Nerdstock: 9 Lessons And Carols For Godless People

Christmas show that promises fun for all the faithless

Science meets stand-up in the season's most unlikely hit, Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People.

Heathen's greetings

They thought it was a joke when Robin Ince said he was going to mix atheism, comedy and Christmas. But, reports Stephanie Merritt, he's having the last laugh.

He might be a friend of Ricky Gervais and a radio panel game regular, but Robin Ince isn't your average stand-up. He also runs a comedy institution called The Book Club, which involves him reading aloud from random second-hand tomes, and is a vocal atheist who curates gigs themed around science, Darwin and rationalism. This is a TV version of his festive variety show 9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People, which combines gags from Dara O'Briain, Al Murray, Shappi Khorsandi and Chris Addison with music, plus more intellectual fare from scientists and writers - the movement's daddy, Richard Dawkins, among them. Stimulating stuff.

Here's a tinsel-brandishing variety show for the rationally minded. Recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo in London before Christmas - or should that be Yule? - it features a motley collection of performers. Atheist-in-chief Richard Dawkins leads the cast which includes physicist Brian Cox, Ben 'Bad Science' Goldacre, writer Simon Singh, musician Robyn Hitchcock and comics Richard Herring, Mark Steel, Shappi Khorsandi, Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden.

Review: Nine Lessons and Carols For Godless People

An atmosphere of benign conviviality prevailed at Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People. Rating: * * * *