In August this year, the BBC announced that Sir David Attenborough would be helming their upcoming natural epic Dynasties. This autumn our screens will once again be home to his smooth, sagacious commentary as the series follows the journeys of five influential species – lions, tigers, chimpanzees, hunting dogs and emperor penguins. The show, in typical Attenborough fashion, is four years in the making. The grand scope of the series is expected to involve an in-depth introspective into the species’ day-to-day lives, ranging from behaviour to territory to, of course, dynasty, undoubtedly accompanied by theatrical shots of various habitats and a stirring original score.

Who better to take the lead on the BBC’s latest nature project than The Most Trustworthy Man in Britain? Throughout Attenborough’s career – which has spanned almost 70 years – the Cambridge graduate has received an impressive series of accolades, including a CBE and fellowship awards from both BAFTA and the Royal Society in London. His legacy is not just as a lovable broadcaster, but as a tireless conservationist with an unwavering devotion to the natural world. Now aged 92,  he shows no signs of slowing down and continues to bring the wildness of Earth’s most inaccessible climes and creatures into the safety of our homes.

 

Attenborough’s main involvement with wildlife programming began with nature series’ The Pattern of Animals and Zoo Quest, the latter being his first major presenting role after starting out behind the scenes. Zoo Quest became the first of its kind by opting to shoot in multiple overseas locations, a choice which would go on to define its influence. BFI Screenonline described the show as “Certainly the most important natural history programme of its time… arguably the father of the entire genre”. Several years later Attenborough was selected to head up his own department for the BBC Natural History Unit – Travel and Exploration. From there Attenborough became a familiar face in British television through his work as Controller of BBC Two in the early 1960s. His influence within the BBC alone is enough to warrant praise; his influence on British broadcasting as a whole could be called epoch-defining. In 1967 BBC Two became the first European channel to broadcast in colour. In order to maximise the impact of what was already a revolutionary novelty, Attenborough commissioned a line-up of visually rich programming, including a series on the history of Western Art and televised snooker. He promoted landmark shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Call My Bluff and remains the only person to have won BAFTAS for programmes in black and white, colour, HD, 3D and 4K. An unfailing commitment to cultural entertainment snowballed Attenborough’s career as he moved between prominent administrative and presenting roles in the BBC until finally, in 1979, Life on Earth was commissioned.

At the time of its release, Life on Earth (which Attenborough scripted and presented himself) was almost universally regarded as the greatest nature documentary series ever made and in 2000 it placed 32nd on the British Film Institute’s List of 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. Its visual artistry and cinematographic range marked a watershed moment for documentary-making; its diverse content and its focus on previously overlooked natural phenomena helped establish a formidable standard for the BBC’s Natural History Unit, which remains one of the BBC’s most prestigious departments to this day. The extensive research and complete commitment to ecological authenticity secured Attenborough and his team unique access to a variety of special animal subjects, most notably Dian Fossey’s mountain gorillas. The seminal documentary advanced Attenborough’s position from that of a promising BBC broadcaster to a leading televisual naturalist and a steadfast icon in British culture.

Since then he has continuously advocated for arts and cultural programming, recently contributing to the public discourse on the BBC by stating there are “gaps” in its arts coverage as producers choose to “chase big audiences.” In a message that wholly encapsulates his work ethic, Attenborough emphasised the importance of such variation, claiming that “if you’re a public service broadcaster, people of all kinds should be catered for ”.

Attenborough’s programming is marked by a perpetual desire to innovate, with each new programme seeking to achieve something in its own right. The eagerness with which he approached his first ever project mirrors that of his most recent, forty years later. Filming for 2011 hit Frozen Planet saw him undertake a dangerous expedition to the North Pole at the age of 84. He remains the oldest person to have ever accomplished the feat.

David Attenborough’s career is not one of half-measures. It is instead one of consistent hard work, reliable quality and infectious curiosity. When interviewed in 2007 about the famous clip of him playing with baby gorillas in Life on Earth, Attenborough described his experience with the primates as ‘bliss’. Though he shies away from the title of national treasure, his charming mien makes it hard to deny the place he inevitably occupies within the hearts of the public.