{"id":946084,"date":"2026-05-08T12:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T12:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/946084\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T12:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T12:50:16","slug":"happy-centenary-david-attenboroughs-100-most-spectacular-tv-moments-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/946084\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy centenary, David! Attenborough\u2019s 100 most spectacular TV moments | Television"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, David Attenborough<\/a> turns 100. He is, without question, Britain\u2019s greatest national treasure; a man who has devoted his career to helping the public engage with the natural world. But his story is also the story of television. Attenborough joined the BBC just as television ownership hit its biggest period of growth, then went on to shape the medium, both on and off camera, over the next decades. He is as important a figure in television as you will ever find, and here are his wildest moments.<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Big break (1952)<\/p>\n

At the age of 26, Attenborough gains his first television credit, producing Coelacanth, in which biologist Julian Huxley discusses the rediscovery of an ancient lobe-finned fish thought to be extinct. Like much of Attenborough\u2019s early work, the show has been lost to time.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

The gameshow debut (1953)<\/p>\n

Attenborough makes his first screen appearance. It\u2019s on the gameshow Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?, in which a panel of experts are challenged to identify unusual objects from museums.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

A natural beginning (1953)The young broadcaster seen in his habitat. Photograph: Popperfoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough\u2019s first natural history series, Animal Patterns, debuts. He presents while Huxley brings a selection of animals to the studio.<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a small world (1953-1954)<\/p>\n

Attenborough returns to production, showing an early eye for audience-friendly formats. As well as indulging his love of folk music with the series Song Hunter, he makes a programme called It\u2019s a Small World, tantalisingly listed at the time as \u2018a close-up view of tiny things.\u2019<\/p>\n

5.<\/p>\n

Stopped in the street (1954)<\/p>\n

Attenborough\u2019s seminal series Zoo Quest starts \u2013 a documentary about an expedition to west Africa to capture a white-necked rockfowl for display in London zoo. The show is so popular that Attenborough is stopped in the street by fans desperate to know if they caught the bird.<\/p>\n

6.<\/p>\n

The wonder of the sloth (1955)An armadillo gets the spotlight on Zoo Quest, but the sloth in the background is equally wondrous. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n

Such is the success of Zoo Quest that Attenborough sets off again the following year, this time to South America. Episode one saw him capture a sloth. <\/strong>In 2018, he told a Bafta audience that it was probably the first time anyone in the audience had ever seen one.<\/p>\n

7.<\/p>\n

Caught in a trap (1956)<\/p>\n

Attenborough\u2019s expedition sent him to Indonesia, where in a thrilling moment of peril he caught a komodo dragon in a wooden trap. As he sadly announced later, he was unable to secure a permit to bring it home.<\/p>\n

8.<\/p>\n

Desert Island Discs (1957)<\/p>\n

Not strictly a TV moment, but nonetheless a significant point in anyone\u2019s career \u2013 Attenborough appears on celebrated BBC<\/a> radio interview show Desert Island Discs. Although the episode has been lost, his choices have not. They include Maladie D\u2019Amour by Henri Salvador, String Quintet in C major by Franz Schubert and Stars and Stripes Forever by Albert Ket\u00e8lbey.<\/p>\n

9.<\/p>\n

A legend is born! (1957)<\/p>\n

Zoo Quest for the Paradise Birds debuts. Attenborough finds himself being charged at by armed tribesmen in Papua New Guinea. His unflappable reaction is to hold out his hand and say: \u201cGood afternoon.\u201d Unbelievably, this evaporates tensions immediately. A legend is born.<\/p>\n

10.<\/p>\n

His star ascends (1958)The young Prince Charles and Princess Anne visit the BBC\u2019s Lime Grove Studios in 1958. Photograph: Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough had long produced this strand of films about life in (then) far-flung corners of the earth. But at this point his star had ascended so high that he began to narrate them.<\/p>\n

11.<\/p>\n

David Rottenborough? (1959)Attenborough amid a swarm of butterflies. Photograph: David Attenborough<\/p>\n

Another Zoo Quest expedition, this time in Paraguay. Among other things, he encounters a giant swarm of butterflies<\/a>. As they land on him, he forlornly exclaims that they must have confused him for a piece of rotting fruit.<\/p>\n

12.<\/p>\n

The plane crash cult (1960)<\/p>\n

Realising that tribespeople were as fascinating to viewers as animals, Attenborough made The People of Paradise. The most spectacular episode was the second, where he ventures to Vanuatu and discovers a cargo cult \u2013 a tribe practising a religion centred on praying for planes to crash and spill their bounty.<\/p>\n

13.<\/p>\n

Born free! (1961)<\/p>\n

Elsa the Lioness, in which Attenborough inspires the film Born Free by visiting Kenya to shine a spotlight on Joy and George Adamson and the orphaned cubs they adopted.<\/p>\n

14.<\/p>\n

His excitement is palpable (1961)<\/p>\n

Another Zoo Quest series, this time to Madagascar. Nine years after producing a film about it, he finally comes face to face with a coelacanth. His excitement is palpable.<\/p>\n

15.<\/p>\n

Off with his top (1963)<\/p>\n

15. Quest Under Capricorn. The final Zoo Quest series (note the dropping of the \u201cZoo\u201d), this follows the four months Attenborough spent in the Northern Territory of Australia. Produced in colour, the show sees him strip off his top and fling himself at a frilled lizard.<\/p>\n

16.<\/p>\n

Yoga poses (1963)<\/p>\n

Yehudi Menuhin and His Guru, a film in which Attenborough interviews the man credited with bringing yoga to the west. Notable not only for its subject matter, but also its director: a young upstart named Melvyn Bragg.<\/p>\n

17.<\/p>\n

Reinvent this! (1965)Attenborough with Michael Peacock, the BBC controller, and soft toy versions of Hullabaloo and Custard, the kangaroo mascots used as logos for the launch of BBC2. Photograph: R McPhedran\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough is persuaded to become the controller of BBC Two, a channel that has yet to find its identity. He quickly goes about reinventing it.<\/p>\n

18.<\/p>\n

Man of the people (1965)<\/p>\n

Prior to becoming controller, and while studying for an anthropology degree, Attenborough makes a series about the Zambezi. It would be his last major show for some years.<\/p>\n

19.<\/p>\n

Money, money, money (1966)Attenborough during his stint as controller of BBC Two. Photograph: Daily Mail\/Rex\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Attenborough commissions The Money Programme, which would run for 44 years. Within three weeks it has broadcast a special entitled Could the World Money System Collapse?<\/p>\n

20.<\/p>\n

Aceing it (1967)Billie Jean King and Ann Jones after the 1967 women\u2019s singles final at Wimbledon, in glorious full colour. Photograph: Fox Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough introduces colour television to the UK for the first time, starting with BBC Two\u2019s Wimbledon coverage. Two years later, he is promoted to BBC director of programmes, making him responsible for the output of both BBC channels.<\/p>\n

21.<\/p>\n

A Balian miracle (1969)<\/p>\n

Thirteen years after visiting Indonesia for Zoo Quest, Attenborough returns for The Miracle of Bali, a hypnotic, full-colour travelogue<\/a> about the island\u2019s people and animals. Viewers are entranced by scenes of tribespeople dancing while jabbing themselves with swords.<\/p>\n

22.<\/p>\n

Flying high (1969)Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus stars Terry Jones, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle in 1969. Photograph: Ullstein Bild\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough commissions Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus. It is widely considered one of the most influential comedy shows ever made.<\/p>\n

23.<\/p>\n

Cue the applause! (1969)Snooker comes to television. Photograph: Mark Liley\/Sportsphoto<\/p>\n

Attenborough commissions the snooker show Pot Black, to demonstrate the appeal of colour television. It is widely thought to be the moment snooker was popularised as a spectator sport in the UK. It ran for 38 years.<\/p>\n

24.<\/p>\n

TV grows up (1969)<\/p>\n

Attenborough commissions Civilisation, art historian Kenneth Clark\u2019s authoritative take on his medium. <\/strong>This is often named as the moment television matured as an art form, trusting its audience to absorb intelligent, big-picture ideas.<\/p>\n

25.<\/p>\n

Music for musos (1971)Folk-rock band America on the first edition of The Old Grey Whistle Test. Photograph: Michael Putland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough commissions The Old Grey Whistle Test, a music programme for serious music fans, rather than the younger-skewing Top of the Pops.<\/p>\n

26.<\/p>\n

The greatest gifts of all (1971)Attenborough and members of the previously uncontacted Biami tribe use gestures and sign language to communicate. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n

Attenborough takes a sabbatical from his day job to film a passion project entitled A Blank on the Map, in which he makes first contact with the Biami tribe of Papua New Guinea<\/a>, offering them gifts of newspaper and salt.<\/p>\n

27.<\/p>\n

Man ascends! (1973)<\/p>\n

Attenborough commissions The Ascent of Man, Jacob Bronowski\u2019s authoritative history of human society\u2019s advancements through science.<\/p>\n

28.<\/p>\n

Viewers are shocked (1973)<\/p>\n

Attenborough resigns from BBC management to make the natural history equivalent of Civilisation. In the meantime, he films Eastwards With Attenborough, where he travels to Borneo. Of everything he sees there, viewers are most shocked by a tribe whose skin is pale from lack of sunlight.<\/p>\n

29.<\/p>\n

Canine characters (1973)Jane Goodall with a wild dog pup. Photograph: Everett\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

As part of the long-running The World About Us series, Attenborough narrates The Wild Dogs of Africa, a groundbreaking film made by Jane Goodall and her husband Hugo Van Lawick. Unlike previous films \u2013 which treated animals as a curiosity \u2013 this one treats them as characters, paving the way for modern wildlife documentaries.<\/p>\n

30.<\/p>\n

Inside the Palace (1974)<\/p>\n

Attenborough makes Spectacular Britain, an hour-long film about how the country\u2019s nature changes throughout the year, including segments about puffins, salmon and, for the first time on television, the gardens of Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n

31.<\/p>\n

The BBC\u2019s priciest show (1975)<\/p>\n

Attenborough introduces and narrates Explorers, a series of docudramas recreating the voyages of famous explorers, including Roald Amundsen and Mary Kingsley and Jedediah Smith. At time of broadcast, it was the most expensive BBC show ever.<\/p>\n

32.<\/p>\n

A last look at people (1975)Tribal art explored in The Tribal Eye. Photograph: Dave Edwards\/BBC<\/p>\n

Attenborough writes and narrates The Tribal Eye<\/a>, about the mask rituals of various tribes. From this point onwards it will be animals, not humans, that capture his attention.<\/p>\n

33.<\/p>\n

The envy of the world (1977)<\/p>\n

The first episode of the Attenborough-narrated Wildlife<\/a> on One airs. In total, 253 episodes would run over 28 years, foregrounding animals as the key characters, and providing the training ground that made the BBC\u2019s Natural History Unit the envy of the world.<\/p>\n

34.<\/p>\n

As ambitious as TV will ever get (1979)

Attenborough\u2019s long-gestating plan to make a natural history series on the scale of Civilisation and The Ascent of Man is finally realised. Life on Earth is a milestone television event<\/a>, shot in 100 locations with the help of more than 500 scientists. The scale of the show is demonstrated in the first episode, which travels through Central America, the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands and ends with Attenborough diving in the Great Barrier Reef. It was, and remains, as ambitious as television gets.<\/p>\n

35.<\/p>\n

A whale of a time (1979)Filming the influential series Life on Earth. Photograph: BBC Studios\/PA<\/p>\n

In episode 10, Attenborough goes diving again, this time up close with a pod of humpback whales. The moment<\/a> a 40-ton mother glides by the camera remains incredible.<\/p>\n

36.<\/p>\n

Giggles with gorillas (1979)<\/p>\n

Episode 12 contains the quintessential Attenborough moment. He encounters a band of gorillas in Rwanda, and the babies quickly start grooming him and, in one famous instance, lying on top of him. In a whispered ad-lib, he says: \u201cThere is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

37.<\/p>\n

A warning for the future (1979)Attenborough in the Grand Canyon, making Life on Earth. Photograph: BBC Picture Publicity<\/p>\n

The final episode concerns human beings. In what would become a trademark of his, he uses it as a warning for the future<\/a>, saying: \u201cIf man were to disappear, for whatever reason, there is doubtless somewhere some small unobtrusive creature that would seize the opportunity and, with a spurt of evolution, take man\u2019s place.\u201d<\/p>\n

38.<\/p>\n

Well blow me down! (1984)Attenborough beside the Krafla volcano in Iceland. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n

Buoyed by the reception to Life on Earth, Attenborough makes a sequel. The Living Planet is just as ambitious as its predecessor, as evidenced by a sequence<\/a> (at 17 min 57 sec) in the opener where Attenborough stands before a volcano in Iceland as it erupts. The fact that he remains completely unflappable despite the noise, heat and obvious danger, is astonishing. It may well count as one of the most incredible sequences of his career.<\/p>\n

39.<\/p>\n

Bear necessities (1984)Getting to know an Australian pygmy goanna lizard. Photograph: Fairfax Media Archives\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Inserting himself into the action more and more, the highlight of the third episode comes when he sneaks into a cave and shines an enormous light directly into the face of a hibernating black bear.<\/p>\n

40.<\/p>\n

Heave ho! (1984)With two albatrosses on Bird Island, South Georgia, for The Living Planet. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n

In the fourth episode Attenborough, ever the daredevil, ascends to the canopy of the South American rainforest, heaving himself up 200ft in the air on pulleys to observe \u201cthe greatest proliferation of life that you can find anywhere on the surface of the Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

41.<\/p>\n

All aboard the Vomit Comet (1984)Attenborough demonstrates the effects of weightlessness. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n

The spirit of adventure continues. In episode seven, Attenborough boards Nasa\u2019s gravity-defying astronaut training plane, dubbed the Vomit Comet. As it embarks upon a series of parabolic arcs, he becomes weightless. The most infectiously joyful Attenborough has ever been on screen.<\/p>\n

42.<\/p>\n

Bringing us all down to Earth (1984)<\/p>\n

However, the final episode<\/a> brings us all back down to Earth, hard. A look at how humanity has adapted to Earth, it is a nightmare of intensive fishing and battery farming and deforestation. In conclusion, he darkly determines that \u201cClearly, we could devastate the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

43.<\/p>\n

One man, 120 million crabs (1990)<\/p>\n

The third part of his Life trilogy, The Trials of Life, debuts and demonstrates \u2013 through birth, feeding, mating and cohabitation \u2013 the sheer difficulty of being alive. In episode one, he pulls off one of the bravest feats of his career: presenting a piece to camera while 120 million red crabs attempt to crawl up his trousers.<\/p>\n

44.<\/p>\n

Pirate birds (1990)<\/p>\n

In episode four, Attenborough spends the first 60 seconds<\/a> on the Shetland coast being divebombed by skuas as he approaches their nest. In response, he explains that they are \u2018pirates\u2019, and \u2018killers\u2019.<\/p>\n

45.<\/p>\n

Fate sealed (1990)<\/p>\n

One of the main gifts of Attenborough\u2019s films is their ability to show new and interesting ways killer whales hunt their prey. Episode four marks the genesis of this thread, with a sequence where an orca repeatedly ploughs through a pack of helpless seals.<\/p>\n

46.<\/p>\n

Lighten up (1990)<\/p>\n

In episode 10, Attenborough travels to Malaysia and watches, rapt, as thousands of fireflies take flight and dance around him.<\/p>\n

47.<\/p>\n

An iceberg collapses (1993)Cracks in the ice. Photograph: Reda\/Universal Images Group\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough presents Life in the Freezer, a look at the wildlife of Antarctica. This is a climate where temperatures of -70C and winds of 100mph are common, and Attenborough spends the first episode in a tiny boat beside a collapsing iceberg. It is important to point out that Attenborough is 67 years old at time of broadcast.<\/p>\n

48.<\/p>\n

The disturbing life of plants (1995)<\/p>\n

Attenborough turns his attention to flora, for the series The Private Life of Plants. Groundbreaking timelapse technology allows viewers to witness the movement of plants with dramatic speed. The segment on brambles<\/a>, aggressively flailing as they drive their way forwards, is particularly disturbing.<\/p>\n

49.<\/p>\n

Strangler things (1995)<\/p>\n

Then we meet the Strangler Fig, which wraps itself around host trees, choking them to death. The whole thing is presented like a horror movie.<\/p>\n

50.<\/p>\n

The chainsaw bird (1998)A lyrebird in close-up. Photograph: Wirestock, Inc\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Three years later comes The Life of Birds. Almost 45 years after starting his career at the BBC, he still finds new things to show audiences. Here<\/a> we meet a lyrebird, which mimics 20 species of birds, a car alarm, a camera shutter and a chainsaw.<\/p>\n

51.<\/p>\n

Bird calls (1998)<\/p>\n

In the same series, Attenborough visits Australia\u2019s Lord Howe Island, and attempts to attract a group of Providence petrels by mimicking their call. It works absurdly well<\/a>. As soon as he starts, birds start falling to the ground and crawling all over him.<\/p>\n

52.<\/p>\n

Birds of praise (1998)<\/p>\n

As is becoming a pattern, the series ends with a sober look at the impact of humankind on birds. We are shown a long procession of birds that man has, deliberately or otherwise, driven to extinction.<\/p>\n

53.<\/p>\n

The new dinosaurs? (2000)<\/p>\n

Attenborough\u2019s increasing focus on environmentalism is underlined with the three-part series State of the Planet, in which he argues that humans are triggering a mass extinction on the scale of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs.<\/p>\n

54.<\/p>\n

A break from animals (2000)Easter Island heads. Photograph: Karen Schwartz\/AP<\/p>\n

The curate\u2019s egg The Lost Gods of Easter Island<\/a>, in which Attenborough is sent on a wild global journey \u2013 from Russia to Australia <\/strong>to Easter Island itself \u2013 to locate the significance of a wooden statue he bought at auction in New York in the 1980s. While a film like this runs the risk of coming off as indulgent, Attenborough\u2019s breathless enthusiasm means we end up as invested as he is.<\/p>\n

55.<\/p>\n

Aliens of the deep (2001)<\/p>\n

Attenborough\u2019s next great leap forwards comes in the form of The Blue Planet, taking viewers to the depths of the world\u2019s oceans. The second episode remains extraordinary, showing us a variety of alien-like creatures for the first time<\/a>, including pulsating jellyfish that flash with light and shrimp that fire bioluminescent glue out of their bodies.<\/p>\n

56.<\/p>\n

The most terrifying moment (2001)Orcas on the hunt. Photograph: De Agostini\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The series also gives us an update on the machinations of killer whales, this time with a brutal, terrifying segment<\/a> on how they work in packs to take down a much larger grey whale.<\/p>\n

57.<\/p>\n

Haunted by a whale (2001)<\/p>\n

One of the most haunting sections of The Blue Planet follows a whale carcass to the bottom of the sea<\/a>, where a wealth of hungry creatures feast upon it. When the crew return 18 months later, all that is left is a perfect skeleton.<\/p>\n

58.<\/p>\n

The darkness lifts (2002)Attenborough enjoys a meerkat moment while filming The Life of Mammals. Photograph: Adam Seward\/Alamy<\/p>\n

The Life of Mammals, and its use of infrared cameras, allows viewers to see behaviours that had previously been hidden from them, such as lions using the dark of night to <\/strong>take down an oblivious zebra.<\/p>\n

59.<\/p>\n

David gets giddy! (2002)<\/p>\n

The Life of Mammals<\/a> also allows Attenborough to do something he hasn\u2019t done in decades; remove himself from the wild to present something studio-based. Here, he walks the length of a CGI blue whale to better understand its physiology. Although the crude technology ages the segment more than most of Attenborough\u2019s work, he is clearly giddy about being able to demonstrate scale like this.<\/p>\n

60.<\/p>\n

Chest-clutching horror (2005)<\/p>\n

Technological advances allow insects to be filmed in closeup for the first time, so Attenborough makes Life in the Undergrowth<\/a>. In the standout sequence (at 11min 5sec), he uses a stick to goad a trapdoor spider out of hiding, and it leaps forwards so quickly that he clutches his chest in fright.<\/p>\n

61.<\/p>\n

Nightmare spiders (2005)<\/p>\n

But greater horrors are to come. Witness the footage of the grub that latches on to an orchard spider, injects it with a hormone to \u201cderange\u201d it, then slowly sucks all the liquid from its body. Genuinely nightmarish.<\/p>\n

62.<\/p>\n

Lions v elephant (2006)<\/p>\n

The most expensive nature documentary ever produced by the BBC: Planet Earth. Filmed over four years, in high definition, the series is packed with awe-inspiring firsts. Chief among these is the sequence where, at night, a pride of lions take down an elephant.<\/p>\n

63.<\/p>\n

The first snow leopard (2006)<\/p>\n

Episode two is famed for its footage of snow leopards on the slopes of the Himalayas; reportedly the first ever video footage of the animal.<\/p>\n

64.<\/p>\n

Breach! (2006)<\/p>\n

Planet Earth also gives us an image so iconic that it forms the basis of the show\u2019s entire ad campaign: crystal-clear footage of a great white shark launching itself at a seal so hard that it fully breaches.<\/p>\n

65.<\/p>\n

Saving the planet (2006)Sir David Attenborough in 2006. Photograph: David Levene\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Attenborough makes another urgent appeal about the future of the planet. In the two-part The Truth About Climate Change<\/a>, he calls for unified global action to halt the climate emergency, stating clearly that unless we act now, we will \u201cdoom future generations to catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n

66.<\/p>\n

His vision is complete (2008)<\/p>\n

Attenborough is now 81. Life in Cold Blood, his reptile and amphibian series, represents the completion of a vision. He tells reporters that \u201cThe evolutionary history is finished. The endeavour is complete.\u201d On screen he is still as engaged as ever, as with the sequence where he drops a turtle egg into a beaker of water<\/a> to encourage it to hatch.<\/p>\n

67.<\/p>\n

\u2018My goodness!\u2019 (2008)<\/p>\n

The series also contains a moment where Attenborough uses infrared cameras to watch a snake kill and eat a mouse. \u201cMy goodness!\u201d he cries as the attack happens. \u201cThat\u2019s a dead mouse all right!\u201d<\/p>\n

68.<\/p>\n

Sex in a suit of armour (2008)<\/p>\n

Attenborough\u2019s perennial boyishness is brought to the fore during a scene shot on the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, where two giant tortoises attempt to have sex in front of him<\/a>, on a volcano. \u201cMaking love in a suit of armour is not easy,\u201d he laments.<\/p>\n

69.<\/p>\n

Mesmerising dolphins (2009)<\/p>\n

His new series Life<\/a> attempts to capture a number of behaviours never previously seen. We see dolphins learn how to catch fish by encircling them in a ring of mud, resulting in some mesmerising aerial footage.<\/p>\n

70.<\/p>\n

Unforgiving dragons (2009)<\/p>\n

We also see a komodo dragon take down a water buffalo, proving for the first time that it uses its venomous bite as a hunting tactic.<\/p>\n

71.<\/p>\n

Speed dating (2009)<\/p>\n

Life<\/a> also includes footage of the humpback whale\u2019s heat run \u2013 in which a female whale speeds through the seas while a clutch of males follow, fighting each other for dominance. It\u2019s a TV first, with cameras mounted on boats, helicopters and freedivers.<\/p>\n

72.<\/p>\n

Whale of a time (2009)<\/p>\n

The series treats us to another instalment of killer whales being idiots, this time (unsuccessfully) chasing down a seal as it darts around a lonesome speck of floating ice.<\/p>\n

73.<\/p>\n

Another stark warning (2010)<\/p>\n

A sorrowful episode of Horizon entitled The Death of the Oceans?<\/a> in which Attenborough claims that, if allowed to remain at current levels, the international commercial fishing industry will collapse by 2050. The warning remains relevant; last year Oceana UK reported that a quarter of all commercial UK fish stocks have become critically low.<\/p>\n

74.<\/p>\n

Flying monsters (2010)On the set of Flying Monsters 3D. Photograph: Atlantic Productions<\/p>\n

In something of a first, Attenborough leaves the safety of the BBC to make a film for Sky. Flying Monsters 3D is the first 3D documentary to be screened on British television. It is in keeping with his tradition of using the latest technology to tell his stories, and it will not be an isolated incident.<\/p>\n

75.<\/p>\n

Shame on Discovery (2011)<\/p>\n

Attenborough makes Frozen Planet<\/a>, a series about the Arctic and Antarctic, for the BBC. The standout episode is the seventh, which warns of the threat posed to these regions by the climate crisis. Shamefully, the Discovery Channel initially opts not to broadcast this episode in America.<\/p>\n

76.<\/p>\n

Skuas! (2012)<\/p>\n

Another Sky documentary, The Penguin King 3D, offers a close-up sequence of a skua attacking a penguin colony. \u201cSkuas!<\/a>\u201d Attenborough yells in a moment of high drama.<\/p>\n

77.<\/p>\n

Aged 87 and as good as ever (2013)On location making Galapagos 3D. Photograph: Robert Hollingworth\/Colossus Productions\/Sky 3D<\/p>\n

Attenborough makes Galapagos<\/a> 3D for Sky. He appears onscreen, visiting the islands for the fourth time, at the age of 87. We see him sitting, perfectly content, surrounded by hundreds of marine iguanas.<\/p>\n

78.<\/p>\n

Octopus v crab (2015)<\/p>\n

Attenborough narrates The Hunt, a series about exactly that. A memorable sequence features a pulsating octopus hauling itself across the land in pursuit of a crab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

79.<\/p>\n

A heart-stopping iguana (2016)<\/p>\n

A sequel to Planet Earth, entitled Planet Earth II, enraptures the nation, not least thanks to a heart-stopping moment where a marine iguana runs for its life while being chased down by dozens of racer snakes that appear from nowhere.<\/p>\n

80.<\/p>\n

Back with bears (2016)Sir David Attenborough in 2016. Photograph: David Levene\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Less terrifying but just as engaging was footage, filmed by remote camera, of a bear scratching its back on a tree<\/a>. A rare moment of whimsy for someone as rigorously scientific as Attenborough.<\/p>\n

81.<\/p>\n

David breaks the internet (2017)In 2017, photographed in the gardens of the Petersham Hotel in Richmond. Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The following year comes Blue Planet II, which, at 14 million viewers, is the most-watched TV programme in the UK in 2017, and is so widely watched in China that it reportedly causes nationwide internet issues. Little wonder, when it presents 4K images as spectacular as that of the Portuguese man o\u2019war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

82.<\/p>\n

Shoal goals (2017)<\/p>\n

Similarly impressive is footage of orca and humpback whales slicing through unimaginably large herring shoals.<\/p>\n

83.<\/p>\n

An evasive sperm whale (2017)<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes footage has long been part of the BBC Natural History Unit\u2019s output, but sometimes it outshines the wildlife itself. Such is the case with a Planet Earth II featurette about a crew struggling to attach a camera (on a sucker cup) to the side of an especially evasive sperm whale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

84.<\/p>\n

The most heartbreaking moment to bear his name (2017)<\/p>\n

Episode four contains what may well be the most heartbreaking footage to bear Attenborough\u2019s name. A baby pilot whale dies, after ingesting milk possibly contaminated with plastics, and we watch as its grief-stricken mother carries its body around for days<\/a>.<\/p>\n

85.<\/p>\n

Follow the leader (2018)<\/p>\n

Dynasties, a series notable for treating wildlife footage as character study. In the first episode we meet David, an alpha chimpanzee<\/a> in the Senegalese forest who is beaten and left for dead by his tribe.<\/p>\n

86.<\/p>\n

Penguin controversy (2018)<\/p>\n

Dynasties makes headlines for its behind-the-scenes footage. Traditionally, the rule with wildlife photography is to never interfere with nature. However, during an episode about penguins, it is revealed that production stepped in to dig a slope to save penguins trapped inside a deep trench.<\/p>\n

87.<\/p>\n

Hello Netflix (2019)<\/p>\n

Another change of broadcaster. Our Planet is Attenborough\u2019s first Netflix show, made with the World Wildlife Fund. As such, it has a greater focus on humanity\u2019s contribution to the climate crisis than much of his BBC work.<\/p>\n

88.<\/p>\n

Thriving in Chornobyl (2019)Exploring the revelatory area around Chornobyl. Photograph: Moving Picture Hire\/Joe Fereday\/Silverback Films<\/p>\n

Our Planet shows that the world would cope just fine without us. We are shown what happened to Chornobyl<\/a> (41 min 11 sec) after humans departed, and the deer, wolves and Przewalski\u2019s horses that have come to thrive in the region.<\/p>\n

89.<\/p>\n

A stark warning (2019)In 2019, speaking at Glastonbury festival. Photograph: David Levene\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Climate Change: The Facts airs, a one-hour BBC documentary where, more starkly than ever, Attenborough urges humanity<\/a> to start changing its behaviour. \u201cThe scientific evidence is that if we have not taken dramatic action within the next decade, we could face irreversible damage to the natural world and the collapse of our societies,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

90.<\/p>\n

96 years young (2022)Attenborough films in high definition for the first time in The Green Planet. Photograph: Sam Barker\/BBC<\/p>\n

After high definition updates to much of his output, Attenborough makes The Green Planet to bring The Private Life of Plants up to date. Now 96, Attenborough still makes repeated appearances on camera, and is just as compelling<\/a> as ever.<\/p>\n

91.<\/p>\n

Jurassic Park got it wrong (2022)David with his brother Richard, who starred in Jurassic Park, in 2001. Photograph: Nick Cunard\/Rex Features<\/p>\n

That same year, Attenborough switches broadcaster yet again, narrating Prehistoric Planet for Apple TV. This is notable for showing how far our understanding of dinosaurs has come since the days of Jurassic Park.<\/p>\n

92.<\/p>\n

Squelchy slug sex (2023)Filming with puffins on Skomer for the Wild Isles series, off the Pembrokeshire coast, Wales. Photograph: Alex Board\/BBC\/Silverback Films<\/p>\n

A return to the UK and the BBC for Wild Isles, a show about the bizarre wildlife of the UK, such as the unpleasantly squelchy mating rituals of the garden slug<\/a>.<\/p>\n

93.<\/p>\n

More beastly birds (2023)Watch out, puffin. Photograph: Mike Kemp\/In Pictures\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attenborough returns to one of his most enduring subjects \u2013 the absolute viciousness of seabirds. Its sequence of herring gulls grabbing puffins by the neck and mugging them for their food is one of the most brutal of Attenborough\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

94.<\/p>\n

Shocking showdowns (2023)<\/p>\n

After seven years, a sequel to Planet Earth II is released. Planet Earth III pushes the envelope yet again, not least with shocking footage of a life and death showdown between a cobra and a toad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

95.<\/p>\n

Shark horror (2023)<\/p>\n

The series also includes a dramatic segment on the angel shark, which can burst out of hiding to swallow its prey<\/a> in a tenth of a second.<\/p>\n

96.<\/p>\n

Whale on whale action (2025)<\/p>\n

Parenthood allows Attenborough, after all these years, to find new ways to show what fiendish hunters killer whales really are<\/a>. This time, at last, we see a pack of them take down a blue whale.<\/p>\n

97.<\/p>\n

A restless spirit (2025)Even the tiniest creatures, such as this harvest mouse, are worthy of our attention. Photograph: Joe Loncraine\/BBC\/Passion Planet<\/p>\n

His restless spirit results in him moving on yet again by making a theatrically released movie, Ocean With David Attenborough.<\/p>\n

98.<\/p>\n

A century of glee (2026)Attenborough with a peregrine chick in the Houses of Parliament, in London. Photograph: Gavin Thurston\/BBC\/Passion Planet Ltd<\/p>\n

In his 100th year, Attenborough releases a flurry of new projects. The first is Wild London<\/a> where, among other things, he fondles a peregrine falcon chick with such glee he has to stop himself giggling.<\/p>\n

99.<\/p>\n

In his own backyard (2026)<\/p>\n

Next he makes Secret Garden<\/a>. Despite being set in the UK, it contains a sequence of a helpless blue tit chick being stalked by a domestic cat. It is incredibly tense.<\/a><\/p>\n

100.<\/p>\n

Gorilla reunion (2026)The poignant A Gorilla Story. Photograph: Ben Cherry\/Silverback Films\/Netflix<\/p>\n

Attenborough also releases A Gorilla Story<\/a>, in which he revisits the famous gorilla group from Life on Earth. Although the film largely concerns the descendants of the primates he met in Rwanda in 1979, his reminiscences about them are unbearably poignant<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, David Attenborough turns 100. He is, without question, Britain\u2019s greatest national treasure; a man who has devoted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":946085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[70,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-946084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116539046479182511","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}