CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock will take us on an epic voyage through time and space, in the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, supported by CGI.
Find out more about the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Space scientist, educator and BBC Sky at Night presenter Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock explored the extraordinary breakthroughs that have revolutionised our understanding of the universe in the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution.
Watch them here on iPlayer (in the UK) and here on YouTube (the rest of the world).
The 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock takes us on an epic voyage through time and space.
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Meet Dame Dr Maggie – this year’s Lecturer for the CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution.
CGI are the Title Partner to the CHRISTMAS LECTURES
CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world.
2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES livestreaming
Find out where across the country you can watch a livestreaming of the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES.
Explore the world of space
Beyond Apollo: Five space missions that deserve more attention
Space exploration is chock-full of jaw-dropping stories, some iconic like the Apollo lunar missions, and some "hidden gems"
From Orbit to the Everyday: 8 things originally developed for space travel
Space exploration gave us more than Moon rocks; it delivered life-changing products we now take for granted. Explore the biggest
Space science and 200 years of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES - with Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Watch the video version of our latest podcast with the 2025 Christmas Lecturer, Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock. Discover more
Houston, We Have a Microbe: What Happens When Bacteria Leave Earth?
We know that space travel has a big impact on the human body, but have you ever wondered how the world of microbiology reacts to
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Watch the 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Practising NHS doctor and leading science presenter Chris van Tulleken explored how the food we eat has a fundamental impact on our own health and that of our planet.
Watch nowMore about the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Watch the Royal Institution CHRISTMAS LECTURES archive
Watch all the Royal Institution CHRISTMAS LECTURES back to 1966, when the lectures were first televised.
CHRISTMAS LECTURES 2025 FAQs
Find out everything you need to know about the 2025 lectures.
Discover200 at the Ri
Help us celebrate 200 years of the Christmas Lectures, Discourses and discovery of benzene.
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You can help unearth missing Sir David Attenborough footage and other iconic science TV shows.
Watch past CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Catch up with past CHRISTMAS LECTURES for free on our ever expanding online archive.
History of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Initiated by Michael Faraday when organised education for children was scarce, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES established an exciting new way of presenting science to young people. World-famous scientists have given the Lectures, including Nobel Prize winners William and Lawrence Bragg, Sir David Attenborough, Carl Sagan and Dame Nancy Rothwell.
First broadcast in 1936, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES is the oldest science television series. They have been broadcast every year since 1966 on the BBC and in later years on Channel Five, Channel Four and more4. In 2010, the Lectures returned to BBC Four, and this year were shown on the 26th, 27th and 28th of December.