nocopyright | tail -n +3 | head -n -1)

OLDIFS=$IFS
IFS=$'\n'
for LINE in $RESULTS
do
    TITLE="$(echo ${LINE##*	} | cut -d ',' -f 1 )"
    PID=$(echo "$LINE" | cut -d ',' -f 3 | sed -e 's/^[[:space:]]*//')

    echo -e "\033[95m$TITLE\033[0m"
    if already_downloaded "$PID"; then
        echo "- Already downloaded"
    else 
        echo "- Downloading..."
        download "$PID"
    fi
done
IFS=$OLDIFS