[ubuntu] get-iplayer problem started yesterday

I've been using get-iplayer for several years with no major problems, up until yesterday evening.

I normally copy and paste the iplayer url I want into Terminal i.e.get-iplayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b076r0sr

Tried again this moing to download 'The Vikings Uncovered' and Terminal put up a message "ERROR: Failed to get version pid metadata from iplayer site"
Tried again with the whole url, but no go.
Tried a different programme, but got the same response.

Used sudo apt-get update etc, but I have the latest version of get-iplayer.

Grateful for any help.

John

ps Still using 12.04 because I like it !