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The Infinite Monkey Cage

Science and comedy radio show

Science and comedy radio show

FieldValue
show_nameThe Infinite Monkey Cage
image
captionRobin Ince and Brian Cox, the hosts of the programme
formatComedy, popular science
runtimeapprox. 30 minutes
countryUnited Kingdom
languageEnglish
home_stationBBC Radio 4
starringBrian Cox
Robin Ince
producerAlexandra Feachem
executive_producerDeborah Cohen
record_locationRadio Theatre, Broadcasting House, London
RADA Studios, London
first_aired
num_series34
num_episodes214
website
podcast

Robin Ince RADA Studios, London The Infinite Monkey Cage is a BBC Radio 4 comedy and popular science series. Hosted by physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince, The Independent described it as a "witty and irreverent look at the world according to science". Since 2013 the show has been accompanied by a podcast, published immediately after the initial radio broadcast, which features extended versions of most episodes. The programme won a Gold Award in the Best Speech Programme category at the 2011 Sony Radio Awards, and it won the best Radio Talk Show at the 2015 Rose d'Or awards. The name is a reference to the infinite monkey theorem.

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.

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.

Theme song

The programme's theme song was written by Eric Idle and recorded by Idle and Jeff Lynne. 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.

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.

List of 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.

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. 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.

Overview

Cage#Series Thirty Four

Series One

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Science and ComediansShortSummary =Dr Alice Roberts]]20091130df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Two

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Popular ScienceShortSummary =Aux1 = Ben Miller and Robert Winston20100614df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Three

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = ApocalypseShortSummary =Dr Lucie Green]] with Matt Parker20101115df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Four

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = What Don't We Know?ShortSummary =Paul Foot]], Marcus Chown and Professor Steve Jones20110530df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Five

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = What's the North Ever Done for Us?ShortSummary =Aux1 = Jon Culshaw, Jeff Forshaw and Matthew Cobb20111121df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Six

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Oceans: The Last Great Unexplored Frontier?ShortSummary =Aux1 = Dave Gorman, Lloyd Peck and Bramley Murton20120618df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Seven

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Space ExplorationShortSummary =Sir Patrick Stewart]], Ben Miller and Monica Grady20121119df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Eight

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = What is Death?ShortSummary =Sue Black]]20130624df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Nine

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = RiskShortSummary = Producer: Rami Tzabar.Aux1 = Graeme Garden, David Spiegelhalter, and Sue Ion20131118df=y}}EpisodeNumber2 = 1

Series Ten

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Numbers Numbers EverywhereShortSummary =Aux1 = Dave Gorman, Dr Vicky Neale, and Alex Bellos201477df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Eleven

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = DeceptionShortSummary =Aux1 = Richard Wiseman, Sophie Scott, and David Aaronovitch2015119df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Twelve

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = The Infinite Monkey Cage USA Tour: New YorkShortSummary =Aux1 = Bill Nye, Janna Levin, Tim Daly, and Lisa Lampanelli201576df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Year-end specials

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, two special episodes were added in December 2015:

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Episode 1: An Infinite Monkey's Guide to General RelativityShortSummary =Aux1 = Ben Miller, Dara Ó Briain, Richard Vranch, and Carlos Frenk2015128df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Thirteen

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Artificial IntelligenceShortSummary =Aux1 = Jo Brand, Anil Seth, and Alan Winfield2016111df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Fourteen

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = The Sound of MusicShortSummary =Aux1 = Matt Kirshen, KT Tunstall, Nitin Sawhney, Lucy Cooke, and Trevor Cox2016704df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Fifteen

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = The Science of Everyday LifeShortSummary =Aux1 = Russell Kane, Helen Czerski and Danielle George2017116df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Sixteen

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = What Particles Remain to be Discovered?Aux1 = Eric Idle, Jon Butterworth and Catherine Heymans201773df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1EpisodeNumber = 90

Series Seventeen

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = When Two Stars CollideShortSummary =Sheila Brown]] and Nils Andersson201818df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Eighteen

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Infinite Monkey Cage 100ShortSummary =Sue Black]], Fay Dowker, David Spiegelhalter, Richard Wiseman, Professor Tony Ryan and Andrea Sella2018711df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= TV & Radio Special

Series Nineteen

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Microbes: Secret Rulers of the World?ShortSummary =Ed Byrne]]201917df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Moon landing anniversary special

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, a special episode was added in July 2019:

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = The Infinite Moonkey CageShortSummary =Gerry Griffin]], Andy Aldrin, and Jan Aldrin2019719df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Twenty

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = DinosaursShortSummary =Aux1 = Susannah Maidment, Steve Brusatte and Rufus Hound2019916df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Twenty-one

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = The Science of LaughterShortSummary =Professor Sophie Scott]], Professor Richard Wiseman and Frank Skinner2020113df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Twenty-two

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = The End of the UniverseShortSummary =Katie Mack]], Eric Idle and Steve Martin2020525df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Twenty-three

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = In Praise of FliesShortSummary =Aux1 = Matthew Cobb, Erica McAlister and David Baddiel2021111df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Twenty-four

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
Title = Bats v FliesShortSummary =Kate Jones]], Erica McAlister and Dave Gorman2022625df=y}}EpisodeNumber2= 1

Series Twenty-five

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 148EpisodeNumber2 = 1url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f4lptitle=BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, What have we learnt from Covid? }}Dame Sarah Gilbert]], Professor Dan Davis and Dr Chris Van Tulleken20221112df=y}}

Series Twenty-six

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 155EpisodeNumber2 = 1url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jc09title=BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 26, Southern Skies }}Aux1 = Kirsten Banks, Devika Kamath and Ross Noble20230218df=y}}

Series Twenty-seven

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 161EpisodeNumber2 = 1url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001n8b6title=BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, Are we what we eat? }}Dr Chris van Tulleken]], Professor Janet Cade and Harry Hill20230624df=y}}

Series Twenty-eight

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 168EpisodeNumber2 = 1url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001scq6title=BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, Octopuses! }}Aux1 = Dr Tim Lamont, Amy Courtney and Russell Kane20231111df=y}}

Series Twenty-nine

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 175EpisodeNumber2 = 1url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wh4wtitle=BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 29, Egyptian Mummies }}Aux1 = Russell Kane, Lucy Porter, Rosalie David and Lidija McKnight2024217df=y}}

Series Thirty

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 181EpisodeNumber2 = 1url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020xz2title=BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, The Wonder of Trees - Dame Judi Dench, Tony Kirkham and Tristan Gooley }}Aux1 = Judi Dench, Tony Kirkham and Tristan Gooley2024711df=y}}

Series Thirty One

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 188EpisodeNumber2 = 1Title = The Cyber CodebreakersAux1 = Alan Davies, Victoria Baines and Richard Benham20241113df=y}}

Series Thirty Two

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 195EpisodeNumber2 = 1Title = Journey to the Centre of the EarthChris Jackson]]2025219df=y}}

Series Thirty Three

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 201EpisodeNumber2 = 1Title = 201st Birthday BonanzaAux1 = Mel Giedroyc, Deborah Meaden and Nish Kumar2025710df=y}}

Series Thirty Four

TotalNo.TitleGuest(s)Original airdate
EpisodeNumber = 208EpisodeNumber2 = 1Title = Mind-reading ComputersAux1 = Phil Wang, Anne Vanhoestenberghe and Luke Bashford20251113df=y}}

References

References

  1. (2023). "BBC Sounds – The Infinite Monkey Cage". BBC.
  2. Ince, Robin. (27 August 2010). "A cat in a wheelie bin can help us ponder how the universe works". [[The Daily Telegraph.
  3. 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]].
  4. "Radio GaGa: Infinite Monkey Cage, Moyles & Bacon!". [[Tim Minchin]].
  5. (10 March 2014). "BBC Radio 4 – The Infinite Monkey Cage". BBC.
  6. (9 May 2011). "Frank Skinner and Jason Byrne win at Sony Awards 2011". The British Comedy Guide.
  7. (9 May 2011). "TV scientist scoops top radio award". [[Express & Star]].
  8. (9 December 2015). "54th Rose D'Or Awards Honour the Best in TV and Radio Entertainment".
  9. Guide, British Comedy. (13 December 2025). "Robin Ince resigns from The Infinite Monkey Cage".
  10. (4 March 2015). "Infinite universes and dead strawberries: an interview with Brian Cox and Robin Ince". theverge.com.
  11. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bn0gp bbc.co.uk] The Infinite Monkey Cage, season 10, episode 4. Eric Idle states that Jeff Lynne played all the instruments on the recording.
  12. (3 May 2011). "Uncaged Monkeys, New Theatre Oxford & touring, review". Telegraph.co.uk.
  13. "BBC Radio 4 – The Infinite Monkey Cage – Episodes". BBC.
  14. "BBC Radio 4 – The Infinite Monkey Cage – Episodes 2010s > 2015 > December". BBC.
  15. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, What have we learnt from Covid?".
  16. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, Exploring our solar system".
  17. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, Hunting for Exoplanets".
  18. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, Can we cure ageing?".
  19. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, the Age of Conspiracy?".
  20. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, the Deep Space Network".
  21. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 25, Why does wine taste good?".
  22. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 26, Southern Skies".
  23. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 26, Australia's Scary Spiders".
  24. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 26, How to think like a mathematician".
  25. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 26, How to commit the perfect murder".
  26. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 26, How Far Can The Human Body Go?".
  27. "BBC Radio 4 - the Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 26, Magic Materials".
  28. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, Are we what we eat?".
  29. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, Supervolcanoes".
  30. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, Bees v Wasps".
  31. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, The Magic of Mushrooms".
  32. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, The Secret Life of Sharks".
  33. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, Ancient DNA Secrets".
  34. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 27, Cosmic Dust".
  35. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, Octopuses!".
  36. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, The Science of Coincidence".
  37. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, How I is AI?".
  38. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, The Scale of Life (or were dinosaurs just too big?)".
  39. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, Hollywood in Space".
  40. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, Jo Brand's Quantum World".
  41. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 28, The Monkeys meet The Sky at Night".
  42. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 29, Egyptian Mummies".
  43. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 29, Could it be magic?".
  44. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 29, Asteroids?".
  45. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 29, Poison".
  46. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 29, Cats v Dogs".
  47. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 29, Higgs Boson".
  48. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, The Wonder of Trees - Dame Judi Dench, Tony Kirkham and Tristan Gooley".
  49. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, Science of Board Games - Jess Fostekew, Marcus du Sautoy and Dave Neale".
  50. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, 'Beastly Bodies' Kids Special - Steve Backshall, Jess French and Adam Kay".
  51. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, Extreme Exploration - Anneka Rice, Mike Massimino, Britney Schmidt and Jess Phoenix".
  52. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, What a Gas! - Dave Gorman, Mark Miodownik and Lucy Carpenter".
  53. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, An Unexpected History of Science - Rufus Hound, Matthew Cobb, Victoria Herridge and Keith Moore".
  54. "BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 30, Alien Life - Russell Kane, Lisa Kaltenegger and Chris Lintott".
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