Overview
- Attenborough, who turns 100 on Friday, May 8, is being honored with BBC One’s David Attenborough’s 100 Years On Planet Earth and a season of his signature programs.
- Life on Earth in 1979 turned nature films into global event television and set the template that later HD, 3D and 4K cameras expanded.
- In later years he moved from quiet awe to open advocacy, warning leaders at COP24 in 2018 about a man-made climate crisis and presenting A Life on Our Planet as his witness statement.
- Blue Planet II in 2017 helped push plastic pollution into mainstream politics and media, and his 2025 film Ocean with David Attenborough drew about 350,000 cinema viewers across 30 countries.
- He has stayed active into his centenary with Wild London in 2026 and Secret Garden wrapping on May 3, alongside top honors in 2022 that included a Knight Grand Cross and UNEP’s Champion of the Earth.