Shows that made Attenborough the face and voice of nature documentariespublished at 18:21 BST
18:21 BST
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The British Film Institute ranked 1979’s Life on Earth at 32 in its 2000 poll of the 100 best British television programmes ever produced
Across the decades, David Attenborough has been the voice of some of the most groundbreaking nature documentaries ever produced.
Zoo Quest: Attenborough first appeared on television screens in the Fifties. In a time before mass tourism, the places and animals filmed in the programme were unfamiliar to the majority of the audience and had not been seen on TV before.
Life on Earth: About 50 years ago, the BBC’s Natural History Unit set out to produce the most ambitious series it had ever attempted and, three years and more than 100 shoots in 49 countries later, Life on Earth was released in 1979.
The 13-part series, which saw Attenborough travel the globe to trace the story of the evolution of life on Earth, was watched by an estimated 500 million people across the world.
The Blue Planet: In 2001 an eight part series was released in which Attenborough explored the marine life of the world’s oceans. After winning a Bafta and two Emmy awards, in 2017 the show received a sequel, Blue Planet II.
Planet Earth: Followed in 2006, which moved camera crews from the oceans to dry land to explore how animals survive in all corners of the globe.
It released to universal acclaim, taking home four Emmys, and leading to the equally critically acclaimed 2016 sequel Planet Earth II.
There have been dozens more shows over the years, including Frozen Planet, Dynasties, Our Planet and – most recently – Wild London, produced last year while Attenborough was 99 years old.