CHRISTMAS LECTURES

Dr Chris van Tulleken reveals the revolutionary science inside our bodies when we eat, in the 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, supported by CGI. 

 Chris Van Tulleken sitting in the Theatre at the Royal Institution
Image credit: Paul Wilkinson
CGI and Royal Institution logo

Find out more about the 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES

Practising NHS doctor and leading science presenter Chris van Tulleken explores how the food we eat has a fundamental impact on our own health and that of our planet, in the 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, broadcast on BBC Four on the 29, 30, and 31 December at 9pm, on iPlayer from 29 December, and on our YouTube channel for those outside the UK.

Support the CHRISTMAS LECTURES in 2024

Help us to bring young people and scientists together to explore the science behind food, diet and digestion, through the 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES. 

Watch the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES

Professor Mike Wooldridge tackled the big questions and unravelled the myths of AI research in the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, supported by CGI.

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More about the 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES

Watch past CHRISTMAS LECTURES

Catch up with past CHRISTMAS LECTURES for free on our ever expanding online archive.

the Royal Institution theatre during the filming of the 2015 Christmas Lectures with Kevin Fong
the Royal Institution theatre during the filming of the 2015 Christmas Lectures with Kevin Fong

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.

You can watch past CHRISTMAS LECTURES here.