Professor Brian Cox brings his 'Horizons' lecture show exploring wonder of the universe to NI

Professor Brian Cox’s Horizons: A 21st Centre Space Odyssey, a cinematic-type almost university lecture-style show exploring the nature of the universe, the enigma of space and time, and the wonder of human existence in a vast universe will arrive at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on January 24, 2023; the Millennium Forum, Londonderry on January 25; Armagh’s City Hotel on January 26; and the Diamond Hall, Coleraine on January 27.

Tickets for what is an already hugely lauded high-tech science lesson (but more fun) go on sale Friday (May 12) at 10am from Ticketmaster.ie.

Prof Cox’s previous sell-out world tour set two Guinness World Records and nobody quite tackles the mysteries of the universe as this TV-savvy academic who started out as a keyboard player in 90s dance act D:Ream (whose song Things Can Only Get Better was the soundtrack for Tony Blair’s successful 1997 election campaign).

Cox then completed a doctorate in high energy particule physics, and became a TV personality able to achieve the remarkable: making complex physics entertaining.

The new show will consider mind-boggling facts such as our neightbouring galaxy Andromeda being a whopping 2.5m light years away, and that super massive black holes may actually be colliding as regularly as every couple of months.

Using state-of-the-art screen technology, venues across the world from New Zealand to the Arctic Circle have already been filled with images of far-away galaxies, alien worlds, and the latest theories of the origin of the universe – and in January those interested in the biggest cosmological questions will be able to see the show which will also consider the nature of space in time, how life began, and the over-arching significance of life in our vast, eternal universe.

The show is also a celebration of our civilisation, of our music, art, philosophy and science, offering us an optimistic vision of our future if we continue to explore nature with humility and to value ourselves and our fellow human beings.

Of Horizons the Guardian said that it was 'a jaw-dropping reminder that human life is both irrelevant and hugely precious’ while the Daily Echo similarly enthused that ‘science and cosmology doesn’t get any more dazzling and interesting than this – a wonderful journey through space and time.’The Liverpool Echo simply called the show ‘stunning’ and the critic for the Express and Star said their brain was hurting afterwards, ‘but in a beautifully, mind-expanding sort of way…We came away with a new found of love of the basics of science and maths, and a thirst to learn more’.

Prof Cox’s biggest achievement is in having found a way to make particle physics and huge cosmological phenomena easily accessible, democratising the hugely complex wonders of the universe by explaining it all simply, clearly and in a profoundly entertaining way.

The physicist, who looks more like a pin-up with teeth that sparkle like stars and a well-styled image, will deliver what others have described as a ‘enthralling’ section on space and time, using a photo of his young self with his grandfather to explain that all our pasts - and even his misbegotten stint in 1980s’ big-hair band Dare – are still out there in the space-time continuum.

Audiences can also expect a simplified rumination on Einstein’s theory of relativity.

For tickets click here.