Danielle George

Alice and fellow historians explore Britain's obsession with invasion through the centuries examining the physical reminders that remain

The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures have been held in London annually since 1825. They serve as a forum for presenting complex scientific issues to a general audience in an informative and entertaining manner. In the mid 1820s Michael Faraday, a former Director of the Royal Institution, initiated the first Christmas Lecture series at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. He presented a total of 19 series, establishing an exciting new venture of teaching science to young people that was eventually copied by other institutions internationally.

This is one of the longest running programmes on television; it has been around since before the age of space travel and most of the episodes were presented by Sir Patrick Moore.