The BBC has launched a new service called 'Programme Explorer' to allow users to quickly search its archive of programming.

The new feature scours more than 200,000 pieces of content across iPlayer, Sounds and News and allows results to be filtered according to media type and availability.

The level of granularity in the tool enables episodes of Gardeners' Question Time to be searched for specific gardening themes, for example, while a search for "Sandi Toksvig" will bring up all of the programmes and podcasts that the comedienne has appeared in.

"Programme Explorer is a real treasure trove for anyone with a niche passion about virtually anything, and an invaluable informal learning tool," said Peter Rippon, executive editor of the BBC Archive.

"There are over 200,000 programmes available for people to watch or listen, and until now it's been difficult to find exactly what you're looking for.

"This tool also makes it easy to find things you didn't know you were looking for - sending you down a rabbit hole, following your curiosity through a wide range of brilliant BBC programmes from across the archive."

The launch of the Programme Explorer tool comes weeks after it unveiled BBC Together, a new feature allowing friends and family to watch content at the exact same time.