Launched officially on Christmas Day 2007, BBC's iPlayer - a video streaming and catch-up service - has revolutionised the way in which many of us view our daily content. The Beeb reckons that more than 387 million requests have been made to either stream or download content, causing mounting bandwidth headaches for ISPs.

The BBC has now announced that a new-look iPlayer is to be made available, with one of the flagship features the ability to watch in high-definition, no doubt to the chagrin of said ISPs. To be rolled out on the BBC iPlayer initially, plans are afoot to port it over Virgin and PlayStation 3, although no time-frame is given.

The BBC HD channel is now pumping out nine hours per day, and iPlayer HD will show the next three Doctor Who specials in, well, HD. Interestingly, it will be the first time that a number of viewers will have access to HD content.

No technical details have been put forward, but adaptive bitrate technology should enable a decent viewing experience on most broadband connections. Now where's my unlimited bandwidth package gone?