The Richard Dimbleby Lecture (also known as the Dimbleby Lecture) is an annual television lecture founded in memory of Richard Dimbleby (1913—1965), the BBC broadcaster.
It has been delivered by an influential business, scientific or political figure almost every year since 1972 (with gaps in 1981, 1991, 1993, 2008, 2020 and 2022).
In alternate years, in more recent years, the lecture has been introduced by his sons David Dimbleby and Jonathan Dimbleby, both broadcasters for the BBC, and delivered in front of an invited audience of guests, often with a link to the specialism of the speaker.
| Year | Title | Speaker | Speaker's position | Listing | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 75th anniversary of the Empire Windrush arriving in this country | Actor | BBC Programme page | Battersea Arts Centre | ||
| 2021 | Vaccine Vs Virus: This Race - and the Next One | BBC Programme page, Transcript | Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford | |||
| 2019 | The World Wide Web - A Mid-Course Correction | BBC Programme page | ||||
| 2018 | Don't Protect Me - Respect Me | Writer and broadcaster | BBC Programme page | House of Lords, Palace of Westminster | ||
| 2017 | Staying Safe in a Turbulent World | Director of the Central Intelligence Agency 2013 to 2017 | BBC Programme page | LSO St Luke's | ||
| 2016 | Is Shakespeare Chinese? | BBC Programme page | University of Warwick at The Shard | |||
| 2015 | Dot Everyone - Power, the Internet and You | Co-founder of Lastminute.com, digital entrepreneur and peer | Transcript | Science Museum, London | ||
| 2014 | A New Multilateralism for the 21st Century | IMF BBC Programme page | Guildhall, London | |||
| 2013 | The Impatient Optimist | Entrepreneur and Philanthropist | BBC Programme page | Royal Institution | ||
| 2012 | The Wonder of Science | Geneticist and Nobel laureate | Royal Society transcript | Royal College of Physicians | ||
| 2011 | Set Our Children Free | Children's author and campaigner | BBC Programme page | |||
| 2010 | Shaking Hands With Death | Author & Person with Alzheimer's. Read by Tony Robinson on speaker's behalf owing to his condition | Guardian, Transcript | Royal College of Physicians | ||
| 2009 | Facing The Future | Transcript | St James's Palace | |||
| 2007 | A DNA-Driven World | Gene pioneer | BBC Press Release | |||
| 2006 | Defence of the Realm in the 21st Century | Former Chief of the General Staff | https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/12_december/07/dimbleby.shtml, http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=4599367989059530535&q=dimbleby+lecture (video) | The London Scottish Regiment Headquarters | ||
| 2005 | What Kind of Police Service Do We Want? | Transcript, Transcript | ||||
| 2004 | Engineering the Difference | Transcript | Wilton's Music Hall | |||
| 2003 | The path towards a new world | Transcript, Transcript, Transcript | ||||
| 2002 | Nations, Markets and Morals | Radio Times listingTranscript | Westminster School | |||
| 2001 | The Struggle For The Soul of The 21st Century | Transcript | ||||
| 2000 | Who's Afraid of Modern Art | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1999 | The Future Could be Too Much Fun | Professor of pharmacology | Transcript | |||
| 1998 | Principles of Peace | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1997 | Public Life, Public Confidence | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1996 | Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder | Professor of biology | Radio Times listing | |||
| 1994 | Security and Democracy - Is There a Conflict? | Radio Times listing | Banqueting House, Whitehall | |||
| 1992 | The Judiciary in the Nineties | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1990 | Europe in the Nineties | Radio Times listing | Banqueting House, Whitehall | |||
| 1989 | Living Off the Land | Radio Times listing | The Brewery, Chiswell Street | |||
| 1988 | Knowledge Itself is Power | Professor of chemistry | Radio Times listing | Royal Institution | ||
| 1987 | British Television: Who are the Masters Now? | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1986 | Does Industry Matter? | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1985 | Teacher, Teach Thyself | Professor of philosophy | Radio Times listing | Royal Society of the Arts | ||
| 1984 | The Other Britain | Bishop of Liverpool and former cricketer | Radio Times listing | Royal Society of the Arts | ||
| 1983 | Missing Our Connections | Radio Times listing | Royal Society of the Arts | |||
| 1982 | Irish Identities | Radio Times listing | Royal Society of the Arts | |||
| 1980 | Misuse of Power | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1979 | Home Thoughts from Abroad | Transcript, Radio Times listing | Royal Society of the Arts | |||
| 1978 | Risk | Zoologist and security adviser | Radio Times listing | Royal Society of the Arts | ||
| 1977 | The Human Face of Labour | Radio Times listing | Clothworkers' Hall | |||
| 1976 | Elective Dictatorship | Radio Times listing | BBC Television Centre | |||
| 1975 | The British Experience in Television | Broadcaster | Radio Times listing | BBC Television Centre | ||
| 1974 | Housing - Who is to Blame? | Radio Times listing | BBC Television Centre | |||
| 1973 | Minority Verdict | Radio Times listing | ||||
| 1972 | What are Universities for, Anyway? | Radio Times listing |