With astronauts, musicians and more...

Eric Idle has been added to the line up of the annual Nine Lessons And Carols event mixing comedy, science and more,

He joins Apollo 9 lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart, fellow astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, comedians Shaun Micallef, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Milton Jones, Inside No 9’s Reece Shearsmith and more.

These new guests join a previously announced line-up that includes Professor Brian Cox, astronaut Chris Hadfield, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and perennial host Robin Ince.

Ince said: ‘We have been putting on science variety shows every Christmas for nearly 15 years now – with guests from Chris Hadfield to The Cure - part of the festivities have been watching a chemist accidentally spilling sulphuric acid on stage and cosmology being explained via experimental jazz.

‘Of all the live events that have been cancelled this year, this is the one I feel saddest to lose - so we won't lose it - we are corralling scientists, astronauts, comedians, musicians and people with lasers from all around the world, from every continent.’

This year’s event will run for 24 hours from midday on December 12, broadcast live from King’s Place in London in front of a small, socially distanced audience.

The livestream will be free, but donations will be encouraged for charity. More details are available here.

Published: 19 Nov 2020