The Infinite Monkey Cage
| Genre | Comedy |
|---|---|
| Running time | approx. 30 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring | Brian Cox Robin Ince |
| Produced by | Alexandra Feachem |
| Executive producer(s) | Deborah Cohen |
| Recording studio | Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, London |
| Original release | 30 November 2009 |
| No. of series | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 62[1] |
| Website | The Infinite Monkey Cage website |
| Podcast | xml feed |
Robin Ince and Brian Cox, the hosts of the programme
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] The show's eighth series was broadcast in June and July 2013 and the podcast, published immediately after the initial radio broadcast, features extended versions of most episodes starting with 1 July 2013 Glastonbury Special episode in Series 8.[5] The programme won a Gold Award in the Best Speech Programme category at the 2011 Sony Radio Awards.[6][7]
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 often 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.
List of episodes
The following is an episode list of the BBC radio series The Infinite Monkey Cage. As of February 2015, there have been 60 episodes spanning 11 series plus 2 specials, one responding to viewers questions and a 2014 Christmas Special. All episodes are available to stream via the series website and as podcast downloads.[8]
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" to the usual exasperated "who thinks that'll make the edit?" from either Cox or Ince, notably added to by Brian Blessed and Keith Jensen.
Series One
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Evidence vs. Uninformed Opinions" | Dara Ó Briain and Dr Alice Roberts | 30 November 2009 |
| 2 | 2 | "Conspiracy Theories and Extraterrestrial Visitors" | Jon Ronson and Seth Shostak | 7 December 2009 |
| 3 | 3 | "Quantum Physics & Astrology" | Ben Miller | 14 December 2009 |
| 4 | 4 | "Science and Religion" | Chris Addison, Victor Stock and Adam Rutherford | 21 December 2009 |
Series Two
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | "Cheltenham Science Festival" | Ben Miller and Robert Winston | 14 June 2010 |
| 6 | 2 | "Trust Me I'm a Scientist" | Ben Goldacre and Dave Gorman | 21 June 2010 |
| 7 | 3 | "Science Fact and Science Fiction" | Jonathan Ross, Alan Moore and Dr Brian Greene | 28 June 2010 |
| 8 | 4 | "Things Can Only Get Better" | Colin Blakemore and Mark Steel | 5 July 2010 |
Series Three
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Apocalypse" | Adam Rutherford, Andy Hamilton and Dr Lucie Green | 15 November 2010 |
| 10 | 2 | "Modern World" | Paul Foot, Aleks Krotoski and Professor Tony Ryan | 22 November 2010 |
| 11 | 3 | "Randomness, Probability and Chance" | Tim Minchin, Alex Bellos, Matt Parker | 29 November 2010 |
| 12 | 4 | "Is Philosophy Dead?" | Alexei Sayle, Julian Baggini and Professor Raymond Tallis | 6 December 2010 |
Series Four
| 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 of Separation?" | Stephen Fry, Simon Singh, and Aleks Krotoski | 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 and Professor Ed Copeland | 20 June 2011 |
| 17 | 5 | "Glastonbury Special" | Billy Bragg, Graham Coxon, Shappi Khorsandi and Professor Tony Ryan | 27 June 2011 |
| 18 | 6 | "Science and the supernatural" | Andy Nyman, Richard Wiseman and Bruce Hood | 5 July 2011 |
Series Five
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1 | "What's the North Ever Done for Us? (Manchester Science Festival)" | Jon Culshaw, Jeff Forshaw and Matthew Cobb | 28 November 2011 |
| 20 | 2 | "A Balanced Programme on Balance" | Sir Paul Nurse, Katy Brand, Simon Mayo, and Professor Steve Jones | 5 December 2011 |
| 21 | 3 | "The Origins of Life" | Tim Minchin, Dr Nick Lane, and Adam Rutherford | 12 December 2011 |
| 22 | 4 | "The Science of Sound" | Tom Wrigglesworth, Professor Trevor Cox and Professor Chris Plack | 19 December 2011 |
| 23 | 5 | "I'm a Chemist Get Me Out of Here" | Dara Ó Briain, Professor Tony Ryan, and Andrea Sella | 26 December 2011 |
| 24 | 6 | "The Science of Christmas" | Professor Richard Dawkins, Mark Gatiss and Roger Highfield | 1 January 2012 |
Series Six
| 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 | "Art v Science (Latitude Festival)" | Al Murray, Sara Pascoe, Andrew Pontzen and Jon Butterworth. | 23 July 2012 |
Series Seven
| 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" | Mark Gatiss, Professor Steve Jones, Richard Wiseman, Victor Stock, and Jonny & The Baptists | 24 December 2012 |
Series Eight
| 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 | "Scientific Wonder" | Neil deGrasse Tyson, Josie Long, Ian Blatchford, Richard Holmes and Doc Brown | 29 July 2013 |
Series Nine
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | 1 | "Risk" | Graeme Garden, David Spiegelhalter, and Sue Ion | 18 November 2013 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Series Ten
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | 1 | "Numbers Numbers Everywhere" | Dave Gorman, Dr Vicky Neale, and Alex Bellos | 7 July 2014 |
| 50 | 2 | "Are Humans Uniquely Unique?" | Keith Jensen, Katie Slocombe, and Ross Noble | 14 July 2014 |
| 51 | 3 | "Does Science Need War?" | Katy Brand, Philip Ball, and Kevin Fong | 21 July 2014 |
| 52 | 4 | "Can Science Save Us?" | Stephen Fry, Dr. Lucie Green, Prof. Tony Ryan and Eric Idle | 28 July 2014 |
| 53 | 5 | "Before the Big Bang" | Carlos Frenk, Fay Dowker, Ben Miller and Richard Vranch | 4 August 2014 |
| 54 | 6 | "Irrationality" | Josie Long, Paul Foot, Richard Wiseman and Stuart Ritchie | 11 August 2014 |
Series Eleven
| Total | No. | Title | Guest(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 1 | "Deception" | Richard Wiseman, Sophie Scott, and David Aaronovitch | 19 January 2015 |
| 56 | 2 | "Fierce Creatures" | Steve Backshall, Lucy Cooke, and Andy Hamilton | 26 January 2015 |
| 57 | 3 | "Solar System" | Monica Grady, Jo Brand, and Carolyn Porco | 2 February 2015 |
| 58 | 4 | "When Quantum Goes Woo" | Ben Goldacre, Jeff Forshaw, and Sara Pascoe | 9 February 2015 |
| 59 | 5 | "What's The Point of Plants" | Jane Langdale, Jim Al-Khalili, and Ed Byrne | 16 February 2015 |
| 60 | 6 | "Serendipity" | Lee Mack, Simon Singh, and Andrea Sella | 23 February 2015 |
References
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage - Series". BBC. 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Ince, Robin (27 August 2010). "A cat in a wheelie bin can help us ponder how the universe works". The Telegraph.
- ^ Maume, Chris (21 November 2010). "The Infinite Monkey Cage, Radio 4, Monday; Take one boffin. Mix with comedy writers, and hear them gently fizz". The Independent.
- ^ "Radio GaGa: Infinite Monkey Cage, Moyles & Bacon!". Tim Minchin. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage". BBC. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Frank Skinner and Jason Byrne win at Sony Awards 2011". The British Comedy Guide. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ "TV scientist scoops top radio award". Express & Star. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage - Episodes". BBC. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
External links
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