How to watch
'Sparks will fly: How to hack your home' will be broadcast on BBC FOUR on three evenings over the Christmas and New Year period.
After appearing on BBC iPlayer, the full series will be available to watch for free on the Ri Channel in January 2015.
Latest release
Professor Danielle George to make sparks fly in the 2014 CHRISTMAS LECTURES®
Tuesday 19 August 2014, London UK. An engineer from The University of Manchester is set to deliver the 2014 CHRISTMAS LECTURES. Professor Danielle George will present the demonstration packed, three-part series called 'Sparks will fly: How to hack your home' at the Royal Institution which will air on BBC FOUR this Christmas.
The Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering, who specialises in radio frequency and microwave communications, will reveal how viewers can change the world from their very own home by taking control of the devices we use every day. She will take three great British inventions - a light bulb, a telephone and a motor - and demonstrate how viewers can adapt, transform and ‘hack’ them them to do extraordinary things. This is tinkering for 21st century.
Danielle, who grew up in Newcastle, said: “Today’s generation of young people are in a truly unique position. They have never been more equipped to be creative and innovative. I want young people to realise that that they have the power to change the world from their bedroom, kitchen table or garden shed. If we all take control of the technology around us and think creatively, then solving some of the world’s greatest challenges is only a small step away. I believe everyone has the potential to be an inventor!”
Dr Gail Cardew, Director of Science and Education at the Royal Institution said: “Our aim with ‘Sparks will fly: how to hack your home’ is to bring to life the incredible ingenuity, innovation and creativity of engineering and to inspire the next generation of engineers.”
Filmed in front of a live audience in the iconic theatre at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the original science events for children were started by Michael Faraday in 1825 and have long been seen as a favourite British Christmas tradition. Since 1825, Lectures have been given by many distinguished scientists including Nobel Prize winners William and Lawrence Bragg, Sir David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, Lord George Porter and Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell.
Danielle will be the sixth woman to present the prestigious CHRISTMAS LECTURES and the second in a row following Professor Alison Woollard who presented 'Life Fantastic'in 2013.
'Sparks will fly: How to hack your home' was commissioned by BBC FOUR and BBC Learning. Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor, BBC FOUR said: “I am tremendously excited by the year's lectures from the Royal Institution. As an inveterate electronics tinkerer in my youth, I think these lectures by Danielle - on how you can co-opt everyday tech to all kinds of wild and wonderful uses - will be both stimulating and enthralling. I'll be watching avidly.”
The 2014 CHRISTMAS LECTURES are produced by Windfall Films for BBC FOUR.
Tickets to the filming of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES are available by ballot to members and fellows of Royal Institution and UK registered schools only. For information on the different levels of Ri membership available and how to apply for tickets to this once in a lifetime show, please visit www.rigb.org.
For more information on the entire series, please visit www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures. You can watch past CHRISTMAS LECTURES for free on the Ri’s science video channel: www.richannel.org.
Contact
For more information and interviews, please contact:
Hayley Burwell, Ri Head of Marketing and Communications
t: 020 7670 2991
Notes to editors
The CHRISTMAS LECTURES are the Royal Institution’s biggest and most famous, demonstration-based science events for young people. They are broadcast on UK television every Christmas and have formed part of the festive tradition for generations – often being compared to the Queen’s Christmas message and the carols from Kings.
The CHRISTMAS LECTURES have been inspiring children and adults alike since 1825. The Lectures were initiated by Michael Faraday at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. He presented 19 series himself, establishing an exciting new way of presenting science to young people.
The CHRISTMAS LECTURES have continued annually since the 1825 series, stopping only during World War II. Many world-famous scientists have given the Lectures including Nobel Prize winners William and Lawrence Bragg, Sir David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, Lord George Porter and Dame Nancy Rothwell.
The CHRISTMAS LECTURES have been broadcast on television since 1966, first on the BBC and then on Channel Five, Channel Four and more4. In 2010, the Lectures returned to BBC Four and in 2013 the broadcast reached over 2 million viewers.
To keep up with all the latest news, please follow #xmaslectures on Twitter.
CHRISTMAS LECTURES® is a registered trademark of the Royal Institution.