August 16, 2024 -- Leading science presenter and NHS Doctor Chris van Tulleken will reveal the revolutionary science of what happens inside our bodies when we eat during this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on BBC Four and iPlayer.

The iconic series is aired every Christmas on BBC Four and iPlayer and was recently given the award of Patronage by the UK National Commission for UNESCO.

In this year’s three Christmas Lectures, Chris will investigate how food has fundamentally shaped human evolution, uncover the importance of our microbiome – as the extra ‘organ’ we didn’t know we had – and ask how we can all eat better in the future, for the sake of our own health and the health of the planet.

Throughout his Lectures Chris will reveal how what we eat can have a massive effect on both our bodies and our brains. And he’ll bring the science to life, from our tastebuds to the toilet, through the Lectures’ trademark demos, special guest appearances, and a healthy dose of self-experimentation.

Chris says: “I am honoured beyond words to be asked to be the Ri’s 2024 Christmas Lecturer. The food we eat, how it's produced, and the process through which we derive energy from it is not only deeply fascinating scientifically, it’s also fundamental to human and planetary health.

“I’m really looking forward to revealing that fascinating science to our young audience, with the help of special expert guests and the Lectures’ trademark demonstrations developed by the Ri team. Along the way we’ll ask some challenging questions that we all need to consider, about the future of food and the health of our planet.”

Tom Coveney, BBC Commissioning Head of Science, says: “The latest food science is revolutionising our knowledge of what we’re eating and what it’s doing to our bodies. From the wonders of the microbiome, to the truth about what’s really in our shopping baskets, the hidden causes of being ‘hangry’ and much more: Chris’s lectures will be fascinating, surprising and very thought-provoking.”

Welcoming Chris as the 2024 Christmas Lecturer, Director of the Royal Institution, Katherine Mathieson, said: “Our Christmas Lectures are a fantastic opportunity to bring the latest science to life for a young audience, with expert insight from leading scientists and researchers.

“An academic and a practising NHS doctor, Chris has built a real connection with young people through his many popular television programmes, and I am delighted that he will be bringing the science of food, diet and digestion to life in the Ri Theatre this December.”

Established by Michael Faraday in 1825, the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 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 millions of views each year on BBC Four and iPlayer, and around 60,000 students participating in related Ri activities, they continue to be the world’s leading science lectures for young people.

In this year’s lectures, we’ll find out what happens in the body when we eat. How we eat with our eyes (green eggs and ham anyone?) and how smell and even sound can affect the taste of our food.

Chris will take us on a journey to the centre of his gut as he swallows a camera-pill to unpack the digestion process at every saliva-soaked step. He’ll reveal how we transform food into fuel – and into the building blocks of life – and how our digestive systems match up to those of our animal relatives. And he’ll lift the lid on our number twos – revelling in the importance of poo and how it offers clues to our health and well-being.

Chris will uncover how the food we eat, and our need for energy, has shaped almost every aspect of human biology and physiology and, as our diets have evolved, how human bodies have also evolved to reflect those changes; and are still changing now.

He'll interrogate how our relationship with food has radically transformed in recent years. While humans have historically eaten thousands of species of plants, animals and fungi, the vast majority of our calories now come from just a few species. These are industrially processed into products whose effects on our bodies we’re only just beginning to understand. Chris will reveal how he believes we can repair this broken relationship with food - investigating what we should be eating and joining forces with expert chefs and scientists of all kinds to cook up some weird and wonderful sustainable future foods in the Ri Theatre.

The 2024 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are co-produced by the Ri and Windfall Films for BBC Four and iPlayer. They were commissioned by Kate Phillips, Director of Unscripted and Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Tom Coveney. The Series Producer is Peter Gauvain, the Executive Producer for Windfall is David Dugan, and the Executive Producer for the Ri is Daniel Glaser.