The Museum of Curiosity is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd. He acts as the head of the fictional titular museum, while a panel of three guests – typically a comedian, an author and an academic – each donate to the museum an 'object' that fascinates them. The radio medium ensures that the suggested exhibits can be absolutely anything, limited only by the guests' imaginations.
Each series has had a different co-host, under the title of curator of the museum. Bill Bailey acted as co-host of the programme in the first series, whilst Sean Lock, Jon Richardson, Dave Gorman, Jimmy Carr, Humphrey Ker, Phill Jupitus, Sarah Millican, Noel Fielding, Jo Brand, Romesh Ranganathan, Sally Phillips, Lee Mack, Bridget Christie, Alice Levine, Holly Walsh and Anna Ptaszynski have all assumed the role in later series. Gorman also stood in for Richardson for one episode of the third series, after Richardson was stranded due to the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. Ker also functioned as a stand-in, this time for Jimmy Carr, when Carr was unable to attend one episode in series 5.
The programme has often been compared to the television panel game QI. Both were co-created by Lloyd, several of the Museum's 'curators' and comic guests have appeared regularly on QI, and the QI Elves (QI's research team, who provide hosts Stephen Fry and Sandi Toksvig with live information as required during the programme) provide the research. As a result, some critics consider the radio show to be a spin-off of the TV programme, and some have further ventured that The Museum of Curiosity is not as good as its forerunner. Most reviews of The Museum of Curiosity, however, are positive.
In May 2025 Lloyd confirmed that the show had been cancelled after 17 series and 106 episodes.
Format In series one, the programme began with Bailey introducing the show and playing its theme tune, which he performed in a slightly different way in each episode. In subsequent series, the theme tune was, instead, performed by House of Strange Studios of East London. The host/professor and the curator/sidekick introduce themselves. They then give a short guide to the museum, followed by the introduction of the "advisory committee", a guest panel made up of celebrities and academic experts, during which Lloyd reads their CVs aloud. This introductory section takes up about half the programme.
Then, each member of the "committee" donates something to the museum. The donation can be anything, regardless of its size, cost, tangibility, or even existence. Examples of donations include a yeti, the Battle of Waterloo, and absolutely nothing. Lloyd and the curator then decide what form the exhibit could take and where in the museum it could be displayed. In series one, the programme ended either with Lloyd and Bailey reading audience suggestions for additional exhibits or asking the audience curious questions . Bailey ended the show by giving a humorous comment on a Bertrand Russell quote. Both of these ideas were dropped in series two.
From series two onward, the show has maintained a standard format. It is presented in two halves; in the first half, Lloyd and the curator introduce the three guests, provide an explanation of who they are, and the five engage in a general discussion. In the second half, the curator declares the Museum open for donations, and each guest explains what they wish to "donate" to the museum (again, as the museum is fictional, nothing is actually exchanged, though guests occasionally bring real objects to discuss). Questioning of all three guests ensures that everyone says something about each donation.
Production The programme's pilot episode was recorded on 16 April 2007 and was entitled The Professor of Curiosity. The guests for this episode were Alastair Fothergill, Victoria Finlay and Simon Munnery. This pilot, recorded at the Rutherford Room at the institute of Physics, has not been broadcast. The first series was recorded at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington and, since then, the show has been recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre, with occasional recordings at other venues, such as the Shaw Theatre and RADA Studios (formerly The Drill Hall), all in London. The series was created by Lloyd, Richard Turner and Dan Schreiber. The show is produced by Anne Miller. The show's researchers are Mike Turner, Lydia Mizon and Emily Jupitus of QI.
A live version of the show was staged at the Natural History Museum, London on 9 November 2012 for charity. The guests for this edition were Terry Pratchett, Dave Gorman, Alan West, Baron West of Spithead, Helen Keen, Richard Fortey and Erica McAlister. The show was hosted by John Lloyd, with Producer Dan Schreiber taking the role of curator.
Further live shows were staged at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe featuring a number of top comedians and other guests.
Series 15 and Series 16 were recorded remotely during 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Episodes
Series 1
Episode Air date Advisory committee Exhibits donated 1 20 February 2008Richard Fortey Brian Blessed Sean LockThe giant hornet of Chang Jiang. (Fortey) Curators of the Natural History Museum. (Fortey) A yeti or Sasquatch. (Blessed) The modern scarf knot, or the "Sean Lock neck knot". (Lock) 2 27 February 2008Fran Beauman Gary Sheffield Ben EltonA pineapple (Beauman) Anderson Shelters (Sheffield) Privacy (Elton) 3 5 March 2008Arthur Smith Frank Close Ronald HuttonArthur Cravan (Smith) Nothing (Close) Father Christmas (Hutton) 4 12 March 2008Victoria Finlay Kevin Day Alastair FothergillPliny the Elder (Finlay) The Battle of Waterloo (Day) A hairy anglerfish (Fothergill) 5 19 March 2008Jonathan Miller Philip Ball Marcus du SautoyThe Nottingham Alabasters (Miller) Phlogiston (Ball) The Monster (du Sautoy) 6 26 March 2008John Gribbin Alan Davies Martha ReevesThe Big Bang (Gribbin) Epping Forest (Davies) Silence (Reeves)
Series 2
Episode Air date Advisory committee Exhibits donated 1 4 May 2009Chris Donald Brian Eno Dave GormanA British Railways bridge plate (Donald) Grímsvötn (Eno) The urge to press red buttons that you know you shouldn't press (Gorman) 2 11 May 2009Gavin Pretor-Pinney Simon Singh Tim FitzHighamA Kelvin–Helmholtz cloud (Pretor-Pinney) The Holmdel Horn Antenna (Singh) Don Quixote (FitzHigham) 3 18 May 2009Bettany Hughes Chris Addison Rupert SheldrakeHelen of Troy (Hughes) Alan Shepard's six iron (Addison) A sheep rolling over a cattlegrid (Sheldrake) 4 25 May 2009Charlotte Uhlenbroek John Hodgman Oliver JamesA chimpanzee rain dance (Uhlenbroek) Complete world knowledge (Hodgman) Matt Ridley's nameplate from his office door at Northern Rock (James) 5 1 June 2009Kate Adie Jon Richardson Roger LawThe Holy Grail (Adie) Hannah Hauxwell (Richardson) The perfect English Spot rabbit (Law) 6 8 June 2009Clive James Tim Minchin Philip PullmanA P-51 Mustang (James) Tempting fate (Minchin) Inventions being used for things they were not designed for (Pullman)
Series 3
Episode Air date Advisory committee Exhibits donated 1 10 May 2010Marcus Chown Terry Pratchett Shappi KhorsandiThe Omega Point (Chown) A procrastinator (Pratchett) Charlie Chaplin (Khorsandi)217 May 2010Suggs Ruth Padel Leigh FrancisThe Great Exhibition (Suggs) 10,000 tigers (Padel) Spider-Man (Francis)324 May 2010Richard Wiseman Kevin Eldon Jon RonsonThe Milgram Experiment (Wiseman) The ten worlds (Eldon) A gay bomb (Ronson)431 May 2010Michael Welland Sarah Bakewell Simon EvansSinging sand dunes (Welland) Michel de Montaigne's medallion (Bakewell) A total eclipse (Evans)57 June 2010Ronni Ancona Daniel Tammet Robin Hanbury-TenisonBarry Marshall (Ancona) Humphry Davy (Ancona) Saul Bellow (Tammet) Nyapun, a Penan hunter-gatherer (Hanbury-Tenison)614 June 2010Sarah Millican David Eagleman Neil GaimanPictures of animals in clothes (Millican) International Ignorance Day (Eagleman) Jack Benny's vault (Gaiman)
Series 4
Episode Air date Advisory committee Exhibits donated 1 3 October 2011Francesca Stavrakopoulou Alex Bellos Jimmy CarrGod (Stavrakopoulou) A Curta calculator (Bellos) A book containing all the jokes in the world (Carr)210 October 2011Graham Linehan Helen Scales Rory SutherlandA cassette tape (Linehan) A tank full of seahorses (Scales) A single Shreddie shown from angle of 45° (Sutherland)317 October 2011Roger Highfield Robin Ince Gareth EdwardsAn invisibility cloak (Highfield) The essential trifle (Ince) The first story ever told (Edwards)424 October 2011David McCandless Natalie Haynes David CrystalThe super-ego (McCandless) TV detectives (Haynes) A waffle generator (Crystal)531 October 2011Alain de Botton Sara Wheeler Alex HorneA High Street psychotherapist (de Botton) A carved walrus baculum (Wheeler) The word "dord" (Horne)67 November 2011Lucie Green Harry Enfield Alan WestAn invisible coronal mass ejection (Green) A stupid German (Enfield) A tot of rum (West)
Series 5
Episode Air date Advisory committee Exhibits donated11 October 2012Erica McAlister Al Murray Jan BondesonA cow pat (McAlister) A travellator (Murray) A security coffin (Bondeson)28 October 2012Stuart Clark Tom Hart Dyke Jo BrandJohannes Kepler's drink dispenser (Clark) Puya raimondii (Hart Dyke) Childhood, represented by a badly knitted jumper made by your nan. (Brand)315 October 2012Humphrey Ker Dr. Pamela Stephenson-Connolly Prof. Sir Andre GeimChrétien de Troyes, inventor of chivalry (Ker) The object of desire (Stephenson-Connolly) The ghost of curiosity (Geim)422 October 2012Frank Cottrell Boyce Dr. Alice Roberts Andy NymanSt. Columba's Psalter (Cottrell Boyce) The love child of a modern human and a Neanderthal (Roberts) Friday the 13th Part III 3-D (Nyman)529 October 2012Dr. Helen Czerski Irving Finkel Sean HughesA bubble (Czerski) An authentic portrait of Jane Austen (Finkel) A tab of LSD (Hughes)65 November 2012Dr. Buzz Aldrin Marc Abrahams Sara PascoeAldrin Mars cycler (Aldrin) The reports of Professor John Trinkaus on his pet peeves (Abrahams) User-friendly poisons, such as Botox (Pascoe)
Series 6
Episode Air date Advisory committee Exhibits donated130 September 2013John Blashford-Snell Mark Watson Joann FletcherHenry Morton Stanley's compass (Blashford-Snell) Mark Watson's glasses (Watson) A silver denarius struck to celebrate the Battle of Actium found in Barnsley. (Fletcher)27 October 2013Andrew O'Neill Amanda Palmer Volker SommerA third class ticket on the London Necropolis Railway (O'Neill) A living statue (Palmer) A dozen defecated ant heads. (Sommer)314 October 2013Howard Stringer Jane Bussmann Richard IngramsA sandbag (Stringer) A funnyometer (Bussmann) A machine to give judges electric shocks if they slept in court (Ingrams)421 October 2013Richard Herring Kristen Lippincott Christofer ClementeGrigori Rasputin (Herring) A eureka moment (Lippincott) A lizard popping a wheelie (Clemente)528 October 2013Robert Llewellyn Cleo Rocos Kevin Warwick An elm tree. (Llewellyn) A field of agave plants. (Rocos) A thinking machine (Warwick)64 November 2013Paul Sinha Maggie Aderin-Pocock David FrostC. B. Fry's mantelpiece (Sinha) The Prospero satellite (Aderin-Pocock) The Nixon Interviews (Frost)
Series 7
Episode Air date Advisory committee Exhibits donated16 October 2014Jimmy Wales Helen Keen Kees MoelikerA mobile phone in 2019 that will cost £10 to buy in Kenya (Wales) The Jack Parsons Moon crater (Keen) A single pubic louse (Moeliker)213 October 2014Kevin Dutton Sandra Knapp Richard OsmanA smile (Dutton) Chuño (Knapp) A bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk (Osman)320 October 2014Sandi Toksvig Will Storr Lieven ScheireThe alphabet (Toksvig) Some type of tiny wasps (Storr) A parasitic wasp (Scheire)427 October 2014Rich Hall Anna Keay Henry MarshThe front porch (Hall) St. Edward's Crown (Keay) A sea squirt's brain (Marsh)53 November 2014Clive Anderson Anne Dudley Richard WilliamsThe Old Bailey (Anderson) The Woolsack (Dudley) A Disney desk (Williams)610 November 2014Neil Innes