Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Plot Summary
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.
Cast & Characters
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Seasons (61)
1966
0 episodes
1967
0 episodes
1968
0 episodes
1969
0 episodes
1970
0 episodes
1971
0 episodes
1972
0 episodes
1973: The Languages of Animals
6 episodes
Sir David Attenborough on animal communication. Episode 4 is lost.
1974
0 episodes
1975
0 episodes
1976
0 episodes
1977
6 episodes
1978: Mathematics into Pictures
6 episodes
1979
0 episodes
1980
0 episodes
1981
0 episodes
1982
0 episodes
1983
0 episodes
1984
0 episodes
1985: Communicating
0 episodes
1986
0 episodes
1987: Crystals and Lasers
0 episodes
1988
0 episodes
1989
0 episodes
1990
0 episodes
1991: Growing Up in the Universe
5 episodes
Aired: 1991
1992
0 episodes
1993: The Cosmic Onion
5 episodes
Aired: 1993
1994
0 episodes
1995: Planet Earth, An Explorer's Guide
5 episodes
1996: The History in our Bones
5 episodes
Aired: 1996
1997: The Magical Maze
0 episodes
1998: Staying Alive: The Body in Balance
5 episodes
1999: Arrow of Time
0 episodes
2000: Rise of the Robots
0 episodes
2001: The Secrets of Life
0 episodes
2002: Smart Stuff
0 episodes
2003: Voyage in Space and Time
6 episodes
Aired: 2003
2004: To the Ends of the Earth: Surviving Antarctic Extremes
3 episodes
Aired: 2004
2005: The Truth About Food
5 episodes
Aired: 2005
2006
5 episodes
Aired: 2006
2007: Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival
5 episodes
Aired: 2007
2008: Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer
5 episodes
Aired: 2008
2009: The 300-Million-Year War
5 episodes
Aired: 2009
2010: Size Matters
3 episodes
Aired: 2010
2011: Meet Your Brain
3 episodes
Aired: 2011
2012: The Modern Alchemist
3 episodes
Aired: 2012
2013: Life Fantastic
3 episodes
Aired: 2013
2014: Sparks Will Fly - How to Hack your Home
3 episodes
Aired: 2014
2015: How to Survive in Space
3 episodes
Aired: 2015
2016: Supercharged - Fuelling the Future
3 episodes
Aired: 2016
2017: The Language of Life
3 episodes
Aired: 2017
2018: Who Am I?
3 episodes
Aired: 2018
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: Secret & Lies - The Hidden Power of Maths
3 episodes
Aired: 2019
Dr Hannah Fry reveals the hidden rules and patterns that govern every aspect of our world.
2020: Planet Earth: A user’s guide
3 episodes
Aired: 2020
2021: Going viral: How Covid changed science forever
3 episodes
Aired: 2021
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
3 episodes
Aired: 2022
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
3 episodes
Aired: 2023
2024: The Truth About Food
3 episodes
Aired: 2024
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?
3 episodes
Aired: 2025
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.