The programme began in April 1998 as
The Material World, presented by
Trevor Phillips. Phillips was a chemistry graduate of
Imperial College, and also one of the few regular black broadcasters on Radio 4. In September 2000, Phillips was told that his close links with the
Labour Party conflicted with BBC impartiality rules and meant he could no longer present BBC programmes. He was replaced with Quentin Cooper, who presented the programme until its end in 2013. From 5 April 2010 the programme was repeated on Monday evenings at 21.00, the former slot of
Costing the Earth. For a short time, when programmes on
5 Live began
webstreaming with video,
Material World was also
webcast. On 14 June 2013 it was announced that the show was to be cancelled and replaced by a new show,
Inside Science. The last programme presented by Quentin Cooper was broadcast on 20 June 2013 with the final episode airing a week later on 27 June 2013, presented by Gareth Mitchell.
Material World was one of the BBC's main conduits for up-to-date scientific news, along with
Frontiers,
Science in Action, and
Bang Goes the Theory. ==Structure==