Author and science communicator Tracy King will create a lasting record of one of the UK’s most influential science broadcasts, when she takes up post as the inaugural Writer in Residence to the CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution (Ri), it was announced today.
As the CHRISTMAS LECTURES celebrate 200 years since they were first introduced by Michael Faraday in 1825, Tracy will document the 2025 Lectures through planning to broadcast, creating a valuable archive of the world’s longest-running series of science lectures for children.
Using new and historical material – including oral histories from staff, former lecturers, audience members and people of all ages who grew up watching the TV broadcast – Tracy will contribute original written works, from articles to essays, to the Royal Institution’s internationally significant archival collection.
Tracy, whose science literacy memoir ‘Learning to think’ was published in 2024 to critical acclaim, said, “This is an extraordinary opportunity to create original work around one of Britain’s most essential and influential science broadcasts.
“The CHRISTMAS LECTURES were conceived to bring a science education to young people who did not ordinarily have access to such knowledge, and as someone from a working-class background, this same ethos has informed my own twenty-year career in science communication, writing and animation production.
I’m excited to document the work of the brilliant people who make the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, and to contribute original compositions to the public history of the Royal Institution”.
Katherine Mathieson, Director of the Royal Institution, said: “We have a unique and internationally significant archival collection at the Ri, representing over 225 years of our country’s scientific heritage.
“As Writer in Residence, Tracy is about to write the next chapter, mirroring the meticulous note-taking of world-leading scientists such as Michael Faraday, who instigated the CHRISTMAS LECTURES 200 years ago this year, and whose own notebooks are inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World.
“I am delighted that Tracy will make an invaluable contribution to the living archive we protect and preserve on behalf of everyone in the UK, as her works commemorate this much-loved television series.”
Established by Michael Faraday in 1825, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution were broadcast on the BBC in 1936, making them the first science show on UK national television, and have been broadcast every year since 1966. With over 3 million views on BBC Four and iPlayer for Chris van Tulleken’s 2024 series, they continue to be the world’s leading science lectures for young people.
In the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES supported by IT and business consulting firm CGI as Title Partner, Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock will explore the extraordinary breakthroughs that have revolutionised our understanding of the universe, enabling us to see ever further into space, and ever further back in time.
Tracy’s appointment as Writer in Residence represents a highlight in the Ri’s ‘Discover200’ celebration; a year-long programme of special events and activities to mark the 200th anniversaries of three milestone moments in the UK’s rich history of scientific advance and science communication: the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, Royal Institution Discourses and the discovery of benzene. She will formally take up post from 1 November 2025
The 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, will be broadcast on the BBC and iPlayer in late December.
The Royal Institution is grateful to its CHRISTMAS LECTURES Title Partner, CGI; Supporting Partner, Aberdeen Investments; and Partner, UKRI, for their generous support for the Ri in producing this year’s Lectures.
About Tracy King
Tracy King is a writer, science communicator and producer whose work has been published in media including New Statesman, Guardian, Stylist, Nature, Unherd, the Telegraph, and The New European. Her media appearances include BBC Radio 4, BBC Sounds podcasts, National Geographic Channel, and Good Morning Britain.
Her science literacy memoir Learning To Think was published in 2024 to critical acclaim, and she co-created the bestselling graphic novel ‘Storm’ with Tim Minchin.
She has collaborated with science organisations including Imperial College, and science communicators including astronaut Chris Hadfield, geneticist Adam Rutherford, and neuroscientist Sophie Scott.
Tracy is the inaugural Writer in Residence to the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, given at the Royal Institution, one of Britain’s oldest science charities, since 1825. As the Lectures celebrate their 200th anniversary Tracy will creating multiple works for publication adding to the Ri’s living heritage archive.