Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster

About this Broadcast

The veteran naturalist investigates the discovery of a lifetime - the skull of a pliosaur, one of the most ferocious Jurassic predators ever known. This prehistoric marine reptile ruled the seas 150 million years ago, at the same time dinosaurs reigned on land. It measured up at an incredible 12 metres long and boasted phenomenal strength. David has been an avid fossil collector since he was a boy, but he has never come across a find quite like this. He follows two of the UK's most intrepid fossil hunters on their perilous expedition to excavate the skull from its resting place 12 metres up in a cliff face

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Education/Science/Factual Topics Nature/Animals/Environment

Cast & Crew

David Attenborough (Narrator)

Victoria Bobin (Producer)

Mike Gunton (Executive producer)

Fred Kaufman (Executive producer)

Bill Murphy (Series producer)

Janet Hess (Series editor)

Tom Jarvis (Series editor)

More Information

Did You Know..

David Attenborough (Narrator)

Born: May 08, 1926 in London

Best Known For: His more than 50 years of broadcasting.

Early-life: Born David Frederick Attenborough on May 8, 1926, in London, son of an academic and principal of Leicester University College. He had two brothers - Johnny, who had a car dealership, and film director and actor Richard. During World War Two, his parents also adopted two German Jewish girls, who arrived in Britain as part of the Kindertransport. Attenborough went to Leicester's Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys before studying geology at Cambridge. He served two years in the Royal Navy.

Career: Attenborough joined the BBC in 1952, making his reputation with the groundbreaking Zoo Quest series, which he hosted for 10 years. He became controller of BBC2 in 1965, overseeing the advent of colour TV, and in 1969 was made BBC director of programming. In 1973, he returned to presenting with the series Eastwards With Attenborough and The Tribal Eye. In 1979, he wrote and presented Life On Earth and its sequel The Living Planet in 1984. The following year, he was knighted. He has since made several more programmes, such as Life in the Freezer (about Antarctica; 1993), The Private Life of Plants (1995), The Life of Birds (1998), The Life of Mammals (2002), Life in the Undergrowth (2005) and Life in Cold Blood (2008), First Life (2010), Frozen Planet (2011) and Life Story (2014). He continues to narrate and present documentaries.

Quote: 'I'm not sure there's any need for a new Attenborough. The more you go on, the less you need people standing between you and the animal and the camera waving their arms about.'

Trivia: In addition to his knighthood, Attenborough has also been awarded more than 30 honorary degrees and has several species and fossils named after him.