Not all VPNs are equal. Also, even with a good VPN, you still can have your real area leaking via your Real Time Clock.

Honestly, just pirating is a lot fucking easier than paying for attempts at multiple VPNs just to see if I can make an account at the BBC and watch iPlayer. I've failed at that more times than I've succeeded.

Finally, VPNs are only legal in the sense that the only thing the BBC can do is... deny you access to their content. Similar to Youtube and Ad Blockers. It's their content, they own it, and it's fair game for them to try to make people pay for it. Since the BBC is publicly funded, that means me making a BBC account to watch iPlayer via a VPN is probably breaking their "Terms of Service" which means they are legally allowed to remove my account at any time. Because I am effectively using the BBC without paying for it if I use a VPN.

It's legal, but it's still a TOS violation which can get you banned by a lot of services.