David Attenborough turns 100 – Celebrate his remarkable life

With 72 years of nature documentaries under his belt, it is time to celebrate the life of David Attenborough and what better way than to take the opportunity to binge his remarkable back catalogue of work

Whilst some of us are much older than others, even I can’t claim to be anywhere near the age of the world’s most favourite natural historian and streaming service BritBox have lined up an entire collection including their favourite top ten to celebrate the big day.

Attenborough will post his century on 8^th May having been born in Middlesex, UK in 1926. The son of a University College principal, he has always been entwined in academia being brought up on the college grounds  

He started his media career at the BBC in 1952 and produced and presented his first programme in 1954 called “Animal Patterns” quickly followed by “Zoo Quest”

After parting ways with the BBC in 1972 with a reputation of creating high-quality nature documentaries, Attenborough went solo and since has become the preeminent authority on natural history.

With documentaries too many to mention it seems BritBox has done all the hard work collating the best of the best. They have even curated some fun-facts that condense a 72 year career into just a few lines. To do otherwise would simply take too much time

1. His presenting career began 72 years ago  in 1954 – making him the longest-serving TV naturalist and presenter in history.
2. He has narrated, written, and presented over 100 films and series.
3. He has visited more than 80 countries across his career.
4. He has won over 30 major broadcasting and environmental awards, and is the only person to have won BAFTAs across four television eras: black and white, colour, HD, and 3D.
5. His landmark series Life on Earth (1979) was watched by an estimated 500 million people worldwide.
6. As a Controller of BBC Two, he played a pivotal role in changing the colour of tennis balls from white to yellow during the BBC’s transition from black and white to colour broadcasting.
7. He has never held a driving licence.
8. More than a dozen species of flora and fauna have been named in his honour including a goblin spider and a flightless weevil.

So as the weather turns a bit colder, get rugged up and prepare yourself for a good old binge of the best of David Attenborough thanks to BritBox

Some of the shows on offer are below (with links to help you decide which ones to watch first)

Title

The Blue Planet

Blue Planet II

Life

Dinosaur Apocalypse

The Hunt: Nothing is Certain

Frozen Planet

Natural World (Galápagos)

Planet Earth

Africa

Madagascar

Plenty of events are planned for the big day with many of them obviously based in the UK but such is the universal appeal of the great man no doubt all corners of the globe will celebrate in their own way.

Here at home you may want to send David Attenborough a message of gratitude, hope or reflection courtesy of the Climate Action Foundation