Attenborough, Sir David

Attenborough, Sir David (1926- ), British presenter of television natural history programmes. He was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, the younger brother of Richard Attenborough, and grew up in Leicester where his father, a professor of Anglo-Saxon, was principal of the university. He read natural sciences at Clare College, Cambridge and, after National Service in the Royal Navy, worked in educational publishing. In 1952 he joined the BBC, and went on to make his first television nature series, Zoo Quest (1954-1961).

The enthusiasm of Attenborough’s presenting style won him a wide following. After a further series, Adventure (1962-1963), he was about to leave the BBC to take another degree when he was offered the controllership of the new BBC2 channel. He proved an exceptional controller, popular and approachable; among the programmes he initiated were The World About Us, Civilisation presented by Kenneth Clark, and the snooker programme Pot Black, all making the most of BBC2’s new colour service. He also helped build up the BBC’s Bristol-based Natural History Unit to unsurpassed excellence. In 1969 he was appointed director of programmes.

Though an able administrator, Attenborough grew restless. In 1972 he unexpectedly resigned from the BBC and went back to making nature programmes as a freelancer. Since then he has presented countless episodes of Wildlife on One (1977 onward), as well as appearing in his own ambitious, ground-breaking productions: Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), Life in the Freezer (1993), The Private Life of Plants (1995), State of the Planet (2000), and The Life of Mammals (2002), and narrating The Blue Planet (2001). His resolutely hands-on approach and his shrugging off of discomfort or danger have inspired affection and respect in his viewers. He became a CBE in 1974, was knighted in 1985, and was awarded the Companion of Honour in 1996 and the Order of Merit in 2005.