Robin Ince and Brian Cox, the hosts of the programme | |
| Genre | Comedy, popular science |
|---|---|
| Running time | approx. 30 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring | Brian Cox Robin Ince |
| Produced by | Alexandra Feachem |
| Executive producer | Deborah Cohen |
| Recording studio | Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, London RADA Studios, London |
| Original release | 30 November 2009 |
| No. of series | 33 |
| No. of episodes | 207 [1] |
| Website | bbc |
| Podcast | bbc |
The Infinite Monkey Cage is a BBC Radio 4 comedy and popular science series. Hosted by physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince, [2] The Independent described it as a "witty and irreverent look at the world according to science". [3] [4] Since 2013 the show has been accompanied by a podcast, published immediately after the initial radio broadcast, which features extended versions of most episodes. [5] The programme won a Gold Award in the Best Speech Programme category at the 2011 Sony Radio Awards, [6] [7] and it won the best Radio Talk Show at the 2015 Rose d'Or awards. [8] The name is a reference to the infinite monkey theorem.
Each show has a particular topic up for discussion, with previous topics including the apocalypse and space travel. There are normally three guests; two of these are scientists with an interest in the topic of discussion, offering an expert opinion on the subject. The other guest is usually a comedian, who takes a less serious view of the subject, and often makes the show more accessible by asking the "stupid" questions that the other guests may have overlooked.
Ince and Cox headed an Uncaged Monkeys live tour in 2011, and toured the United States in 2015. [9]
In April 2018 a book titled Infinite Monkey Cage – How to Build a Universe was released. Its audiobook was read by Cox and Ince.
The programme features a number of running themes and gags. Robin Ince regularly pokes fun at Brian Cox's hair, good looks and former career as a rock musician. Ince often imitates and quotes Carl Sagan. Cox often ridicules chemistry, astrology and Creationists and occasionally returns to the subject of how and when a strawberry can be considered dead. [10]
The programme's theme song was written by Eric Idle and recorded by Idle and Jeff Lynne. [11] Idle and his band performed the song live on the show when it toured in Los Angeles in 2015 and it appears in the 2016 TV show "The Entire Universe".
The following is an episode list of the BBC radio series The Infinite Monkey Cage. As of July 2023, there have been 167 episodes spanning 27 series plus 8 specials; two responding to viewers' questions, Christmas Specials in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and a 100th Episode special. All episodes are available to stream via the website and as podcast downloads. [12]
Since 2013, podcasts are longer than the broadcast episodes at around 45 minutes, frequently adding mild spats between Cox and Ince, and occasionally language unsuitable "for the 4:30pm school run slot".
In addition to the regular programmes, a special entitled "An Infinite Monkey's Guide to General Relativity" was broadcast in two half-hour episodes on 8 and 15 December 2015. [13] Their 100th Episode (according to their own manner of counting which differs from the one listed on Wikipedia), simply titled "Monkey Cage 100", was also recorded on Video and is currently watchable on the BBC iPlayer.
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 4 | 30 November 2009 | 21 December 2009 | |
| 2 | 4 | 14 June 2010 | 5 July 2010 | |
| 3 | 4 | 15 November 2010 | 6 December 2010 | |
| 4 | 6 | 30 May 2011 | 5 July 2011 | |
| 5 | 6 | 21 November 2011 | 26 December 2011 | |
| 6 | 6 | 18 June 2012 | 23 July 2012 | |
| 7 | 6 | 19 November 2012 | 24 December 2012 | |
| 8 | 6 | 24 June 2013 | 29 July 2013 | |
| 9 | 7 | 18 November 2013 | 9 March 2014 | |
| 10 | 7 | 7 July 2014 | 25 December 2014 | |
| 11 | 6 | 19 January 2015 | 23 February 2015 | |
| 12 | 7 | 6 July 2015 | 25 December 2015 | |
| Christmas | 2 | 8 December 2015 | 15 December 2015 | |
| 13 | 7 | 11 January 2016 | 22 February 2016 | |
| 14 | 7 | 4 July 2016 | 27 December 2016 | |
| 15 | 6 | 16 January 2017 | 20 February 2017 | |
| 16 | 7 | 3 July 2017 | 25 December 2017 | |
| 17 | 6 | 8 January 2018 | 12 February 2018 | |
| Television | 11 July 2018 | |||
| 18 | 5 | 16 July 2018 | 13 August 2018 | |
| 19 | 6 | 7 January 2019 | 11 February 2019 | |
| Moon landing | 19 July 2019 | |||
| 20 | 5 | 16 September 2019 | 14 October 2019 | |
| 21 | 6 | 13 January 2020 | 17 February 2020 | |
| 22 | 9 | 25 May 2020 | 20 July 2020 | |
| 23 | 6 | 11 January 2021 | 15 February 2021 | |
| 24 | 7 | 25 June 2022 | 6 August 2022 | |
| 25 | 7 | 12 November 2022 | 24 December 2022 | |
| 26 | 6 | 18 February 2023 | 25 March 2023 | |
| 27 | 7 | 24 June 2023 | 5 August 2023 | |
| 28 | 7 | 11 November 2023 | 23 December 2023 | |
| 29 | 6 | 17 February 2024 | 23 March 2024 | |
| 30 | 7 | 10 July 2024 | 21 August 2024 | |
| 31 | 7 | 13 November 2024 | 25 December 2024 | |
| 32 | 6 | 19 February 2025 | 26 March 2025 | |
| 33 | 7 | 10 July 2025 | 21 August 2025 | |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Science and Comedians" | Dara Ó Briain and Dr Alice Roberts | 30 November 2009 |
| 2 | 2 | "Extraterrestrial Life" | Jon Ronson and Seth Shostak | 7 December 2009 |
| 3 | 3 | "Quantum Physics" | Ben Miller | 14 December 2009 |
| 4 | 4 | "Science and Religion" | Chris Addison, Victor Stock and Adam Rutherford | 21 December 2009 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | "Popular Science" | Ben Miller and Robert Winston | 14 June 2010 |
| 6 | 2 | "Trust me, I'm a Scientist" | Ben Goldacre, Claudia Hammond and Dave Gorman | 21 June 2010 |
| 7 | 3 | "Science Fiction, Science Fact" | Jonathan Ross, Alan Moore and Dr Brian Greene | 28 June 2010 |
| 8 | 4 | "Things Can Only Get Better?" | Colin Blakemore, Mark Steel and Peter Cunnah | 5 July 2010 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Apocalypse" | Adam Rutherford, Andy Hamilton and Dr Lucie Green with Matt Parker | 15 November 2010 |
| 10 | 2 | "Modern World" | Paul Foot, Aleks Krotoski and Professor Tony Ryan with Matt Parker | 22 November 2010 |
| 11 | 3 | "Randomness" | Tim Minchin and Alex Bellos with Matt Parker | 29 November 2010 |
| 12 | 4 | "Philosophy" | Alexei Sayle, Julian Baggini and Professor Raymond Tallis with Matt Parker | 6 December 2010 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | "What Don't We Know?" | Paul Foot, Marcus Chown and Professor Steve Jones | 30 May 2011 | |
| 14 | 2 | "Six Degrees" | Stephen Fry, Simon Singh, and Aleks Krotoski with Matt Parker | 6 June 2011 | |
| 15 | 3 | "So You Want To Be an Astronaut?" | Chris Riley, Dr Kevin Fong, and Helen Keen | 13 June 2011 | |
| 16 | 4 | "Is Cosmology Really a Science?" | Alan Moore, Dallas Campbell, Professor Ed Copeland and Helen Arney | 20 June 2011 | |
This programme was recorded as part of the Cheltenham Science Festival. | |||||
| 17 | 5 | "Is There Room for Mysticism in a Rational World?" | Billy Bragg, Graham Coxon, Shappi Khorsandi and Professor Tony Ryan | 27 June 2011 | |
| 18 | 6 | "Science vs the Supernatural: Does Science Kill the Magic?" | Andy Nyman, Richard Wiseman and Bruce Hood | 5 July 2011 | |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1 | "What's the North Ever Done for Us?" | Jon Culshaw, Jeff Forshaw and Matthew Cobb | 21 November 2011 |
| 20 | 2 | "A Balanced Programme on Balance" | Sir Paul Nurse, Katy Brand, Simon Mayo, and Professor Steve Jones | 28 November 2011 |
| 21 | 3 | "The Origins of Life" | Tim Minchin, Dr Nick Lane, and Adam Rutherford | 5 December 2011 |
| 22 | 4 | "The Science of Sound" | Tom Wrigglesworth, Professor Trevor Cox and Professor Chris Plack | 12 December 2011 |
| 23 | 5 | "I'm a Chemist Get Me Out of Here" | Dara Ó Briain, Professor Tony Ryan, and Andrea Sella | 19 December 2011 |
| 24 | 6 | "The Science of Christmas" | Professor Richard Dawkins, Mark Gatiss and Roger Highfield with Helen Arney | 26 December 2011 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "Oceans: The Last Great Unexplored Frontier?" | Dave Gorman, Lloyd Peck and Bramley Murton | 18 June 2012 |
| 26 | 2 | "Science Mavericks" | Marcus Brigstocke, Professor Barry Marshall, Kevin Fong, and Aoife McLysaght | 25 June 2012 |
| 27 | 3 | "Does Size Matter?" | Andy Hamilton, Mark Miodownik and Eleanor Stride | 2 July 2012 |
| 28 | 4 | "The Science of Symmetry" | Marcus du Sautoy, Adam Rutherford and Alan Moore | 9 July 2012 |
| 29 | 5 | "Parallel Universes" | Professor Sir Martin Rees, Dr Lucie Green and John Lloyd | 16 July 2012 |
| 30 | 6 | "Science v Art" | Al Murray, Sara Pascoe, Andrew Pontzen and Jon Butterworth. | 23 July 2012 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "Space Exploration" | Sir Patrick Stewart, Ben Miller and Monica Grady | 19 November 2012 |
| 32 | 2 | "Improbable Science" | Katy Brand, Matthew Cobb and Marc Abrahams | 26 November 2012 |
| 33 | 3 | "Secret Science" | Simon Singh, Sue Black and Dave Gorman | 3 December 2012 |
| 34 | 4 | "Brain Science" | Jo Brand, Sophie Scott, and Brian Butterworth | 10 December 2012 |
| 35 | 5 | "Creating Life" | Ed Byrne, Adam Rutherford, and Philip Ball | 17 December 2012 |
| 36 | 6 | "Christmas Special: The Science of Christmas Behaviour" | Mark Gatiss, Professor Steve Jones, Richard Wiseman, Victor Stock, and Jonny & The Baptists | 24 December 2012 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "What is Death?" | Katy Brand, Dr Nick Lane, and Sue Black | 24 June 2013 |
| 38 | 2 | "Glastonbury" | Marcus Brigstocke, KT Tunstall, Fay Dowker, and Jeff Forshaw | 1 July 2013 |
| 39 | 3 | "Space Tourism" | Brian Blessed, Kevin Fong, and Steven Attenborough | 8 July 2013 |
| 40 | 4 | "What Makes a Science a Science" | Ben Goldacre, Sophie Scott, and Evan Davis | 15 July 2013 |
| 41 | 5 | "Alfred Russel Wallace" | Steve Jones, Aoife McLysaght, and Tony Law | 22 July 2013 |
| 42 | 6 | "Science Museum" | Neil deGrasse Tyson, Josie Long, Ian Blatchford, Richard Holmes and Doc Brown | 29 July 2013 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | 1 | "Risk" | Graeme Garden, David Spiegelhalter, and Sue Ion | 18 November 2013 | |
Producer: Rami Tzabar. | |||||
| 44 | 2 | "Through the Doors of Perception" | Claudia Hammond, Beau Lotto, and Alan Moore | 25 November 2013 | |
| 45 | 3 | "Science Rocks!" | Hermione Cockburn, Ross Noble, and Eric Idle | 2 December 2013 | |
| 46 | 4 | "To Infinity and Beyond" | John Lloyd, Colva Roney-Dougal, and Simon Singh | 9 December 2013 | |
Producer: Rami Tzabar. | |||||
| 47 | 5 | "Should We Pander to Pandas?" | Sandy Knapp, Simon Watt, and Sara Pascoe | 16 December 2013 | |
| 48 | 6 | "Science and Spin" | Matthew Cobb, Sheena Cruikshank, Helen Keen, and James Burke | 23 December 2013 | |
| 49 | 7 | "Brian & Robin's Infinite Inbox" | None | 9 March 2014 | |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 1 | "Numbers Numbers Everywhere" | Dave Gorman, Dr Vicky Neale, and Alex Bellos | 7 July 2014 |
| 51 | 2 | "Are Humans Uniquely Unique?" | Keith Jensen, Katie Slocombe, and Ross Noble | 14 July 2014 |
| 52 | 3 | "Does Science Need War?" | Katy Brand, Philip Ball, and Kevin Fong | 21 July 2014 |
| 53 | 4 | "Can Science Save Us?" | Stephen Fry, Dr. Lucie Green, Prof. Tony Ryan and Eric Idle | 28 July 2014 |
| 54 | 5 | "Before the Big Bang" | Carlos Frenk, Fay Dowker, Ben Miller and Richard Vranch | 4 August 2014 |
| 55 | 6 | "Irrationality" | Josie Long, Paul Foot, Richard Wiseman and Stuart Ritchie | 11 August 2014 |
| 56 | 7 | "2014 Christmas Special" | Rev. Richard Coles, Chris Hadfield, Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Brian Blessed | 25 December 2014 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 1 | "Deception" | Richard Wiseman, Sophie Scott, and David Aaronovitch | 19 January 2015 |
| 58 | 2 | "Fierce Creatures" | Steve Backshall, Lucy Cooke, and Andy Hamilton | 26 January 2015 |
| 59 | 3 | "Solar System" | Monica Grady, Jo Brand, and Carolyn Porco | 2 February 2015 |
| 60 | 4 | "When Quantum Goes Woo" | Ben Goldacre, Jeff Forshaw, and Sara Pascoe | 9 February 2015 |
| 61 | 5 | "What's The Point of Plants" | Jane Langdale, Jim Al-Khalili, and Ed Byrne | 16 February 2015 |
| 62 | 6 | "Serendipity" | Lee Mack, Simon Singh, and Andrea Sella | 23 February 2015 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 1 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: New York" | Bill Nye, Janna Levin, Tim Daly, and Lisa Lampanelli | 6 July 2015 |
| 64 | 2 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: Los Angeles" | Sean Carroll, Joe Rogan, David X. Cohen, and Eric Idle | 13 July 2015 |
| 65 | 3 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: Chicago" | Peter Sagal, Julia Sweeney, Paul Sereno, and Jerry Coyne | 20 July 2015 |
| 66 | 4 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: San Francisco" | Dr Seth Shostak, Dr Carolyn Porco, Greg Proops, and Paul Provenza | 27 July 2015 |
| 67 | 5 | "Speed" | Alexei Sayle, Andy Green and Professor Danielle George | 3 August 2015 |
| 68 | 6 | "Forensic Science" | Professor Sue Black, Dr Mark Spencer and Rufus Hound | 10 August 2015 |
| 69 | 7 | "2015 Christmas Special" | Ross Noble, Paul Franklin, Simon Guerrier and Victor Stock | 25 December 2015 |
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, two special episodes were added in December 2015:
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special | 1 | "Episode 1: An Infinite Monkey's Guide to General Relativity" | Ben Miller, Dara Ó Briain, Richard Vranch, and Carlos Frenk | 8 December 2015 |
| Special | 2 | "Episode 2: An Infinite Monkey's Guide to General Relativity" | Sean Carroll, Richard Vranch, Tim O'Brien, Sarah Bridle, and Carlos Frenk | 15 December 2015 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 1 | "Artificial Intelligence" | Jo Brand, Anil Seth, and Alan Winfield | 11 January 2016 | |
| 71 | 2 | "What is Race?" | Shappi Khorsandi, Adam Rutherford, and Mark Thomas | 18 January 2016 | |
| 72 | 3 | "Invisible Universe" | Jon Culshaw, Sarah Bridle, and Tim O'Brien | 25 January 2016 | |
| 73 | 4 | "What is Reality?" | David Eagleman, Sophie Scott, and Bridget Christie | 1 February 2016 | |
| 74 | 5 | "Maths of Love and Sex" | Paul Foot, Hannah Fry, and David Spiegelhalter | 8 February 2016 | |
| 75 | 6 | "Climate Change" | Dara Ó Briain, Professor Tony Ryan, and Dr Gabrielle Walker | 15 February 2016 | |
| 76 | 7 | "Brian & Robin's Infinite Inbox" | None | 22 February 2016 | |
Brian Cox and Robin Ince answer The Infinite Monkey Cage listeners' questions. | |||||
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | 1 | "The Sound of Music" | Matt Kirshen, KT Tunstall, Nitin Sawhney, Lucy Cooke, and Trevor Cox | 4 July 2016 |
| 78 | 2 | "The Recipe to Build a Universe" | Rufus Hound, Andrea Sella and Lucie Green | 11 July 2016 |
| 79 | 3 | "Science of Sleep" | Russell Foster, Richard Wiseman and Katy Brand | 18 July 2016 |
| 80 | 4 | "Battle of the Sexes" | Sophie Scott, Steve Jones and Sara Pascoe | 25 July 2016 |
| 81 | 5 | "200 Years of Frankenstein" | Noel Fielding, Nick Lane and Sir Christopher Frayling | 1 August 2016 |
| 82 | 6 | "The Universe: What Remains to Be Discovered?" | Ben Miller, Charlotte Church, Paul Abel and Tim O'Brien | 8 August 2016 |
| 83 | 7 | "2016 Christmas Special" | Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mark Gatiss, Deborah Hyde and Nick Baines | 27 December 2016 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84 | 1 | "The Science of Everyday Life" | Russell Kane, Helen Czerski and Danielle George | 16 January 2017 |
| 85 | 2 | "How to Beat the House and Win at Games" | Hannah Fry, Alex Bellos, Richard Wiseman and Helen Zaltzman | 23 January 2017 |
| 86 | 3 | "Science's Epic Fails" | Rufus Hound, Professor Alice Roberts and Dr Adam Rutherford | 30 January 2017 |
| 87 | 4 | "Oceans: What Remains to Be Discovered?" | Andy Hamilton, Professor Jon Copley and Helen Scales | 6 February 2017 |
| 88 | 5 | "The Human Story: How We Got Here and Why We Survived" | Ross Noble, Professor Danielle Schreve and Chris Stringer | 13 February 2017 |
| 89 | 6 | "Making the Invisible Visible" | Katy Brand, Carlos Frenk and Matthew Cobb | 20 February 2017 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | 1 | TBA | Eric Idle, Jon Butterworth and Catherine Heymans | 3 July 2017 |
| 91 | 2 | "Astronaut Special" | Sandra Magnus, Terry Virts, Claude Nicollier and Charlie Duke | 10 July 2017 |
| 92 | 3 | "Oxygen: A Matter of Life or Death" | Sara Pascoe, Andrea Sella and Dr Gabrielle Walker | 17 July 2017 |
| 93 | 4 | "Will Insects Inherit the Earth?" | Dave Gorman, Tim Cockerill and Amoret Whitaker | 24 July 2017 |
| 94 | 5 | "Are We Living in a Simulation?" | Phill Jupitus, Nick Bostrom and Anil Seth | 31 July 2017 |
| 95 | 6 | "The Mind v the Brain?" | Katy Brand, Uta Frith and Sophie Scott | 7 August 2017 |
| 96 | 7 | "2017 Christmas Special: The Science of Magic" | Andy Nyman, Diane Morgan, Richard Wiseman and Francesca Stavrakopoulou | 25 December 2017 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | 1 | "When Two Stars Collide" | Dara Ó Briain, Sheila Brown and Nils Andersson | 8 January 2018 |
| 98 | 2 | "The Secret Life of Birds" | Katy Brand, Steve Backshall, Professor Tim Birkhead and special guest Brann the Raven | 15 January 2018 |
| 99 | 3 | "Antibiotics" | Chris Addison, Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies and Martha Clokie | 22 January 2018 |
| 100 | 4 | "Teenage Brain" | Rory Bremner, Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and Professor Matthew Cobb | 29 January 2018 |
| 101 | 5 | "How Animals Behave" | Rufus Hound, Lucy Cooke and Professor Rory Wilson | 5 February 2018 |
| 102 | 6 | "Volcanoes" | Jo Brand, Tamsin Mather and Clive Oppenheimer | 12 February 2018 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 103 | TV–Special | "Infinite Monkey Cage 100" | Katy Brand, Brian Blessed, Eric Idle, Dave Gorman, Andy Hamilton, Alice Roberts, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Sue Black, Fay Dowker, David Spiegelhalter, Richard Wiseman, Professor Tony Ryan and Andrea Sella | 11 July 2018 |
| 104 | 1 | "Big Data" | Danny Wallace, Hannah Fry and Timandra Harkness | 16 July 2018 |
| 105 | 2 | "Invasion!" | Phill Jupitus, Kate Jones and Mark Spencer | 23 July 2018 |
| 106 | 3 | "Immune System" | Shappi Khorsandi, Professor Dan Davis and Professor Steve Jones | 30 July 2018 |
| 107 | 4 | "The Human Voice" | Beardyman, Professor Trevor Cox and Professor Sophie Scott | 6 August 2018 |
| 108 | 5 | "GCHQ" | Katy Brand | 13 August 2018 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109 | 1 | "Microbes: Secret Rulers of the World?" | Jon Copley, Monica Grady and Ed Byrne | 7 January 2019 |
| 110 | 2 | "The Future of Humanity" | Chris Addison, Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees and Baroness Cathy Ashton | 14 January 2019 |
| 111 | 3 | "The Origin of Numbers" | Matt Parker, Dr Hannah Fry and Professor Brian Butterworth | 21 January 2019 |
| 112 | 4 | "Are Humans Still Evolving?" | David Baddiel, Professor Aoife McLysaght and Dr Adam Rutherford | 28 January 2019 |
| 113 | 5 | "How to Build a Bionic Human" | Dr Kevin Fong, Noel Fitzpatrick and Lucy Beaumont | 4 February 2019 |
| 114 | 6 | "How to Measure the Universe" | Jo Brand, Professor Jo Dunkley and Dr Adam Masters | 11 February 2019 |
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, a special episode was added in July 2019:
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special | 1 | "The Infinite Moonkey Cage" | Rusty Schweickart, Gerry Griffin, Andy Aldrin, and Jan Aldrin | 19 July 2019 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | 1 | "Dinosaurs" | Susannah Maidment, Steve Brusatte and Rufus Hound | 16 September 2019 |
| 116 | 2 | "Clever Creatures" | Tim Birkhead, Helen Scales and Danny Wallace | 23 September 2019 |
| 117 | 3 | "Science of Dreaming" | Professor Penny Lewis, Professor Richard Wiseman and Bridget Christie | 30 September 2019 |
| 118 | 4 | "Anniversary of the Periodic Table" | Professor Polly Arnold, Professor Andrea Sella and Katy Brand | 7 October 2019 |
| 119 | 5 | "Brits in Space" | Tim Peake, Helen Sharman and Mark Steel | 14 October 2019 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 1 | "The Science of Laughter" | Professor Sophie Scott, Professor Richard Wiseman and Frank Skinner | 13 January 2020 |
| 121 | 2 | "Conspiracy Theories" | Professor Karen Douglas, Dr David Robert Grimes and Shazia Mirza | 20 January 2020 |
| 122 | 3 | "Coral Reefs" | Dr Heather Koldewey, Professor Callum Roberts and Marcus Brigstocke | 27 January 2020 |
| 123 | 4 | "Fire" | Niamh Nic Daéid, Adam Rutherford and Ed Byrne | 3 February 2020 |
| 124 | 5 | "Quantum Worlds" | Jim Al-Khalili, Sean Carroll and Katy Brand | 10 February 2020 |
| 125 | 6 | "UFO Special" | Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Dallas Campbell, Professor Tim O'Brien and Lucy Beaumont | 17 February 2020 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 126 | 1 | "The End of the Universe" | Brian Greene, Katie Mack, Eric Idle and Steve Martin | 25 May 2020 |
| 127 | 2 | "Black Holes" | Sean Carroll, Janna Levin and Matt Lucas | 1 June 2020 |
| 128 | 3 | "Space Archaeology" | Alice Roberts, Sarah Parcak and Sara Pascoe | 8 June 2020 |
| 129 | 4 | "An Astronaut's Guide To Isolation" | Chris Hadfield, Rusty Schweickart, Helen Sharman and Nicole Stott | 15 June 2020 |
| 130 | 5 | "The Sun" | Lucie Green, Steve Jones and Tim Minchin | 22 June 2020 |
| 131 | 6 | "When the Monkeys met the Chimps" | Dr Jane Goodall, Dr Cat Hobaiter and Bill Bailey | 29 June 2020 |
| 132 | 7 | "Does Time Exist?" | Fay Dowker, Carlo Rovelli and Mark Gatiss | 6 July 2020 |
| 133 | 8 | "The Human Brain" | David Eagleman, Gina Rippon and Conan O'Brien | 14 July 2020 |
| 134 | 9 | "What is Life?" | Prof Aoife McLysaght, Sir Paul Nurse, Jo Brand and Ross Noble | 20 July 2020 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 135 | 1 | "In Praise of Flies" | Matthew Cobb, Erica McAlister and David Baddiel | 11 January 2021 |
| 136 | 2 | "Under our Night Sky" | Tim Peake, Jon Culshaw, Lisa Harvey-Smith and Stuart Clark | 18 January 2021 |
| 137 | 3 | "Neanderthals" | Alan Davies, Rebecca Wragg Sykes and Tori Herridge | 25 January 2021 |
| 138 | 4 | "The Science of Cooking" | Katy Brand, Grace Dent, Harold McGee and Mark Miodownik | 1 February 2021 |
| 139 | 5 | "The Fundamentals of Reality" | Janna Levin, Frank Wilczek, Eric Idle and Sara Pascoe | 8 February 2021 |
| 140 | 6 | "A History of Rock" | Chris Jackson, Susie Maidment and Ross Noble | 15 February 2021 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 141 | 1 | "Bats v Flies" | Kate Jones, Erica McAlister and Dave Gorman | 25 June 2022 |
| 142 | 2 | "Exploring the Deep" | Diva Amon, Jon Copley and Tim Minchin | 2 July 2022 |
| 143 | 3 | "The Wood Wide Web" | Suzanne Simard, Mark Spencer and Brendan Hunt | 9 July 2022 |
| 144 | 4 | "Black Holes" | Netta Engelhardt, Janna Levin and Eric Idle | 16 July 2022 |
| 145 | 5 | "Astronauts" | Chris Hadfield, Carolyn Porco, Nicole Stott and Katy Brand | 23 July 2022 |
| 146 | 6 | "Brains" | Uta Frith, Sophie Scott and Alan Davies | 30 July 2022 |
| 147 | 7 | "How to Teach Maths" | Hannah Fry, Matt Parker, David Spiegelhalter and Sara Pascoe | 6 August 2022 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 148 | 1 | "What have we learnt from Covid? [14] " | Dame Sarah Gilbert, Professor Dan Davis and Dr Chris Van Tulleken | 12 November 2022 |
| 149 | 2 | "Exploring our solar system [15] " | Conan O'Brien, Dr Katie Stack Morgan and Dr Kevin Hand | 19 November 2022 |
| 150 | 3 | "Hunting for Exoplanets [16] " | Eric Idle, Jessie Christiansen, Tiffany Kataria and Sean Carroll | 26 November 2022 |
| 151 | 4 | "Can we cure aging? [17] " | Sarah Kendall, Dame Linda Partridge and Dr Andrew Steele | 3 December 2022 |
| 152 | 5 | "The Age of Conspiracy [18] " | David Baddiel, Professor Karen Douglas, Professor Matthew Cobb and Dr Timotheus Vermeulen | 10 December 2022 |
| 153 | 6 | "The Deep Space Network [19] " | Mark Cheung, Alan Duffy, Brian Schmidt and Alice Fraser | 17 December 2022 |
| 154 | 7 | "Why does wine taste good? [20] " | Tim Minchin, Brian Schmidt, Mango Parker and Patricia Williamson | 24 December 2022 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 155 | 1 | "Southern Skies [21] " | Kirsten Banks, Devika Kamath and Ross Noble | 18 February 2023 |
| 156 | 2 | "Australia's Scary Spiders [22] " | Dieter Hochuli, Mariella Herberstein and Claire Hooper | 25 February 2023 |
| 157 | 3 | "How to think like a mathematician [23] " | Jo Brand, Professor Hannah Fry, Dr Eugenia Cheng and Randall Munroe | 4 March 2023 |
| 158 | 4 | "How to commit the perfect murder [24] " | Susan Calman, Professor Sue Black and Dr Julia Shaw | 11 March 2023 |
| 159 | 5 | "How Far Can the Human Body Go? [25] " | Polly McGuigan, Ben Garrod, Russell Kane and Sally Gunnell | 18 March 2023 |
| 160 | 6 | "Magic Materials [26] " | Mark Miodownik, Anna Ploszajski and Ed Byrne | 25 March 2023 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161 | 1 | "Are we what we eat? [27] " | Dr Chris van Tulleken, Professor Janet Cade and Harry Hill | 24 June 2023 |
| 162 | 2 | "Supervolcanoes [28] " | Tamsin Mather, Chris Jackson and Rachel Parris | 3 July 2023 |
| 163 | 3 | "Bees v Wasps [29] " | Dave Goulson, Seirian Sumner and Catherine Bohart | 8 July 2023 |
| 164 | 4 | "The Magic of Mushrooms [30] " | Phil Wang, Merlin Sheldrake and Katie Field | 15 July 2023 |
| 165 | 5 | "The Secret Life of Sharks [31] " | Lucy Hawkes, Isla Hodgson and Steve Backshall | 22 July 2023 |
| 166 | 6 | "Ancient DNA Secrets [32] " | Ben Willbond, Turi King, Tom Booth and Sir Paul Nurse | 29 July 2023 |
| 167 | 7 | "Cosmic Dust [33] " | Matthew Genge, Penny Wozniakiewicz and Alan Davies | 5 August 2023 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 168 | 1 | "Octopuses! [34] " | Dr Tim Lamont, Amy Courtney and Russell Kane | 11 November 2023 |
| 169 | 2 | "The Science of Coincidence [35] " | Sophie Duker, Marcus Du Sautoy and David Spiegelhalter | 18 November 2023 |
| 170 | 3 | "How I is AI? [36] " | Rufus Hound, Hannah Fry and Kate Devlin | 25 November 2023 |
| 171 | 4 | "The Scale of Life (or were dinosaurs just too big?) [37] " | Dave Gorman, Susie Maidment and Tori Herridge | 2 December 2023 |
| 172 | 5 | "Hollywood in Space [38] " | Paul Franklin, Tim Peake, Nicole Stott and Susan Kilrain | 9 December 2023 |
| 173 | 6 | "Jo Brand's Quantum World [39] " | Jo Brand, Professor Ben Allanach and Professor Fay Dowker | 16 December 2023 |
| 174 | 7 | "The Monkeys meet The Sky at Night [40] " | Dara Ó Briain, Dr Maggie Aderin Pocock, Chris Lintott and Pete Lawrence | 23 December 2023 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 175 | 1 | "Egyptian Mummies [41] " | Russell Kane, Lucy Porter, Rosalie David and Lidija McKnight | 17 February 2024 |
| 176 | 2 | "Could it be magic? [42] " | Alan Davies, Richard Wiseman, Laura London and Gustav Kuhn | 24 February 2024 |
| 177 | 3 | "Asteroids [43] " | John Bishop, Sara Russell and Alan Fitzsimmons | 2 March 2024 |
| 178 | 4 | "Poison [44] " | Hugh Dennis, Andrea Sella and Kathryn Harkup | 9 March 2024 |
| 179 | 5 | "Cats v Dogs [45] " | Deborah Meaden, David Baddiel, Ben Garrod and Jess French | 16 March 2024 |
| 180 | 6 | "Higgs Boson [46] " | Katy Brand, Ben Miller, Tevong You and Clara Nellist | 23 March 2024 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 181 | 1 | "The Wonder of Trees [47] " | Dame Judi Dench, Tony Kirkham and Tristan Gooley | 11 July 2024 |
| 182 | 2 | "Science of Board Games [48] " | Jess Fostekew, Marcus du Sautoy and Dave Neale | 18 July 2024 |
| 183 | 3 | "'Beastly Bodies' Kids Special [49] " | Steve Backshall, Jess French and Adam Kay | 25 July 2024 |
| 184 | 4 | "Extreme Exploration [50] " | Anneka Rice, Mike Massimino, Britney Schmidt and Jess Phoenix | 1 August 2024 |
| 185 | 5 | "What a Gas! [51] " | Dave Gorman, Mark Miodownik and Lucy Carpenter | 8 August 2024 |
| 186 | 6 | "An Unexpected History of Science [52] " | Rufus Hound, Matthew Cobb, Victoria Herridge and Keith Moore | 15 August 2024 |
| 187 | 7 | "Alien Life [53] " | Russell Kane, Lisa Kaltenegger and Chris Lintott | 22 August 2024 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 188 | 1 | "The Cyber Codebreakers" | Alan Davies, Victoria Baines and Richard Benham | 13 November 2024 |
| 189 | 2 | "Hedgehogs" | Hugh Warwick, Sophie Lund Rasmussen and Pam Ayres | 20 November 2024 |
| 190 | 3 | "Starless World" | John Bishop, Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Roberto Trotta | 27 November 2024 |
| 191 | 4 | "Science of Baby Making" | Professor Joyce Harper, Ben Steventon and Sara Pascoe | 4 December 2024 |
| 192 | 5 | "Fantastic Elastic" | Bryony Page, Jessica Fostekew, Anna Ploszajski and James Busfield | 11 December 2024 |
| 193 | 6 | "Is Extinction the End?" | Adam Rutherford, Susannah Maidment and Ria Lina | 18 December 2024 |
| 194 | 7 | "An Unexpected History of the Body" | Sir Mark Walport, Professor Helen King, Ed Byrne and Keith Moore | 25 December 2024 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 195 | 1 | "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" | Phil Wang, Ana Ferreira and Chris Jackson | 19 February 2025 |
| 196 | 2 | "How selfish are we really?" | Jo Brand, Patti Wilks and Steve Jones | 26 February 2025 |
| 197 | 3 | "Adventures on Ice" | Darren Harriott, Liz Morris, Christoph Salzmann and Felicity Aston | 5 March 2025 |
| 198 | 4 | "Saturn v Jupiter" | Katherine Parkinson, Paul Abel and Michele Dougherty | 12 March 2025 |
| 199 | 5 | "The Sound of Music" | Brian Eno, Sam Bennett and Trevor Cox | 19 March 2025 |
| 200 | 6 | "Nature's Shapes" | Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley | 26 March 2025 |
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | 1 | "201st Birthday Bonanza" | Mel Giedroyc, Deborah Meaden and Nish Kumar | 10 July 2025 |
| 202 | 2 | "Should We Settle in Space?" | Tim Peake, Kelly Weinersmith and Alan Davies | 17 July 2025 |
| 203 | 3 | "How to Build the Perfect Athlete" | Helen Glover, Hugh Dennis, Steve Haake and Emma Ross | 24 July 2025 |
| 204 | 4 | "The Mighty Spud" | Sandy Knapp, Glenn Bryan and Susan Calman | 31 July 2025 |
| 205 | 5 | "Technofossils" | Sarah Gabbott, Mark Miodownik and Aurie Styla | 7 August 2025 |
| 206 | 6 | "Moths v Butterflies" | Katy Brand, Jane Hill and Chris Jiggins | 14 August 2025 |
| 207 | 7 | "Illuminating Light" | Jess Wade, Russell Foster and Bridget Christie | 21 August 2025 |