BBC Earth celebrates Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday with new premieres and special programming
New shows will feature alongside beloved landmark series in celebration of Sir David's work and legacy
Today marks an incredible landmark 100th birthday for Sir David Attenborough. To celebrate, BBC Earth will premiere two new shows featuring the legendary naturalist and will be showcasing some of the finest programmes from his extraordinary seven-decade career.
New programmes
- Wild London, Friday 8 May, 20:00 – After a life spent travelling the globe, the world’s most famous naturalist turns his attention to the hidden natural wonders of his home city – London.
- Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure, Friday 15 May, 20:00 – featuring new interviews with David and the original production team as they reflect on the making of the ground-breaking series Life on Earth
From the archive
- Special episodes from some of Attenborough’s most beloved landmark series, airing on BBC Earth until 15 May.
- Today, to celebrate Sir David Attenbororough’s 100th Birthday, BBC Earth will air the first episodes from classic series including Africa, Life in Colour with David Attenborough, Green Planet, Blue Planet II, Seven Worlds, One Planet, Planet Earth, Mammals, and Asia – leading up to the premiere of Wild London at 20:00
- Over the weekend of 9-10 May, there is another chance to watch the whole series Asia, whilst Mammals will be shown from 11-15 May
- Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure will premiere on Friday 15 May at 20:00 (following a repeat of Wild London at 19:00)
Pierre Cloete, VP for Africa at BBC Studios, says: “This incredible milestone presents us with an opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary contribution Sir David Attenborough has made to our knowledge and understanding of our whole world, the life that inhabits it and even our own place on the planet. Over seven phenomenal decades Sir David Attenborough has inspired us, entertained us, challenged us and opened our eyes to the wonders of the natural world. We hope you will join us in wishing Sir David a very happy birthday whilst enjoying two fantastic new documentaries alongside some of the many highlights from his broadcasting career.”
Wild London
Sir David Attenborough embarks on his most intimate and poignant film ever, revealing the hidden natural wonders of his home city – London.
After a life spent travelling the globe, the world’s most famous naturalist turns his attention to England’s iconic capital. He discovers an array of animal dramas playing out across the city. They include peregrines nesting on the House of Parliament; deer roaming the streets of east London, snakes hanging from trees in central London and a family of beavers making their home next door to a shopping centre. Filmed over Attenborough’s 100th year, the series reveals that London’s urban environment is full of natural wonders to rival anything on planet Earth.
Wild London premieres Friday 8 May at 20:00 on BBC Earth (DStv Channel 184) and will be available on DStv Catch Up.
Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure
In 1976, production began on David Attenborough’s Life on Earth. No-one had ever attempted a natural history series on this scale before. This is the remarkable story behind one of the BBC’s most famous wildlife blockbusters. A three-year, hair-raising odyssey around the world, travelling to 40 countries, across a million miles, and filming over 600 species.
Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure goes behind-the-scenes on this ground-breaking landmark series, featuring exclusive interviews with David Attenborough and other members of the original crew. With fascinating insights, they reveal the highs and lows of filming the series during a truly exciting moment in television history, when global jet travel and colour filming were still in their infancy. Along the way, the crew encountered multiple challenges, including a coup in the Comoros, being shot at in Rwanda and threats from Saddam Hussein’s army in Iraq. Broadcast in 1979 and watched by 500 million people worldwide, it confirmed David’s reputation as the most successful and influential wildlife filmmaker of our time. His astonishing encounter with gorillas in the mountains of Rwanda for this series is frequently voted one of the top TV moments of all time.
Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure premieres Friday 15 May at 20:00 on BBC Earth (DStv Channel 184) and will be available on DStv Catch Up.
