Brian Cox brings Emergence to Motorpoint Arena

If you have never seen Brian Cox live, tonight is the night to catch up. Professor Brian Cox brings his Emergence world tour to the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, with the show starting at 19:30. It is billed as a family-friendly evening of science and storytelling, and tickets are listed as having limited availability, so it is worth checking before you travel.

For anyone who knows Cox from the screen, the show is a natural extension of the work that made him a household name. He has spent the last 15 years fronting landmark BBC science programmes, including the Peabody Award-winning Wonders of the Solar System and the worldwide hit The Planets. After taking his previous show, Horizons, to nearly half a million people across the globe, Emergence is his latest chapter.

The show itself is an ambitious piece of work. It spans roughly 400 years of scientific history, moving from the cosmic web and black holes down to the simple question of why snowflakes are six-sided, and then through Earth's ecosystems and the structure of the human brain. The whole thing is tied together by how humanity has begun to read the story of the universe. Cox has been open about the scale of it, calling it the most ambitious live show he has ever written and noting the team of scientists, musicians, filmmakers and graphic artists he worked with to bring cosmology, biology, philosophy and history onto the largest and most advanced LED screens available, with the best sound and lights he could find. His hope is that it leaves everyone, whether they love science, music or history, with something new to think about.

It is worth remembering that Cox is not just a presenter. He is a Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester and The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science, a Fellow of the Royal Society since 2016, and since September 2025, the inaugural Crick Scholar at The Francis Crick Institute. He has also written more than a dozen books, from Why Does E=mc? to Black Holes: The Key to Understanding the Universe, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. His accolades run the full length of the field, from the Kelvin Medal in 2010 to being named UN Champion for Space in October 2025.

A few practical notes for the evening. The Motorpoint Arena sits at the National Ice Centre on Bolero Square in the Lace Market, and it is also home to the Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team. If you are driving, the nearest parking is at Fletcher Gate, Stoney Street and Broadmarsh. By public transport, Nottingham station is about a mile away, and the venue is served by bus routes 3, 4 and 28. The box office is on 0115 853 3000 for personal calls, and you can collect tickets on the day from when doors open with a credit card and your Ticketmaster reference number. The venue is accessible for people with disabilities, with lift and level access, and disability bookings are on 0115 853 3002. A couple of house rules: only handbags and small bags up to 35cm x 40cm x 19cm are allowed, there is no outside food or drink, and no smoking. It is a big show, but it is built for families, so it is as much for the curious as it is for the science-obsessed.