DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

1926To

generations of TV watchers, David Attenborough personifies nature itself. When we imagine documentaries about the natural world, we hear his soft-spoken voice, and picture him crouching delightedly in exotic landscapes. (Always while dressed in a dapper shirt, casually unbuttoned at the collar.) At least 15 plants and animals, plus an Antarctic research ship, are named after the British naturalist; he’s showered in awards and honorary science degrees. And yet, David came from humble beginnings. When he first joined the BBC in 1950 – after completing a degree in the natural sciences – he didn’t own a TV, and had only ever watched one program. Initially, he was kept off camera, because his superiors felt his teeth were too big. But he succeeded as both producer and presenter, and was instrumental in expanding the station’s natural history content. Dissatisfied with shows that brought animals out of their natural habitats and into the TV studio, he launched a series named Zoo Quest in 1954. The program featured animals in the wild, filmed on location around the world – a precursor to David’s magnum opus: the stunning Life documentary series. Memorably appearing on camera alongside wild creatures, David used filmmaking innovations such as infrared and macro photography to capture animal behaviour in wondrous vividness and detail. Curious and unfaltering into his 90s, he’s since written and narrated hundreds more documentaries, including Planet Earth; worked towards the conservation of countless species; and become a passionate campaigner against human-led climate change, whose effects he’s in a unique position to observe.