A new partnership with the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network will see the filming of the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES livestreamed to local community libraries throughout the UK for the first time, The Royal Institution (Ri) announced today.
Filmed in the Ri’s iconic Theatre in mid-December each year – the same Theatre where the CHRISTMAS LECTURES have been given since John Millington’s first series in 1825 – the Ri’s simultaneous livestream enables anyone not easily able to travel to central London, to still enjoy being among the first to watch the Lectures unfold.
Now, in CHRISTMAS LECTURES’ 200th anniversary year, the new partnership will enable public libraries to bring the magic of the live filming to their local communities, via a live feed direct from the Ri’s Theatre. Libraries will join the Ri’s other independent livestream partners such as Jodrell Bank, The Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, TechFest, and The Cambridge Museum of Technology.
In the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES supported by CGI, Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock will take viewers on an epic journey through space and time, exploring 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.
Katherine Mathieson, Director of The Royal Institution, said: “The CHRISTMAS LECTURES are 200 years old this year and we are determined to share them with more people than ever before.
“So we are delighted to be partnering with the Living Knowledge Network, supporting our wonderful local libraries and sharing fascinating, accessible, family-focused science with audiences throughout the UK.”
Rebecca Lawrence, Chief Executive of the British Library, said: “I am delighted that this year the Ri’s iconic CHRISTMAS LECTURES will be screened at libraries that are part of the Living Knowledge Network (LKN) all over the UK.
“I’ve been an avid fan of the Lectures since childhood and they are the perfect fit for the LKN, which was created to bring inspirational events to public libraries and to help to help make intellectual heritage accessible to everyone.
“We are so pleased that this December the public will have the chance to journey through time and space in the comfort and community of their local library.”
The CHRISTMAS LECTURES, established in 1825 by renowned scientist Michael Faraday, are the longest-running series of science talks for children in the world, igniting curiosity and sparking scientific interest among audiences for generations.
Throughout 2025 the Ri is marking the 200th anniversary of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, Ri Discourses and the discovery of benzene through Discover200, a series of special events and activities to explore the past, present and future of science.
The 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, supported by CGI, will be broadcast on BBC Four and iPlayer in late December.