Re: This is why I love the bbc
"I would be extremely surprised if any of my IPlayer capable devices supported outputting 50p to my TV or to any other display"
I would be surprised if they didn't. Even if you are unfortunate enough to be in a region landed with inferior NTSC (Never Twice the Same Colour) broadcasts, supporting 1080p/50Hz is standard elsewhere - and technically simpler than supporting 60Hz.
"So I guess it would be 50p displayed on 60p then."
To do that, they have to slow it down to from 50Hz to 48Hz, and then do 3:2 pulldown, giving you a familiarly crap NTSC movie-like experience....