Nope, doesn't work
I can't find apps in the search. I can get to the app page only if I use Chrome to Phone to send the link directly to Play app, but as soon as I hit download/install/accept button there's a message "item could not be found".
I'm afraid there's a double check to see if app is really available for download/purchase, client side as well as server side. From logcat:
D/DfeApi (30541): [1] Document.isAvailable: bbc.iplayer.android not available [restriction=2].
E/Volley (30541): [1723] BasicNetwork.performRequest: Unexpected response code 500 for
https://android.clients.google.com/fdfe/purchase
D/DfeApi (30541): [1] Document.isAvailable: bbc.iplayer.android not available [restriction=2].
D/DfeApi (30541): [1] Document.isAvailable: bbc.iplayer.android not available [restriction=2].
D/DfeApi (30541): [1] Document.isAvailable: bbc.iplayer.android not available [restriction=2].
W/Finsky (30541): [1] PurchaseInitiator.switchToError: Error when purchasing document bbc.iplayer.android: Error{title=
'Purchase cancelled', docTitle='BBC iPlayer', briefMessage='The item that you were attempting to purchase could not be f
ound.', detailedMessage='The item that you were attempting to purchase could not be found.', sourceUrl='details?doc=bbc.
iplayer.android', detailsUrl='null'}