Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Overview
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
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
1991
1992
0 Episodes
1993: The Cosmic Onion
5 Episodes
1993
1994
0 Episodes
1995: Planet Earth, An Explorer's Guide
5 Episodes
1996: The History in our Bones
5 Episodes
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
2003
2004: To the Ends of the Earth: Surviving Antarctic Extremes
3 Episodes
2004
2005: The Truth About Food
5 Episodes
2005
2006: The Num8er My5teries
5 Episodes
2006
2007: Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival
5 Episodes
2007
2008: Hi-tech Trek
5 Episodes
2008
2009: The 300-Million-Year War
5 Episodes
2009
2010: Size Matters
3 Episodes
2010
2011: Meet Your Brain
3 Episodes
2011
2012: The Modern Alchemist
3 Episodes
2012
2013: Life Fantastic
3 Episodes
2013
2014: Sparks Will Fly - How to Hack your Home
3 Episodes
2014
2015: How to Survive in Space
3 Episodes
2015
2016: Supercharged - Fuelling the Future
3 Episodes
2016
2017: The Language of Life
3 Episodes
2017
2018: Who Am I?
3 Episodes
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: Secrets & Lies - The Hidden Power of Maths
3 Episodes
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
2020
2021: Going Viral: How Covid Changed Science Forever
3 Episodes
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
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
2023
2024: The Truth About Food
3 Episodes
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
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.
