Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
- 1966 –2025
- Returning series
★ 5.1 TMDB Rating · 5 votes
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner. Michael Faraday initiated the first Christmas Lecture series in 1825. This came at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. Faraday presented a total of nineteen series in all.
- Seasons
- 60
- Episodes
- 125
- Episode length
- ~1h
- First aired
- Jan 4, 1966
- Networks
- Channel 4, 5, BBC Four, More4, BBC Two
- Original language
- English
- Origin
- United Kingdom
Cast of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Seasons
-
Specials
Dec 27, 1998
1 episode
-
1973: The Languages of Animals
Air date unknown
6 episodes
Sir David Attenborough on animal communication. Episode 4 is lost.
-
1977
Air date unknown
6 episodes
-
1978: Mathematics into Pictures
Air date unknown
6 episodes
-
1991: Growing Up in the Universe
Dec 26, 1991
5 episodes
-
1993: The Cosmic Onion
Dec 26, 1993
5 episodes
-
1995: Planet Earth, An Explorer's Guide
Air date unknown
5 episodes
-
1996: The History in our Bones
Dec 26, 1996
5 episodes
-
1998: Staying Alive: The Body in Balance
Air date unknown
5 episodes
-
2003: Voyage in Space and Time
Dec 26, 2003
6 episodes
-
2004: To the Ends of the Earth: Surviving Antarctic Extremes
Dec 16, 2004
3 episodes
-
2005: The Truth About Food
Dec 26, 2005
5 episodes
-
2006: The Num8er My5teries
Dec 25, 2006
5 episodes
-
2007: Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival
Dec 24, 2007
5 episodes
-
2008: Hi-tech Trek
Dec 29, 2008
5 episodes
-
2009: The 300-Million-Year War
Dec 21, 2009
5 episodes
-
2010: Size Matters
Dec 28, 2010
3 episodes
-
2011: Meet Your Brain
Dec 27, 2011
3 episodes
-
2012: The Modern Alchemist
Dec 26, 2012
3 episodes
-
2013: Life Fantastic
Dec 28, 2013
3 episodes
-
2014: Sparks Will Fly - How to Hack your Home
Dec 29, 2014
3 episodes
-
2015: How to Survive in Space
Dec 28, 2015
3 episodes
-
2016: Supercharged - Fuelling the Future
Dec 26, 2016
3 episodes
-
2017: The Language of Life
Dec 26, 2017
3 episodes
-
2018: Who Am I?
Dec 26, 2018
3 episodes
Professor Alice Roberts and Professor Aoife McLysaght take viewers on an immersive voyage through our evolutionary past and ask challenging questions about what our future holds.
-
2019: Secrets & Lies - The Hidden Power of Maths
Dec 26, 2019
3 episodes
Dr. Hannah Fry reveals the hidden rules and patterns that govern every aspect of our world.
-
2020: Planet Earth: A User’s Guide
Dec 28, 2020
3 episodes
-
2021: Going Viral: How Covid Changed Science Forever
Dec 28, 2021
3 episodes
England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van-Tam will be joined by a host of top UK scientists to take a deep dive into the science of viruses.
-
2022: Secrets of Forensic Science
Dec 26, 2022
3 episodes
Professor Dame Sue Black reveals the secrets of the real-life scientific detective process she uses to identify both the dead and the living.
-
2023: The Truth about AI
Dec 26, 2023
3 episodes
-
2024: The Truth About Food
Dec 29, 2024
3 episodes
In this year’s Christmas Lectures, Dr Chris van Tulleken delves deep into our guts – to reveal the revolutionary latest science around what happens inside our bodies when we eat. He investigates how food has fundamentally shaped human evolution, uncovers the importance of our microbiome – as the extra ‘organ’ we didn’t know we had – and asks how we can all eat better in future, for the sake of our own health and the health of the planet. Chris will reveal how what we eat can have a massive effect on both our bodies and our brains. He’ll bring the science to life through a series of fact fuelled demos, special guest appearances, festive food hacks, and a healthy dose of self-experimentation. From tastebuds to toilet, we’ll find out what happens in the body when we eat. How we eat with our eyes (green eggs and ham anyone?) and how smell and even sound can affect the taste of our food.
-
2025: Is There Life Beyond Earth?
Dec 28, 2025
3 episodes
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock takes us on a voyage deep into space, on an astronomical search for extraterrestrial life, celebrating 200 years of the Christmas Lectures.
Shows Like Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
-
★ 8.0 Top Gear
1978
-
★ 7.4 Marvel's 616
2020
-
★ 8.1 Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers
2022
-
★ 8.2 World War II with Tom Hanks
2026
-
★ 7.1 History 101
2020
-
★ 7.5 30 for 30
2009
-
★ 6.7 Biography
1987
-
★ 7.5 How Do They Do It?
2006
-
★ 8.8 Mysteries at the Museum
2010
-
★ 8.2 Earth at Night in Colour
2020
-
★ 7.9 Deadly Women
2005
-
★ 7.7 Down to Earth with Zac Efron
2020