Professor Alice Roberts and Professor Aoife McLysaght take viewers on an immersive voyage through our evolutionary past, and ask challenging questions about what our future holds. Starring animal guests, daring parkour athletes, 4D scanning, giant origami and a ukulele, they explore what makes us who we are.
Professor Alice Roberts takes us on a journey to answer this most fundamental question: Who Am I? With 4D scanning, animal guests, giant origami, and a ukulele, the Christmas Lectures will explore evolution like never before. Joined by armadillos, sharks, fruit flies, and glowing bacteria, Alice reveals the surprising similarities that we share with other species, and finds our true place in the tree of life. Together with geneticist Prof Aoife McLysaght, they delve deep into our cells to discover how our genes connect us to every life form on the planet, no matter how weird and wonderful.
Professor Alice Roberts explores the story of human evolution, revealing how a humble African ape became a successful global species. Joined by daring parkour athletes, life-size primate animatronics, and an audience member transformed into an extinct Neanderthal, Alice will explore the greatest leaps in our evolution by conjuring fire, and re-enacting how we spread across the globe. Together with geneticist Prof Aoife McLysaght, they discover that we share an astonishing 99% of our DNA with chimps – and they look under the skin to find the 1% differences.
Are you genetically destined to despise Brussels sprouts? We’re all human, but why are we all so different? With the help of a line-up of dogs and many sets of twins, Prof Alice Roberts explores what makes each of us totally unique. Alice will be joined by geneticist Prof Aoife McLysaght to find out how much of this difference is down to our genes, or our environment, revealing why we see colours differently, and why some people can taste chemicals others can’t! They will challenge just how far you can predict a person from their genome, and will discuss the big ethical questions of our generation, asking where should we draw the line with genetic testing and engineering. The series culminates with a musical grand finale from the Greatest Showman, to celebrate our incredible diversity across the globe
| Series Producer | Laura Voak |
| Executive Producer | David Dugan |
| Director | David Coleman |
| Assistant Producer | Rosalind Hill |
| Researchers | Marissa Chazan |
| Production Manager | Felicity Chapple |
| Production Coordinator | James Watts |