(Image credit: BBC)

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock will mark the 200th anniversary of the *Royal Institution Christmas Lectures *with a genuinely ambitious, thought-provoking and daring trio of talks on space – specifically, the potential for extraterrestrial life.

You can watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2025* online from anywhere with a VPN* and potentially for free.**

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It’s a divisive topic even within scientific circles, one that pits probability, theory and imagination against cold, hard evidence. On the one hand, how could anyone possibly entertain the notion that our planet is the one place in the infinity expanse of the universe with the properties to sustain life. On the other, when’s the last time you saw an alien?

Using images captured by the James Webb Telescope – not just the most powerful space telescope ever created, but one that Aderin-Pocock herself helped to develop – the William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize-winning honorary research associate at UCL and Sky at Night presenter will set out in search of fellow ‘Goldilocks Planets’ beyond the Milky Way.

Aderin-Pocock will also tip her hat at her predecessors, including Warren De La Rue, Carl Sagan and Kevin Fong, by dipping into the *Royal Institution Christmas Lectures *archives to unpack the manifold ways in which fresh scientific breakthroughs have altered our understanding of space.

Expect to feel old, as you’re reacquainted with original props from yesteryear, and perhaps even a historical demonstration or two.

Read on as we explain how to watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures from anywhere.

Can I watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2025 for free?

Yes. Viewers in the UK can watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2025* ***FREE of charge **on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. Everyone else can tune in for free via the Royal Institution YouTube channel.

Outside the UK this festive season? Use NordVPN to unlock your free streams.

How to watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2025 from anywhere

If you’re keen to watch the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures but you’re away from home and access to the show is geo-blocked, you can always use a VPN to access it (assuming you’re not breaching any broadcaster T&Cs, of course). You may be surprised by how simple it is to do.

Use one of the best VPNs to watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2025 from anywhere:

How to watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2025 in the UK

In the UK, the 2025 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are being shown for FREE on BBC Four.

Lecture 1, Destination Moon, premieres on TV at 7pm GMT on Sunday, December 28; Lecture 2, Searching the Solar System, premieres on TV at 7pm on Monday, December 29; Lecture 3, To the Stars and Beyond, premieres on TV at 7pm on Tuesday, December 30.

However, the entirety of Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock’s Is there life beyond Earth? series will be available to stream on the BBC iPlayer streaming service on Sunday, December 28.

All you need is an account, a TV license and a UK postcode (e.g.HA9 0WS). Sign up here.

Outside the UK?*** ***Use a VPN to gain access to all the content you’d normally stream at home.

How to watch Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2025 in the US, Canada and Australia

All three Royal Institution Christmas Lectures with Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock will be available to watch for free on the Royal Institution YouTube channel from Sunday, December 28.

Away from home?*** ***Use a VPN to gain access to all the content you’d normally be able to stream.

Disclaimer

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

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Aatif is a freelance copywriter and journalist based in the UK. He’s written about technology, science and politics for publications including Gizmodo, The Independent, Trusted Reviews and Newsweek, but focuses on streaming at Future, an arrangement that combines two of his greatest passions: sport and penny-pinching.

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