Curious Cases

Curious Cases is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain. Each episode tackles a question sent in by a listener (who are collectively known as The Curios), which they attempt to solve "using the power of science". Currently in its 24th series, it is broadcast weekly on Saturdays.^[1][2][3][4]

Curious Cases

Other names	The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry
Running time	~28 minutes (originally ~14 minutes)
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Hosted by	Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain
Original release	15 February 2016 (2016-02-15)
No. of episodes	167 (As of 10 July 2025[update])
Website	Curious Cases at BBC Online

Originally called "The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry", the first 21 series were presented by Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry, with the first episode airing on Monday, 15 February 2016. After the end of the 21st series, there was a break of just over 19 months. The first episode of series 22 was broadcast on 04 October 2024 with Ó Briain replacing Rutherford.

Presenters

• Hannah Fry has co-hosted the series since its inception to the present. Fry was appointed the Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, UK on 1 January 2025.^[5]. She was awarded the David Attenborough Award by the Royal Society in 2024.^[6]
• Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, writer and author and lecturer at University College London. He was awarded the David Attenborough Award by the Royal Society in 2021.^[6], and appointed President of Humanists UK in 2022.^[7]
• Dara Ó Briain took over from Rutherford from series 16. He is a comedian and television presenter, and was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance in 2012.

Regular Contributors

• Jim Al-Khalili
• Helen Czerski
• Mark Miodownik
• Andrew Ponzen
• Sophie Scott
• Andrea Sella

Producers

• Michelle Martin - series 1-15, 17
• Jen Whyntie - series 16-18
• Fiona Roberts - series 17, 18
• Pamela Rutherford - series 18
• Ilan Goodman - series 19 onwards
• Marijke Peters - series 23, ep 2, 6, 7, 9, 13

Episodes

As well as being broadcast live on BBC Radio 4, episodes are available as podcasts from many sources, including its home on BBC Sounds.^[4]. The broadcast episodes are 12.5 minutes long (series 1-15), and 28 minutes long (series 16 onwards). The podcasts include extra material, and so are slightly longer, the longest being 50 minutes and 14 seconds.

There have been a number of special programmes outside the normal series, including 2 short ASMR episodes in February 2020 and a 4-part special mini-series on "Living with AI" in December 2021.

Past episodes include^[8]

Series	Episode	Title	Air Date	Episode page
23	1	The Diamond Throwdown	4 April 2025	[9]
23	2	Liar, Liar	12 April 2025	[10]
23	3	Invisibility Quest	19 April 2025	[11]
23	4	Love Neurons	26 April 2025	[12]
23	5	Furnishing with Fungi	3 May 2025	[13]
23	6	Aches and Rains	10 May 2025	[14]
23	7	Don't Bite Me!	17 May 2025	[15]
23	8	Chuckle, Snigger and LOL	24 May 2025	[16]
23	9	Nano Sharks	31 May 2025	[17]
23	10	Colossal Creatures	7 June 2025	[18]
23	11	Clowns in Spacetime	14 June 2025	[19]
23	12	Memory Swap	21 June 2025	[20]
23	13	Clever Crows	28 June 2025	[21]
24	1	To Crab, or Not to Crab?	4 October 2025	[22]

Trivia

• In S05E05, "The Forgetful Child", Adam Rutherford ironically forgets which series it is, and initially refers to it as Series 3.
• At the end of S08E05, "Goldfinger's Moon Laser", Hannah says that she thought they should give out badges for Curio of the Week.
• In S11E05, "A World of Pain", Adam Rutherford mentions that he likes the interrobang symbol (‽). In a later episode, several Curios reveal that they've included one in their theses.