David Attenborough: A Life on Air


8:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Sunday, May 10 on BBC Four (9)

Average User Rating: 0.00 (0 votes)
My Rating: Sign in or Register to view last vote

Add to Favourites

About this Broadcast

-

In 1952, David Attenborough was turned down for a job with BBC radio, only to end up working for the corporation's fledgling TV service - eventually becoming director of programmes. Since then he has become one of the most respected wildlife film-makers in the business, fronting classic series such as Life on Earth, The Blue Planet and Planet Earth. He talks to Michael Palin about his time at the corporation. First broadcast in 2002


audio-description subtitles 16x9
Documentary News/Current Affairs

Cast & Crew

-

Michael Palin (Presenter)
David Attenborough (Contributor)
Brian Leith (Producer)

More Information

-

No Logo

Did You Know..

-

Michael Palin (Presenter)
Born: May 05, 1943 in Sheffield
Best Known For: Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Early-life: Michael Edward Palin was born in Sheffield on May 5, 1943. His father was a Cambridge-educated engineer working in the steel industry. Michael recalls he was an angry, frustrated man with a stutter whose bad moods created tension in the Palin household. This upset his son and prompted him to be as pleasant as possible. Michael was educated at public school in Shrewsbury, and studied history at Oxford University, where he appeared on stage and met fellow student and future Python Terry Jones.
Career: After graduating, Palin presented TV show Now! and worked in light entertainment. In 1966, he and Jones began writing for BBC comedy shows. Three years later, they joined forces with John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam to front ground-breaking sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. A huge hit, 45 episodes were made between 1969 and 1974, as well as five films. Palin has also starred in movies including A Fish Called Wanda, A Private Function, and American Friends (which he also wrote), and appeared in acclaimed TV drama GBH. Since the mid-1980s, he's become famous for globetrotting programmes such as Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole. He's written books to accompany each series, as well as two novels; three volumes of his diaries have also been published. He delivered 2013's Royal Television Society lecture.
Quote: 'I am not a great cook, I am not a great artist, but I love art and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller - on the cultural scrounge.'
Trivia: Palin has three children with his wife Helen. He also has an asteroid and a train named after him.
David Attenborough (Contributor)
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.
Brian Leith (Producer)

Before / After

-