The Infinite Monkey Cage
Science and comedy radio show
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
GenreComedy, popular science
Running timeapprox. 30 minutes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
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 | 34 |
| No. of episodes | 214[1] |
| Website | bbc |
| Podcast | bbc |
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 resigned from the show in December 2025, citing his views of support of the transgender community and his criticism of Donald Trump being deemed problematic by the BBC.[9]
Episodes
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.[10]
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.[11] 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 overview
| 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 | |
| 34 | 7 | 20 November 2025 | 25 December 2025 | |
Series 1 (2009)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guest(s) | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Science and Comedians" | Dara Ó Briain & Dr Alice Roberts | 30 November 2009 |
| 2 | 2 | "Extraterrestrial Life" | Jon Ronson & Seth Shostak | 7 December 2009 |
| 3 | 3 | "Quantum Physics" | Ben Miller | 14 December 2009 |
| 4 | 4 | "Science and Religion" | Chris Addison, Victor Stock & Adam Rutherford | 21 December 2009 |
Series 2 (2010)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | "Popular Science" | Ben Miller & Robert Winston | 14 June 2010 |
| 6 | 2 | "Trust me, I'm a Scientist" | Ben Goldacre, Claudia Hammond & Dave Gorman | 21 June 2010 |
| 7 | 3 | "Science Fiction, Science Fact" | Jonathan Ross, Alan Moore & Dr Brian Greene | 28 June 2010 |
| 8 | 4 | "Things Can Only Get Better?" | Colin Blakemore, Mark Steel & Peter Cunnah | 5 July 2010 |
Series 3 (2010)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Apocalypse" | Adam Rutherford, Andy Hamilton & Dr Lucie Green with Matt Parker | 15 November 2010 |
| 10 | 2 | "Modern World" | Paul Foot, Aleks Krotoski & Professor Tony Ryan with Matt Parker | 22 November 2010 |
| 11 | 3 | "Randomness" | Tim Minchin & Alex Bellos with Matt Parker | 29 November 2010 |
| 12 | 4 | "Philosophy" | Alexei Sayle, Julian Baggini & Professor Raymond Tallis with Matt Parker | 6 December 2010 |
Series 4 (2011)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | "What Don't We Know?" | Paul Foot, Marcus Chown & Professor Steve Jones | 30 May 2011 | |
| 14 | 2 | "Six Degrees" | Stephen Fry, Simon Singh, & Aleks Krotoski with Matt Parker | 6 June 2011 | |
| 15 | 3 | "So You Want To Be an Astronaut?" | Chris Riley, Dr Kevin Fong, & Helen Keen | 13 June 2011 | |
| 16 | 4 | "Is Cosmology Really a Science?" | Alan Moore, Dallas Campbell, Professor Ed Copeland & 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 & Professor Tony Ryan | 27 June 2011 | |
| 18 | 6 | "Science vs the Supernatural: Does Science Kill the Magic?" | Andy Nyman, Richard Wiseman & Bruce Hood | 5 July 2011 | |
Series 5 (2011)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1 | "What's the North Ever Done for Us?" | Jon Culshaw, Jeff Forshaw & Matthew Cobb | 21 November 2011 |
| 20 | 2 | "A Balanced Programme on Balance" | Sir Paul Nurse, Katy Brand, Simon Mayo, & Professor Steve Jones | 28 November 2011 |
| 21 | 3 | "The Origins of Life" | Tim Minchin, Dr Nick Lane, & Adam Rutherford | 5 December 2011 |
| 22 | 4 | "The Science of Sound" | Tom Wrigglesworth, Professor Trevor Cox & Professor Chris Plack | 12 December 2011 |
| 23 | 5 | "I'm a Chemist Get Me Out of Here" | Dara Ó Briain, Professor Tony Ryan, & Andrea Sella | 19 December 2011 |
| 24 | 6 | "The Science of Christmas" | Professor Richard Dawkins, Mark Gatiss & Roger Highfield with Helen Arney | 26 December 2011 |
Series 6 (2012)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "Oceans: The Last Great Unexplored Frontier?" | Dave Gorman, Lloyd Peck & Bramley Murton | 18 June 2012 |
| 26 | 2 | "Science Mavericks" | Marcus Brigstocke, Professor Barry Marshall, Kevin Fong, & Aoife McLysaght | 25 June 2012 |
| 27 | 3 | "Does Size Matter?" | Andy Hamilton, Mark Miodownik & Eleanor Stride | 2 July 2012 |
| 28 | 4 | "The Science of Symmetry" | Marcus du Sautoy, Adam Rutherford & Alan Moore | 9 July 2012 |
| 29 | 5 | "Parallel Universes" | Professor Sir Martin Rees, Dr Lucie Green & John Lloyd | 16 July 2012 |
| 30 | 6 | "Science v Art" | Al Murray, Sara Pascoe, Andrew Pontzen & Jon Butterworth. | 23 July 2012 |
Series 7 (2012)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "Space Exploration" | Sir Patrick Stewart, Ben Miller & Monica Grady | 19 November 2012 |
| 32 | 2 | "Improbable Science" | Katy Brand, Matthew Cobb & Marc Abrahams | 26 November 2012 |
| 33 | 3 | "Secret Science" | Simon Singh, Sue Black & Dave Gorman | 3 December 2012 |
| 34 | 4 | "Brain Science" | Jo Brand, Sophie Scott, & Brian Butterworth | 10 December 2012 |
| 35 | 5 | "Creating Life" | Ed Byrne, Adam Rutherford, & 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 |
Series 8 (2013)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "What is Death?" | Katy Brand, Dr Nick Lane, & Sue Black | 24 June 2013 |
| 38 | 2 | "Glastonbury" | Marcus Brigstocke, KT Tunstall, Fay Dowker, & 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, & Evan Davis | 15 July 2013 |
| 41 | 5 | "Alfred Russel Wallace" | Steve Jones, Aoife McLysaght, & Tony Law | 22 July 2013 |
| 42 | 6 | "Science Museum" | Neil deGrasse Tyson, Josie Long, Ian Blatchford, Richard Holmes & Doc Brown | 29 July 2013 |
Series 9 (2013-14)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | 1 | "Risk" | Graeme Garden, David Spiegelhalter, & Sue Ion | 18 November 2013 | |
|
Producer: Rami Tzabar. | |||||
| 44 | 2 | "Through the Doors of Perception" | Claudia Hammond, Beau Lotto, & Alan Moore | 25 November 2013 | |
| 45 | 3 | "Science Rocks!" | Hermione Cockburn, Ross Noble, & Eric Idle | 2 December 2013 | |
| 46 | 4 | "To Infinity and Beyond" | John Lloyd, Colva Roney-Dougal, & Simon Singh | 9 December 2013 | |
|
Producer: Rami Tzabar. | |||||
| 47 | 5 | "Should We Pander to Pandas?" | Sandy Knapp, Simon Watt, & Sara Pascoe | 16 December 2013 | |
| 48 | 6 | "Science and Spin" | Matthew Cobb, Sheena Cruikshank, Helen Keen, & James Burke | 23 December 2013 | |
| 49 | 7 | "Brian & Robin's Infinite Inbox" | None | 9 March 2014 | |
Series 10 (2014)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 1 | "Numbers Numbers Everywhere" | Dave Gorman, Dr Vicky Neale, & Alex Bellos | 7 July 2014 |
| 51 | 2 | "Are Humans Uniquely Unique?" | Keith Jensen, Katie Slocombe, & Ross Noble | 14 July 2014 |
| 52 | 3 | "Does Science Need War?" | Katy Brand, Philip Ball, & Kevin Fong | 21 July 2014 |
| 53 | 4 | "Can Science Save Us?" | Stephen Fry, Dr. Lucie Green, Prof. Tony Ryan & Eric Idle | 28 July 2014 |
| 54 | 5 | "Before the Big Bang" | Carlos Frenk, Fay Dowker, Ben Miller & Richard Vranch | 4 August 2014 |
| 55 | 6 | "Irrationality" | Josie Long, Paul Foot, Richard Wiseman & Stuart Ritchie | 11 August 2014 |
| 56 | 7 | "2014 Christmas Special" | Rev. Richard Coles, Chris Hadfield, Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Brian Blessed | 25 December 2014 |
Series 11 (2015)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 1 | "Deception" | Richard Wiseman, Sophie Scott, & David Aaronovitch | 19 January 2015 |
| 58 | 2 | "Fierce Creatures" | Steve Backshall, Lucy Cooke, & Andy Hamilton | 26 January 2015 |
| 59 | 3 | "Solar System" | Monica Grady, Jo Brand, & Carolyn Porco | 2 February 2015 |
| 60 | 4 | "When Quantum Goes Woo" | Ben Goldacre, Jeff Forshaw, & Sara Pascoe | 9 February 2015 |
| 61 | 5 | "What's The Point of Plants" | Jane Langdale, Jim Al-Khalili, & Ed Byrne | 16 February 2015 |
| 62 | 6 | "Serendipity" | Lee Mack, Simon Singh, & Andrea Sella | 23 February 2015 |
Series 12 (2015)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 1 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: New York" | Bill Nye, Janna Levin, Tim Daly, & Lisa Lampanelli | 6 July 2015 |
| 64 | 2 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: Los Angeles" | Sean Carroll, Joe Rogan, David X. Cohen, & Eric Idle | 13 July 2015 |
| 65 | 3 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: Chicago" | Peter Sagal, Julia Sweeney, Paul Sereno, & Jerry Coyne | 20 July 2015 |
| 66 | 4 | "The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: San Francisco" | Dr Seth Shostak, Dr Carolyn Porco, Greg Proops, & Paul Provenza | 27 July 2015 |
| 67 | 5 | "Speed" | Alexei Sayle, Andy Green & Professor Danielle George | 3 August 2015 |
| 68 | 6 | "Forensic Science" | Professor Sue Black, Dr Mark Spencer & Rufus Hound | 10 August 2015 |
| 69 | 7 | "2015 Christmas Special" | Ross Noble, Paul Franklin, Simon Guerrier & Victor Stock | 25 December 2015 |
Year-end specials
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, two special episodes were added in December 2015:
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special | 1 | "Episode 1: An Infinite Monkey's Guide to General Relativity" | Ben Miller, Dara Ó Briain, Richard Vranch, & 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, & Carlos Frenk | 15 December 2015 |
Series 13 (2016)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 1 | "Artificial Intelligence" | Jo Brand, Anil Seth, & Alan Winfield | 11 January 2016 | |
| 71 | 2 | "What is Race?" | Shappi Khorsandi, Adam Rutherford, & Mark Thomas | 18 January 2016 | |
| 72 | 3 | "Invisible Universe" | Jon Culshaw, Sarah Bridle, & Tim O'Brien | 25 January 2016 | |
| 73 | 4 | "What is Reality?" | David Eagleman, Sophie Scott, & Bridget Christie | 1 February 2016 | |
| 74 | 5 | "Maths of Love and Sex" | Paul Foot, Hannah Fry, & 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. | |||||
Series 14 (2016)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | 1 | "The Sound of Music" | Matt Kirshen, KT Tunstall, Nitin Sawhney, Lucy Cooke, & Trevor Cox | 4 July 2016 |
| 78 | 2 | "The Recipe to Build a Universe" | Rufus Hound, Andrea Sella & Lucie Green | 11 July 2016 |
| 79 | 3 | "Science of Sleep" | Russell Foster, Richard Wiseman & Katy Brand | 18 July 2016 |
| 80 | 4 | "Battle of the Sexes" | Sophie Scott, Steve Jones & Sara Pascoe | 25 July 2016 |
| 81 | 5 | "200 Years of Frankenstein" | Noel Fielding, Nick Lane & Sir Christopher Frayling | 1 August 2016 |
| 82 | 6 | "The Universe: What Remains to Be Discovered?" | Ben Miller, Charlotte Church, Paul Abel & Tim O'Brien | 8 August 2016 |
| 83 | 7 | "2016 Christmas Special" | Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mark Gatiss, Deborah Hyde & Nick Baines | 27 December 2016 |
Series 15 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84 | 1 | "The Science of Everyday Life" | Russell Kane, Helen Czerski & Danielle George | 16 January 2017 |
| 85 | 2 | "How to Beat the House and Win at Games" | Hannah Fry, Alex Bellos, Richard Wiseman & Helen Zaltzman | 23 January 2017 |
| 86 | 3 | "Science's Epic Fails" | Rufus Hound, Professor Alice Roberts & Dr Adam Rutherford | 30 January 2017 |
| 87 | 4 | "Oceans: What Remains to Be Discovered?" | Andy Hamilton, Professor Jon Copley & Helen Scales | 6 February 2017 |
| 88 | 5 | "The Human Story: How We Got Here and Why We Survived" | Ross Noble, Professor Danielle Schreve & Chris Stringer | 13 February 2017 |
| 89 | 6 | "Making the Invisible Visible" | Katy Brand, Carlos Frenk & Matthew Cobb | 20 February 2017 |
Series 16 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | 1 | "What Particles Remain to be Discovered?" | Eric Idle, Jon Butterworth & Catherine Heymans | 3 July 2017 |
| 91 | 2 | "Astronaut Special" | Sandra Magnus, Terry Virts, Claude Nicollier & Charlie Duke | 10 July 2017 |
| 92 | 3 | "Oxygen: A Matter of Life or Death" | Sara Pascoe, Andrea Sella & Dr Gabrielle Walker | 17 July 2017 |
| 93 | 4 | "Will Insects Inherit the Earth?" | Dave Gorman, Tim Cockerill & Amoret Whitaker | 24 July 2017 |
| 94 | 5 | "Are We Living in a Simulation?" | Phill Jupitus, Nick Bostrom & Anil Seth | 31 July 2017 |
| 95 | 6 | "The Mind v the Brain?" | Katy Brand, Uta Frith & Sophie Scott | 7 August 2017 |
| 96 | 7 | "2017 Christmas Special: The Science of Magic" | Andy Nyman, Diane Morgan, Richard Wiseman & Francesca Stavrakopoulou | 25 December 2017 |
Series 17 (2018)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | 1 | "When Two Stars Collide" | Dara Ó Briain, Sheila Brown & Nils Andersson | 8 January 2018 |
| 98 | 2 | "The Secret Life of Birds" | Katy Brand, Steve Backshall, Professor Tim Birkhead & special guest Brann the Raven | 15 January 2018 |
| 99 | 3 | "Antibiotics" | Chris Addison, Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies & Martha Clokie | 22 January 2018 |
| 100 | 4 | "Teenage Brain" | Rory Bremner, Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore & Professor Matthew Cobb | 29 January 2018 |
| 101 | 5 | "How Animals Behave" | Rufus Hound, Lucy Cooke & Professor Rory Wilson | 5 February 2018 |
| 102 | 6 | "Volcanoes" | Jo Brand, Tamsin Mather & Clive Oppenheimer | 12 February 2018 |
Series 18 (2018)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 & Andrea Sella | 11 July 2018 |
| 104 | 1 | "Big Data" | Danny Wallace, Hannah Fry & Timandra Harkness | 16 July 2018 |
| 105 | 2 | "Invasion!" | Phill Jupitus, Kate Jones & Mark Spencer | 23 July 2018 |
| 106 | 3 | "Immune System" | Shappi Khorsandi, Professor Dan Davis & Professor Steve Jones | 30 July 2018 |
| 107 | 4 | "The Human Voice" | Beardyman, Professor Trevor Cox & Professor Sophie Scott | 6 August 2018 |
| 108 | 5 | "GCHQ" | Katy Brand | 13 August 2018 |
Series 19 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109 | 1 | "Microbes: Secret Rulers of the World?" | Jon Copley, Monica Grady & Ed Byrne | 7 January 2019 |
| 110 | 2 | "The Future of Humanity" | Chris Addison, Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees & Baroness Cathy Ashton | 14 January 2019 |
| 111 | 3 | "The Origin of Numbers" | Matt Parker, Dr Hannah Fry & Professor Brian Butterworth | 21 January 2019 |
| 112 | 4 | "Are Humans Still Evolving?" | David Baddiel, Professor Aoife McLysaght & Dr Adam Rutherford | 28 January 2019 |
| 113 | 5 | "How to Build a Bionic Human" | Dr Kevin Fong, Noel Fitzpatrick & Lucy Beaumont | 4 February 2019 |
| 114 | 6 | "How to Measure the Universe" | Jo Brand, Professor Jo Dunkley & Dr Adam Masters | 11 February 2019 |
Moon landing anniversary special (2019)
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, a special episode was added in July 2019:
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special | 1 | "The Infinite Moonkey Cage" | Rusty Schweickart, Gerry Griffin, Andy Aldrin, and Jan Aldrin | 19 July 2019 |
Series 20 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | 1 | "Dinosaurs" | Susannah Maidment, Steve Brusatte & Rufus Hound | 16 September 2019 |
| 116 | 2 | "Clever Creatures" | Tim Birkhead, Helen Scales & Danny Wallace | 23 September 2019 |
| 117 | 3 | "Science of Dreaming" | Professor Penny Lewis, Professor Richard Wiseman & Bridget Christie | 30 September 2019 |
| 118 | 4 | "Anniversary of the Periodic Table" | Professor Polly Arnold, Professor Andrea Sella & Katy Brand | 7 October 2019 |
| 119 | 5 | "Brits in Space" | Tim Peake, Helen Sharman & Mark Steel | 14 October 2019 |
Series Twenty-one
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 1 | "The Science of Laughter" | Professor Sophie Scott, Professor Richard Wiseman & Frank Skinner | 13 January 2020 |
| 121 | 2 | "Conspiracy Theories" | Professor Karen Douglas, Dr David Robert Grimes & Shazia Mirza | 20 January 2020 |
| 122 | 3 | "Coral Reefs" | Dr Heather Koldewey, Professor Callum Roberts & Marcus Brigstocke | 27 January 2020 |
| 123 | 4 | "Fire" | Niamh Nic Daéid, Adam Rutherford & Ed Byrne | 3 February 2020 |
| 124 | 5 | "Quantum Worlds" | Jim Al-Khalili, Sean Carroll & Katy Brand | 10 February 2020 |
| 125 | 6 | "UFO Special" | Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Dallas Campbell, Professor Tim O'Brien & Lucy Beaumont | 17 February 2020 |
Series Twenty-two
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 126 | 1 | "The End of the Universe" | Brian Greene, Katie Mack, Eric Idle & Steve Martin | 25 May 2020 |
| 127 | 2 | "Black Holes" | Sean Carroll, Janna Levin & Matt Lucas | 1 June 2020 |
| 128 | 3 | "Space Archaeology" | Alice Roberts, Sarah Parcak & Sara Pascoe | 8 June 2020 |
| 129 | 4 | "An Astronaut's Guide To Isolation" | Chris Hadfield, Rusty Schweickart, Helen Sharman & Nicole Stott | 15 June 2020 |
| 130 | 5 | "The Sun" | Lucie Green, Steve Jones & Tim Minchin | 22 June 2020 |
| 131 | 6 | "When the Monkeys met the Chimps" | Dr Jane Goodall, Dr Cat Hobaiter & Bill Bailey | 29 June 2020 |
| 132 | 7 | "Does Time Exist?" | Fay Dowker, Carlo Rovelli & Mark Gatiss | 6 July 2020 |
| 133 | 8 | "The Human Brain" | David Eagleman, Gina Rippon & Conan O'Brien | 14 July 2020 |
| 134 | 9 | "What is Life?" | Prof Aoife McLysaght, Sir Paul Nurse, Jo Brand & Ross Noble | 20 July 2020 |
Series Twenty-three
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 135 | 1 | "In Praise of Flies" | Matthew Cobb, Erica McAlister & David Baddiel | 11 January 2021 |
| 136 | 2 | "Under our Night Sky" | Tim Peake, Jon Culshaw, Lisa Harvey-Smith & Stuart Clark | 18 January 2021 |
| 137 | 3 | "Neanderthals" | Alan Davies, Rebecca Wragg Sykes & Tori Herridge | 25 January 2021 |
| 138 | 4 | "The Science of Cooking" | Katy Brand, Grace Dent, Harold McGee & Mark Miodownik | 1 February 2021 |
| 139 | 5 | "The Fundamentals of Reality" | Janna Levin, Frank Wilczek, Eric Idle & Sara Pascoe | 8 February 2021 |
| 140 | 6 | "A History of Rock" | Chris Jackson, Susie Maidment & Ross Noble | 15 February 2021 |
Series Twenty-four
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 141 | 1 | "Bats v Flies" | Kate Jones, Erica McAlister & Dave Gorman | 25 June 2022 |
| 142 | 2 | "Exploring the Deep" | Diva Amon, Jon Copley & Tim Minchin | 2 July 2022 |
| 143 | 3 | "The Wood Wide Web" | Suzanne Simard, Mark Spencer & Brendan Hunt | 9 July 2022 |
| 144 | 4 | "Black Holes" | Netta Engelhardt, Janna Levin & Eric Idle | 16 July 2022 |
| 145 | 5 | "Astronauts" | Chris Hadfield, Carolyn Porco, Nicole Stott & Katy Brand | 23 July 2022 |
| 146 | 6 | "Brains" | Uta Frith, Sophie Scott & Alan Davies | 30 July 2022 |
| 147 | 7 | "How to Teach Maths" | Hannah Fry, Matt Parker, David Spiegelhalter & Sara Pascoe | 6 August 2022 |
Series Twenty-five
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 148 | 1 | "What have we learnt from Covid?[12]" | Dame Sarah Gilbert, Professor Dan Davis & Dr Chris Van Tulleken | 12 November 2022 |
| 149 | 2 | "Exploring our solar system[13]" | Conan O'Brien, Dr Katie Stack Morgan & Dr Kevin Hand | 19 November 2022 |
| 150 | 3 | "Hunting for Exoplanets[14]" | Eric Idle, Jessie Christiansen, Tiffany Kataria & Sean Carroll | 26 November 2022 |
| 151 | 4 | "Can we cure aging?[15]" | Sarah Kendall, Dame Linda Partridge & Dr Andrew Steele | 3 December 2022 |
| 152 | 5 | "The Age of Conspiracy[16]" | David Baddiel, Professor Karen Douglas, Professor Matthew Cobb & Dr Timotheus Vermeulen | 10 December 2022 |
| 153 | 6 | "The Deep Space Network[17]" | Mark Cheung, Alan Duffy, Brian Schmidt & Alice Fraser | 17 December 2022 |
| 154 | 7 | "Why does wine taste good?[18]" | Tim Minchin, Brian Schmidt, Mango Parker and Patricia Williamson | 24 December 2022 |
Series Twenty-six
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 155 | 1 | "Southern Skies[19]" | Kirsten Banks, Devika Kamath & Ross Noble | 18 February 2023 |
| 156 | 2 | "Australia's Scary Spiders[20]" | Dieter Hochuli, Mariella Herberstein & Claire Hooper | 25 February 2023 |
| 157 | 3 | "How to think like a mathematician[21]" | Jo Brand, Professor Hannah Fry, Dr Eugenia Cheng & Randall Munroe | 4 March 2023 |
| 158 | 4 | "How to commit the perfect murder[22]" | Susan Calman, Professor Sue Black & Dr Julia Shaw | 11 March 2023 |
| 159 | 5 | "How Far Can the Human Body Go?[23]" | Polly McGuigan, Ben Garrod, Russell Kane & Sally Gunnell | 18 March 2023 |
| 160 | 6 | "Magic Materials[24]" | Mark Miodownik, Anna Ploszajski & Ed Byrne | 25 March 2023 |
Series Twenty-seven
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161 | 1 | "Are we what we eat?[25]" | Dr Chris van Tulleken, Professor Janet Cade & Harry Hill | 24 June 2023 |
| 162 | 2 | "Supervolcanoes[26]" | Tamsin Mather, Chris Jackson & Rachel Parris | 3 July 2023 |
| 163 | 3 | "Bees v Wasps[27]" | Dave Goulson, Seirian Sumner & Catherine Bohart | 8 July 2023 |
| 164 | 4 | "The Magic of Mushrooms [28]" | Phil Wang, Merlin Sheldrake & Katie Field | 15 July 2023 |
| 165 | 5 | "The Secret Life of Sharks[29]" | Lucy Hawkes, Isla Hodgson & Steve Backshall | 22 July 2023 |
| 166 | 6 | "Ancient DNA Secrets[30]" | Ben Willbond, Turi King, Tom Booth & Sir Paul Nurse | 29 July 2023 |
| 167 | 7 | "Cosmic Dust[31]" | Matthew Genge, Penny Wozniakiewicz & Alan Davies | 5 August 2023 |
Series Twenty-eight
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 168 | 1 | "Octopuses![32]" | Dr Tim Lamont, Amy Courtney & Russell Kane | 11 November 2023 |
| 169 | 2 | "The Science of Coincidence[33]" | Sophie Duker, Marcus Du Sautoy & David Spiegelhalter | 18 November 2023 |
| 170 | 3 | "How I is AI?[34]" | Rufus Hound, Hannah Fry & Kate Devlin | 25 November 2023 |
| 171 | 4 | "The Scale of Life (or were dinosaurs just too big?)[35]" | Dave Gorman, Susie Maidment & Tori Herridge | 2 December 2023 |
| 172 | 5 | "Hollywood in Space[36]" | Paul Franklin, Tim Peake, Nicole Stott & Susan Kilrain | 9 December 2023 |
| 173 | 6 | "Jo Brand's Quantum World[37]" | Jo Brand, Professor Ben Allanach & Professor Fay Dowker | 16 December 2023 |
| 174 | 7 | "The Monkeys meet The Sky at Night[38]" | Dara Ó Briain, Dr Maggie Aderin Pocock, Chris Lintott & Pete Lawrence | 23 December 2023 |
Series Twenty-nine
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 175 | 1 | "Egyptian Mummies[39]" | Russell Kane, Lucy Porter, Rosalie David & Lidija McKnight | 17 February 2024 |
| 176 | 2 | "Could it be magic?[40]" | Alan Davies, Richard Wiseman, Laura London and Gustav Kuhn | 24 February 2024 |
| 177 | 3 | "Asteroids[41]" | John Bishop, Sara Russell & Alan Fitzsimmons | 2 March 2024 |
| 178 | 4 | "Poison[42]" | Hugh Dennis, Andrea Sella & Kathryn Harkup | 9 March 2024 |
| 179 | 5 | "Cats v Dogs[43]" | Deborah Meaden, David Baddiel, Ben Garrod & Jess French | 16 March 2024 |
| 180 | 6 | "Higgs Boson[44]" | Katy Brand, Ben Miller, Tevong You and Clara Nellist | 23 March 2024 |
Series Thirty
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 181 | 1 | "The Wonder of Trees[45]" | Judi Dench, Tony Kirkham & Tristan Gooley | 11 July 2024 |
| 182 | 2 | "Science of Board Games[46]" | Jess Fostekew, Marcus du Sautoy & Dave Neale | 18 July 2024 |
| 183 | 3 | "'Beastly Bodies' Kids Special[47]" | Steve Backshall, Jess French & Adam Kay | 25 July 2024 |
| 184 | 4 | "Extreme Exploration[48]" | Anneka Rice, Mike Massimino, Britney Schmidt & Jess Phoenix | 1 August 2024 |
| 185 | 5 | "What a Gas![49]" | Dave Gorman, Mark Miodownik & Lucy Carpenter | 8 August 2024 |
| 186 | 6 | "An Unexpected History of Science[50]" | Rufus Hound, Matthew Cobb, Victoria Herridge & Keith Moore | 15 August 2024 |
| 187 | 7 | "Alien Life[51]" | Russell Kane, Lisa Kaltenegger & Chris Lintott | 22 August 2024 |
Series Thirty One
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 188 | 1 | "The Cyber Codebreakers" | Alan Davies, Victoria Baines and Richard Benham | 13 November 2024 |
| 189 | 2 | "Hedgehogs" | Hugh Warwick, Sophie Lund Rasmussen & Pam Ayres | 20 November 2024 |
| 190 | 3 | "Starless World" | John Bishop, Maggie Aderin-Pocock & Roberto Trotta | 27 November 2024 |
| 191 | 4 | "Science of Baby Making" | Professor Joyce Harper, Ben Steventon & Sara Pascoe | 4 December 2024 |
| 192 | 5 | "Fantastic Elastic" | Bryony Page, Jessica Fostekew, Anna Ploszajski & James Busfield | 11 December 2024 |
| 193 | 6 | "Is Extinction the End?" | Adam Rutherford, Susannah Maidment & Ria Lina | 18 December 2024 |
| 194 | 7 | "An Unexpected History of the Body" | Sir Mark Walport, Professor Helen King, Ed Byrne & Keith Moore | 25 December 2024 |
Series Thirty Two
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 195 | 1 | "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" | Phil Wang, Ana Ferreira & Chris Jackson | 19 February 2025 |
| 196 | 2 | "How selfish are we really?" | Jo Brand, Patti Wilks & Steve Jones | 26 February 2025 |
| 197 | 3 | "Adventures on Ice" | Darren Harriott, Liz Morris, Christoph Salzmann & Felicity Aston | 5 March 2025 |
| 198 | 4 | "Saturn v Jupiter" | Katherine Parkinson, Paul Abel & Michele Dougherty | 12 March 2025 |
| 199 | 5 | "The Sound of Music" | Brian Eno, Sam Bennett & Trevor Cox | 19 March 2025 |
| 200 | 6 | "Nature's Shapes" | Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart & Thomas Woolley | 26 March 2025 |
Series Thirty Three
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | 1 | "201st Birthday Bonanza" | Mel Giedroyc, Deborah Meaden & Nish Kumar | 10 July 2025 |
| 202 | 2 | "Should We Settle in Space?" | Tim Peake, Kelly Weinersmith & Alan Davies | 17 July 2025 |
| 203 | 3 | "How to Build the Perfect Athlete" | Helen Glover, Hugh Dennis, Steve Haake & Emma Ross | 24 July 2025 |
| 204 | 4 | "The Mighty Spud" | Sandy Knapp, Glenn Bryan & Susan Calman | 31 July 2025 |
| 205 | 5 | "Technofossils" | Sarah Gabbott, Mark Miodownik & 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 & Bridget Christie | 21 August 2025 |
Series Thirty Four
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Guests | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 208 | 1 | "Mind-reading Computers" | Phil Wang, Anne Vanhoestenberghe & Luke Bashford | 13 November 2025 |
| 209 | 2 | "What's The Time" | Marcus Brigstocke, Leon Lobo & Louise Devoy | 20 November 2025 |
| 210 | 3 | "What’s the deal with eels?" | Lucy Porter, David Righton & Caroline Durif | 27 November 2025 |
| 211 | 4 | "Fusion" | Ria Lina, Yasmin Andrew & Howard Wilson | 4 December 2025 |
| 212 | 5 | "Head in the Clouds" | Owain Wyn Evans, Gavin Pretor-Pinney & Amanda Maycock | 11 December 2025 |
| 213 | 6 | "Monkey Business" | Robin Dunbar, Dave Gorman & Jo Setchell | 18 December 2025 |
| 214 | 7 | "The North Pole Unwrapped (Christmas Special)" | Russell Kane, Felicity Aston & Lloyd Peck | 25 December 2025 |
Humour
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.[52]
Theme song
The programme's theme song was written by Eric Idle and recorded by Idle and Jeff Lynne.[53] 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".
Live show
Ince and Cox headed an Uncaged Monkeys live tour in 2011, and toured the United States in 2015.[54]
Book
In April 2018 a book titled Infinite Monkey Cage – How to Build a Universe was released. Its audiobook was read by Cox and Ince.
