University of Leicester Chancellor to deliver Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures

University of Leicester Chancellor, Dr Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock, will give this year’s Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution.

As the Christmas Lectures celebrate 200 years since they were first introduced by Michael Faraday in 1825, the space scientist, educator and BBC Sky at Night presenter will take TV audiences on an epic voyage through time and space.

Joined by a host of very special guests – from astronauts to history-making astronomers – Dame Maggie 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.

Dame Maggie said: “Here on planet Earth we have stared with fascination at the skies above us for thousands of years. Today, powerful space telescopes enable us to see further into space, and further back in time, than ever before; our understanding of the cosmos increases daily. Yet so many mysteries remain to be discovered.

“I can’t wait to take this year’s Christmas Lectures audience into the farthest reaches of space and to the very limits of our understanding.”

The 2025 Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution, supported by IT and business consulting firm CGI as title partner, will be broadcast on the BBC and iPlayer in late December.

The announcement marks the start of ‘Discover200’ at the Ri, 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.

Welcoming Dame Maggie as the 2025 Christmas Lecturer, Director of the Royal Institution, Katherine Mathieson, said: “Here at the Ri we have a longstanding connection with space science, from Warren De La Rue’s first-ever photograph of Jupiter taken in 1856, to Carl Sagan’s seminal Christmas Lectures in 1977, to the towel we sent to the International Space Station for Kevin Fong’s 2015 Lectures.

“So, as we celebrate 200 years of the Christmas Lectures, I am delighted that we are returning to the fascinating subject of space and to have such an accomplished communicator as Dame Maggie bringing the most amazing science to life in the Ri Theatre.”

Tom Coveney, BBC Commissioning Head of Science, said: “From asteroid YR4 heading towards Earth, to the incredible innovations being made in rocket design, space science is giving us more to talk about than ever. Dame Maggie is one of the UK’s leading science communicators as well as an important space scientist: she’s the perfect guide to explore these exciting new frontiers.”

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, Dame Maggie will reveal how the “time-travelling” James Webb Space Telescope – which she helped to develop – is now rewriting the story of the Big Bang and allowing us to witness the birth of the first stars and galaxies that followed.

And as NASA prepares to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972, she will investigate how manned spaceflight has transformed our relationship with our nearest neighbour – and with our home planet. Delving further back in time, she’ll explore how the night sky has always held a fascination for humanity, investigating what the moon and stars meant to ancient societies across the world.

Maggie will also explain how the latest space technologies – from probes and orbiters to the most recent Mars rovers – are shedding astonishing new light on the planets in our solar system. And we’ll discover why in 2025 we’re on the cusp of even more remarkable discoveries about our universe.

As the iconic Christmas Lectures mark their 200th anniversary, audiences will enjoy a true celebration – of our universe and of the astounding human endeavours that are allowing us to solve its mysteries.