All Episodes
Elemental — 98 episodes
Zirconium - shape-shifting time capsule
Zinc - more useful than you realise
Yttrium - here's that village Ytterby again
Ytterbium - yet another element named after Ytterby
Xenon - a stranger in search of strange particles
Vanadium - Model T Fords, big batteries & sea squirts
Uranium - first radioactive element to be discovered
Tungsten - highest melting point of any metal
Titanium - light, strong & quite pretty
Tin - from whistles to organ pipes & anti-fouling paint
Thulium - the most laborious of the lanthanoids
Thorium - potential source of cleaner nuclear energy
Thallium - the poisoner's poison
Terbium - turns up in old TVs & new Euro notes
Tellurium - usually associated with gold
Technetium - the first synthetic element
Tantalum - a tantalising chemical element
Sulfur - king of bad smells
Strontium - from sensitive teeth toothpaste to nuclear fission
Sodium - a salt of the earth spectator
Silver - a popular noble metal
Silicon - a ubiquitous part of modern life
Selenium - good reason to eat seafood & Brazil nuts
Scandium - the scandal of the scandium cricket bat
Samarium - magnets for making & listening to music
Ruthenium - a 'sort of' precious metal
Rubidium - expensive and not very useful
Rhodium - used in cars, drugs... and aftershave
Rhenium - has a number of claims to chemical fame
Radon - radioactive basement risk
Radium - famous but not very useful
Protactinium - a very dull chemical element
Promethium - rare and unremarkable
Praseodymium - a long name but not many uses
Potassium - a matter of life and death
Polonium - few redeeming features
Plutonium - nuclear bombs & nuclear power
Platinum - another pricey precious metal
Phosphorus - P was discovered in pee
Palladium - cleaning up your car's exhaust
Oxygen - the friendly element
Osmium - heavyweight champion of the elements
Nitrogen - a vital powerhouse
Niobium - useful at high & low temperatures
Nickel - more than just a 5 cent coin
Neon - the red of neon lights
Neodymium - the secret behind supermagnets
The most boring chemical element
Molybdenum - a catalyst at bacterial to industrial scales
Mercury - mesmerising quicksilver
Manganese - the 'essential' essential element
Magnesium - loved by everyone and everything
Lutetium - an obscure Parisian
Lithium - a mood enhancing element
Lead - sweet-tasting but deadly
Lanthanum - curious case of a 'lost' element
Krypton - its name means 'hidden' but it's a real thing
Iron - creator of the modern world
Iridium and the end of the dinosaurs
Iodine - a vital trace element
Indium - Queen of the touchscreen
Hydrogen - 'number 1 in the Universe'
Holmium - obscure, but an important surgical laser
Helium - rare on earth but universally abundant
Hafnium - helped land the first astronauts on the moon
Gold - a most desirable noble metal
Germanium - important in the first transistors
Gallium - mysterious case of the disappearing spoon
Gadolinium - plays a key role in MRI scans
Francium - final naturally-occurring element to be discovered
Fluorine - the non-stick element
Europium - putting the security in the Euro
Erbium - through rose-tinted glasses
Dysprosium - hard to get
Curium & meitnerium - in honour of two pioneering women
Copper - essential, in moderation
Cobalt - goblin of the periodic table
Chromium - colourful and shiny
Chlorine - good for health, bad for health
Cerium - combustible and confusing
Carbon - life & times of the 'king of elements'
Calcium - strength and beauty
Caesium - the time-keeper
Cadmium - colour and quantum dots
Bromine - the colour purple and poison gas
Boron - made by cosmic rays, useful in the kitchen
Bismuth - an unusual heavy metal
Beryllium - sweet and precious, but deadly
Berkelium and the synthetic heavyweights
Barium - never found on its own
Astatine - awfully rare
Arsenic - the well-known poison
Argon - every breath you take
Antimony - takes lives, saves lives
Americium - a radioactive, domestic do-gooder
Aluminium - light & versatile
Actinium - rare & radioactive
Tales from the periodic table