Originally presented by Liz Bonnin, Jem Stansfield, Dallas Campbell and Yan Wong, the show employed a hands-on approach to test scientific theory and demonstrate how science shapes our world.

From series seven, Maggie Philbin replaced Dallas Campbell as a main presenter[1] and Yan Wong no longer appeared and the programme was subsequently cancelled after just two more seasons.

[2] The studio elements of the series were initially recorded in a building that housed the supersonic wind tunnel fans at RAE Bedford in Bedfordshire and was also the testing facility for the first prototype Harrier jump jet V/STOL aircraft.

To "inspire the audience to get hands on with science", the series was supported by a number of free events across the country organised by BBC Learning.

Distinct changes occurred in series 6, when each episode explored a single theme, the studio setting was dropped, several guest presenters appeared over the course of the series (one of whom, Maggie Philbin, subsequently joined the show as a regular presenter), and Jem Stansfield's stunts were phased out, with his attempt to build a pedal-powered flying machine (featured across two episodes) being the last such item to appear.

Bang Goes the Theory was originally presented by Dallas Campbell (series 1–6); Liz Bonnin, a biochemist with a Masters in wild animal conservation; Jem Stansfield, an aeronautical engineer, inventor and designer of museum exhibits; and Yan Wong (co-author of The Ancestor's Tale), an Oxford-educated evolutionary biologist.

It depicted a group of people using bicycles to generate electricity to illuminate a ring of lights, into the centre of which the BBC One logo was superimposed.

It features distortion of the presenters' words using pitch-correction software, over the top of original music, in the same vein as Boswell's Symphony of Science series.

Jem Stansfield did not appear in episodes 4, 6, 7 and 8 but was still credited as "Engineering consultant", and replaced by Sir Terry Wogan, Charlie Dimmock, and Dr. Chris van Tulleken as guest host.

[47] [48] On 1 October 2021, ex-presenter Jem Stansfield won £1.6m in damages for suffering and loss of earnings as a result of injuries he sustained while acting as a "human crash-test" dummy in 2013.