Thank you very much for this!

However, i have added that option to restore 50fps and the DL time is into the hours again.
Am i doing something wrong or some issue ongoing with 50fps versions?

Thanks

If that is really true, then you you don't have sufficient bandwidth to download 50fps streams in less than real time. There is absolutely nothing get_iplayer can do about that.

Ive never had this issue before until last night and i have no problem with DL's of other content through other programmes, where im getting speeds in excess of 18mbp/s
Thats why i thought maybe something was a miss or im doing something wrong somewhere along the DL process.

Thanks anyway

That in itself tells you it has nothing to do with get_iplayer. Other applications and services are irrelevant. You only get what the combination of your upstream connection and the iPlayer CDNs will deliver at any given time.

Anything i can do to resolve this?