Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (1966)

Specials

1 episode · Dec 27, 1998

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 · Dec 26, 1991

1992

0 episodes

1993: The Cosmic Onion

5 episodes · Dec 26, 1993

1994

0 episodes

1995: Planet Earth, An Explorer's Guide

5 episodes

1996: The History in our Bones

5 episodes · Dec 26, 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 · Dec 26, 2003

2004: To the Ends of the Earth: Surviving Antarctic Extremes

3 episodes · Dec 16, 2004

2005: The Truth About Food

5 episodes · Dec 26, 2005

2006: The Num8er My5teries

5 episodes · Dec 25, 2006

2007: Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival

5 episodes · Dec 24, 2007

2008: Hi-tech Trek

5 episodes · Dec 29, 2008

2009: The 300-Million-Year War

5 episodes · Dec 21, 2009

2010: Size Matters

3 episodes · Dec 28, 2010

2011: Meet Your Brain

3 episodes · Dec 27, 2011

2012: The Modern Alchemist

3 episodes · Dec 26, 2012

2013: Life Fantastic

3 episodes · Dec 28, 2013

2014: Sparks Will Fly - How to Hack your Home

3 episodes · Dec 29, 2014

2015: How to Survive in Space

3 episodes · Dec 28, 2015

2016: Supercharged - Fuelling the Future

3 episodes · Dec 26, 2016

2017: The Language of Life

3 episodes · Dec 26, 2017

2018: Who Am I?

3 episodes · Dec 26, 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 · Dec 26, 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 · Dec 28, 2020

2021: Going Viral: How Covid Changed Science Forever

3 episodes · Dec 28, 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 · Dec 26, 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 · Dec 26, 2023

2024: The Truth About Food

3 episodes · Dec 29, 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 · Dec 28, 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.