Launched in 2017 and now wholly owned by BBC Studios, BritBox holds the largest collection of British box sets anywhere: classic and current BBC and ITV drama, mysteries, soaps, comedy and documentaries, alongside BritBox Originals and recent hits like Shetland and Trigger Point. BritBox runs as a paid, ad-free service in 7 countries, the US, Canada, Australia and the Nordics, so most subscribers reach BritBox from home without a second thought.
The moment you travel, that changes. BritBox ties its licensing to the country you subscribe in, so the app checks your IP address and blocks playback the instant it sees a foreign connection, leaving you staring at a region error mid-series. The fix is simple: route your traffic back to your home market. Connecting Surfshark to a server in the US, Canada or Australia restores your domestic location, and BritBox treats you as a local viewer again so your BritBox watchlist plays straight through.
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
| VPN Service | Price | BritBox | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SurfsharkBEST | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | August 23 | Try it |
 ExpressVPN | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | August 24 | Open |
 NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | August 23 | Open |
 Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ✓ Works | August 22 | Open |
 CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ~ Partial | August 24 | Open |
 IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ~ Partial | August 18 | Open |
 ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ~ Partial | August 23 | Open |
✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works~ Partial~ Partial~ PartialTakes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
BritBox works in 7 countries, including in the United States, in Australia, in Canada, in Denmark and in Finland. In 187 more it is blocked, and outside available regions you will need a VPN.
BritBox is blocked in the United Kingdom, in New Zealand, in Ireland, in Germany and in France, plus in 182 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like Surfshark.
BritBox was launched in 2017 as a joint venture between BBC Studios and ITV, built to give classic British television a single, easily findable home. The catalogue leans heavily on detective series (Vera, Midsomer Murders, DCI Banks), period dramas, sitcom archive and long-running panel shows that rarely surface on mainstream platforms. After BBC Studios sold its stake, ITV now runs the service on its own and distributes it in around nine English-speaking markets.
4 tips from our BritBox testing team · Updated July 16, 2026
Not the right fit? Here are services in the same category you can compare.
Everything you need to know before subscribing to BritBox.
Surfshark unlocks BritBox from anywhere in the world. Risk-free 30-day money-back.
Part of the BBC Studios family.
Try Surfshark
