Sir David Attenborough turns 100: Wildlife documentary maker to mark centenary on May 8
David Attenborough, whose extraordinary wildlife documentaries have been watched by hundreds of millions, is being celebrated as he marks his centenary.
David Attenborough, who for decades has been the world’s most authoritative voice on the natural world and whose documentaries have been watched by hundreds of millions, is turning 100.
The world-renowned naturalist and film-maker notches up his century on Friday. He was born on May 8, 1926 and spent his childhood collecting fossils, insects and dried seahorses.
After more than 70 years of filmmaking, Attenborough’s instantly recognisable voice is synonymous with the story of nature. He is still at the vanguard of efforts to protect the environment and has produced some of his most impactful work in recent years.
Counting Britain’s royal family, Barack Obama, and pop star Billie Eilish among his admirers, Attenborough’s charisma, humour and warmth, alongside the depth of his knowledge and his flair for storytelling, have made him a broadcasting superstar.
“Your ability to communicate the beauty and vulnerability of our natural environment remains unequalled,” was how the late Queen Elizabeth summed up his achievements in 2019.
Attenborough’s films have communicated the wonder and also the tragedies of the natural world to viewers across the globe.
Standout scenes include his encounter with two playful young mountain gorillas who clambered onto him during his landmark 1979 series Life on Earth.
He also made his audience marvel at the teamwork of a pod of orcas hunting a seal by creating waves to break up ice, and his telling in 2012 of the story of “Lonesome George”, the last surviving Pinta Island tortoise, moved people to tears.
“He’s about 80 years old, and getting a bit creaky in his joints – as indeed am I,” Attenborough, then 86, said.
George’s death, two weeks after he was filmed, marked the extinction of his species.
“He’s focused the attention of the world on the fragility of our environment,” Attenborough said at the time.
While Attenborough has topped numerous popularity polls, being named the country’s most admired man and the greatest living British cultural icon, friends say he rolls his eyes when he is labelled a “national treasure”.
“What he feels is that he’s a public servant. He feels that he had the unique opportunity to be the voice for nature, to tell everybody about the wonders of nature,” Mike Gunton, a television producer who has worked with Attenborough many times, told Reuters.
As climate change has accelerated and the threat to much of the world has become more urgent, Attenborough devoted much of his 90s to raising public awareness.
His 2017 blockbuster Blue Planet 2, which highlighted the scourge of plastic in the ocean, achieved some of the highest viewing figures on British television before being sold to broadcasters around the world.
Albatrosses unwittingly feeding their chicks plastic fished from the ocean jolted public opinion and led the British government and major retailers to announce measures to reduce the use of plastics.
“I think every single person who’s seen anything that Sir David has done has been inspired to care about nature,” said Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum in London.
In Britain, Attenborough’s centenary is being marked with a week of special broadcasts on the BBC, a live concert at the Royal Albert Hall, events at museums, nature walks and tree planting.
The broadcasts include his new series Secret Garden. He remains heavily involved in program-making, driven by his enduring curiosity and joy of storytelling.
“That’s typical David. He makes everything really enjoyable,” said Mike Salisbury, who has worked as a producer on several Attenborough documentaries.
His BBC career took off in 1954 when he presented Zoo Quest, which involved him travelling to far-flung parts of the world and bringing animals back to London Zoo.
By the 1970s he had risen to be program controller at the broadcaster but decided he wanted to return to making nature documentaries.
Screened in 1979 when he was 52, Life on Earth made him a household name. He wrote the entire 13-hour script and travelled the world for three years to tell the story of evolution from simple organisms to humans.
Dozens of documentaries followed, including Blue Planet, Frozen Planet and Dynasties. As the decades passed, his sense of the need to act only increased.
“How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew what was happening to the world and did nothing?” Attenborough said.
David Attenborough turns 100: A look back on iconic storyteller’s extraordinary life
This Friday, May 8, David Attenborough will celebrate 100 remarkable years on Planet Earth. Few in history have had the impact of this iconic centenarian.
This Friday, May 8, David Attenborough will celebrate 100 remarkable years on Planet Earth.
Few in history have had the impact of this iconic centenarian.
He’s the man who invented modern nature documentary story-telling, and in a career spanning over 72 years, he’s tirelessly championed the natural world, urging his fellow citizens to protect the environment he’s spent a lifetime observing and capturing through some 100+ films and series.
The man has truly had a remarkable career: he’s championed technical advances and been instrumental in helping to save species.
He’s picked up 30 major broadcasting and environmental awards for his efforts and remains the only person to have ever won BAFTAs (British Academy of Film And Television Arts) across four television eras: black and white, colour, HD, and 3D.
Attenborough is so exceptional, he’s been knighted twice, first by Queen Elizabeth in 1985, then in 2022, when he was afforded the rare title of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) by King Charles.
As he reaches his incredible milestone, the world will be celebrating alongside him.
In the UK, the BBC — the network that gave him his first job way back in 1952 — has scheduled a suite of programming to commemorate his birthday.
They will also be live streaming David Attenborough’s 100 Years On Planet Earth, a celebratory live event from the Royal Albert Hall.
Closer to home, fans can get amongst the excitement too: The ABC, Attenborough’s first home on Aussie TV, have a dedicated section for his series on IView.
Here you can watch David Attenborough’s Celebration, a show that was a year in the making, and which charts him travelling to “parts of the world which have had special meaning to him during his 50 years of broadcasting.”
Throughout May, the ABC will also be showing some of Attenborough’s classic series every Saturday afternoon, including David Attenborough’s Galapagos and David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef, which saw the documentarian return to the reef some 60 years after first visiting in the 1950s.
Over on streaming, Netflix also has a number of his documentaries, including his most recent: Gorilla Story, which dropped only last month, and BritBox will be marking the occasion with 10 of his greatest series, including viewer favourite, The Blue Planet.
They’re all fitting tributes to a man who has had a remarkable impact on the millions who have sat down and watched one of his extraordinary nature programs.
And there are millions of us — his various series, dating right back to the early days of telvision, have always drawn vast audiences.
Way back in 1979, his Life on Earth documentary, which used innovate filming techniques to tell the 4-billion-year story of life, drew huge numbers, remaining to this day one of the most-watched series in history.
Attenborough’s reach is wide, and as nature enthusiast and TV presenter Steve Backshall recently pointed out, he’s inspired generations to embrace the natural world.
“David Attenborough has been like a favourite uncle, always there providing sumptuous stories and an endless insight into the natural world,” he recently told Radio Times.
“While renowned as a great naturalist, his finest ability is as a storyteller — he can hold us spellbound.”
Attenborough’s extraordinary life: a timeline
- 1926 Attenborough is born. He grew up on the campus of University College, Leicester, spending his childhood collecting fossils and stones.
- 1952 Joins the BBC. After a stint in the Royal Navy and in publishing, he joins the National Broadcaster as a trainee producer. Ironically, he didn’t even own a television at the time!
- 1954 First series airs: Zoo Quest saw him step in front of the camera for the first time to present. This series was considered ground-breaking at the time.
- 1965 Becomes the boss: Attenborough becomes Controller of BBC Two. He overhauls the struggling channel, going on to commission legendary shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
- 1973 Returns to film making: Attenborough stepped away from his leadership position to get back out on the road, returning to his first love: film making.
- 1979 Life On Earth airs : His celebrated 13-part epic goes to air. It remains one of the most-watched series in history.
- 1985 Awarded first knighthood: Queen Elizabeth awards him the honour for his services to broadcasting, and he officially becomes Sir David Attenborough.
- 1995 Championing technology: Through The Private Life of Plants, Attenborough showcases ground-breaking time-lapse photography to illustrate the “dramatic and competitive” lives of plants.
- 2001 The Blue Planet airs: This time it was the world’s oceans getting a look-in. He revealed deep-sea creatures never before captured on film.
- 2006 Planet Earth: This was the very first natural history series filmed in high definition — it won multiple TV awards.
- 2017 His environmental advocacy ramps up: The Blue Planet II shone a light on plastic pollution, sparking a global movement to reduce single-use plastics.
- 2020 A Life On Our Planet: Seen as his “witness statement,” this doco (and the accompanying book) called for urgent action to address climate issues.
- 2026 Celebrating a century: The world celebrates Attenborough’s 100 years.
