LONDON: Britain’s David Attenborough, who has for decades been the world’s most authoritative voice on the natural world and whose documentaries have been watched by hundreds of millions, will on Friday celebrate his 100th birthday.

After more than 70 years of film-making, Attenborough’s instantly recognisable voice is synonymous with the story of nature. He is still at the vanguard of efforts to protect the environment and has produced some of his most impactful work in recent years.

Counting Britain’s royal family, Barack Obama and pop star Billie Eilish among his admirers, Attenborough’s charisma, humour and warmth, alongside the depth of his knowledge and his flair for storytelling, have made him a broadcasting superstar.

“Your ability to communicate the beauty and vulnerability of our natural environment remains unequalled,” was how the late Queen Elizabeth summed up his achievements in 2019.

Attenborough’s films have communicated the wonder and also the tragedies of the natural world to viewers across the globe. Standout scenes include his encounter with two playful young mountain gorillas who clambered onto him during his landmark 1979 series “Life on Earth”.

He also made his audience marvel at the teamwork of a pod of orcas hunting a seal by creating waves to break up ice, and his telling in 2012 of the story of “Lonesome George”, the last surviving Pinta Island tortoise, moved people to tears. “He’s about 80 years old, and getting a bit creaky in his joints as indeed am I,” Attenborough, then 86, said.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2026