Royal Institution lectures go back to BBC

Engineer and scientist Dr Mark Miodownik will deliver a three-part series of talks tackling issues such as how hamsters could survive falling from a plane without a parachute and the strength of human hair.

His lectures will be screened by BBC4 in December, following a number of years which saw them aired by Channel 4 and Channel Five.

The series of talks at the Royal Institution (RI) was begun by Michael Faraday in 1825 and have long been seen as one of the most important events on the scientific calendar. They were first screened by the BBC in 1966.

King's College London scientist Dr Miodownik's lecture series, sponsored by Microsoft Research, is called Size Matters.

nThe first appearance of Alex Jones and Jason Manford together on The One Show sofa drew in extra viewers on Monday night.

Welsh presenter Jones's debut also proved a bigger draw than that of her predecessor Christine Bleakley's opening show three years ago.

The eagerly-anticipated BBC1 show was watched by an average of 4.5 million viewers and a 23.5 per cent share.

Bleakley, who has moved to ITV, was watched by 3.4 million

when she replaced Myleene Klass three years ago.