I don’t spend a lot of time watching TV or reading newspapers (except for sport), so I can be a bit out of touch with what’s happening in the UK. This story will probably not be new to many British readers, but hopefully it is interesting to those of you outside the country.

Last week Paul Cornell tweeted about a BBC TV program called Do We Really Need the Moon?. It was an intriguing title, and I marked it for later viewing without thinking much about it. It turned out to be a great piece of popular science TV — the sort of the thing that Brian Cox does, only with more science and fewer moody shots of the presenter. It is still available on the iPlayer.

Much to my delight, the presenter was a woman scientist, Maggie Aderin-Pocock. What’s more, she’s a woman scientist who grew up on a council estate in North London and who, inspired by The Clangers and Star Trek, overcame dyslexia on her way to a PhD in physics from Imperial. She’s even got an MBE. See how out of touch I am? And she’s a great TV presenter.

So, is this going to be the new face of popular science on the BBC?

I do hope so.

(Photo by David Rose from this Telegraph article.)

Also, next Ada Lovelace Day, no question about who I’m featuring.