History Creator / DavidAttenborough

Sir David Frederick Attenborough[[note]][[UsefulNotes/KnightFever GCMG, OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FRSB, FLS, FZS, FSA]][[/note]] (born 8 May 1926) is a British broadcaster and naturalist, most famous as a [[NatureDocumentary nature documentary]] producer and narrator, long fondly stereotyped and much mimicked for his hushed yet enthusiastic delivery and ability to find (and make) ''any'' plant or animal interesting.

He is one of the most enduring presences on UK television in a career spanning 60+ years, as well as a former controller[[note]]the UK equivalent of an American television network president[[/note]] of the channel [[Creator/TheBBC BBC2]]. To many people on both sides of the Atlantic he has long been THE face and voice of natural history, having created what can safely be called the definitive--and usually technically groundbreaking--series of television nature documentaries, spanning all parts of the globe and every type of living creature (yes, including humans). He has been called the most-traveled man on Earth.

His autobiography, published in 2002 (with a later revised edition in 2009), was called ''Life on Air''. He was the subject of ''Attenborough: A Life on Camera'', a three-part [=BBC2=] tribute, on the 60th anniversary of his broadcasting career in 2012. His 90th birthday in 2016 has been marked by a number of special programmes, including a compilation of newly-found and remastered ''colour'' footage from his first overseas trips in the 1950s, shot more than a decade before Britain had colour television.

** Has been the subject of a good deal of them. His presentation style is instantly recognisable, lending itself to caricature, but his earnest desire to educate and inform makes it extremely difficult to parody him without affection.

* ApocalypticLog: The "On Location" bonus in the reptiles and amphibians episode of ''Life'', which depicts the crew filming a slowly dying water buffalo being stalked by a hungry Komodo dragon, has shades of this.

* ChasedByAngryNatives: Their fearsome display turned out to be their traditional greeting.

Standing in front of Borobodur, we were glad we had succumbed to ''njonja's'' persuasions.

* ImperturbableEnglishman: Very deadpan when it comes to accidents on set. Also once confronted a tribe of cannibals charging at the crew with a handshake and a "how do you do?"

* LimitedWardrobe: Nearly always wears the same light blue shirt and khaki chino trousers--supplemented as needed with the same olive military-style parka and black gloves--regardless of location, unless thermal or other specialized gear is required (as in the Antarctic, where he was required to wear a different colour-coded outfit in each territory he visited). WordOfGod is that this is intended to avoid the viewer focusing on him and/or his possible motives for changing, instead of whatever he's showing on screen. It also of course greatly simplifies continuity when editing the footage later.
** A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0xcA86bHoo&t=84s behind-the-scenes clip]] for ''Galapagos 3D'' revealed that the iconic light blue shirt even has a customized loop of fabric in the lapel specially made to hold a lavalier mike! But it was later subverted in the same documentary when the producer had him switch to a ''navy''-colored shirt because the light blue made his shoulders look weird to the 3D cameras. He replied, (mostly jokingly) aghast, that he'd "never heard such codswallop".
* MajoredInWesternHypocrisy: Met a few who did on his travels.

* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Rats?]]: Not a fan of them, particularly when one jumped out from a toilet he was using.
* WildlifeCommentarySpoof: A popular subject for such.
** ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'':
--->[[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2177 I'm pretty sure there's no animal that has a giant ladle for a dong, but if there is I DEFINITELY wanna see the Attenborough documentary.]]

Perhaps most widely-known is the epic "Life" series, beginning with 1979's ''Life on Earth'' and continued through 2010 with ''The Living Planet'', ''The Trials of Life'', ''Life in the Freezer'' (an in-depth survey of Antarctica), ''The Private Life of Plants'', ''The Life of Birds'', ''The Life of Mammals'', ''Life in the Undergrowth'' (invertebrates, mainly arthropods), ''Series/LifeInColdBlood'' (reptiles & amphibians) and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8AdMRWOBX4&feature=related Charles Darwin - The Tree Of Life]]''. More recent series include ''Micro Monsters'', ''Africa'' and ''Dynasties''. He has also narrated many other landmark achievements in the genre, including ''State of the Planet'' (on the detrimental effect mankind has had on the environment), ''The Blue Planet'' (oceans and their surrounding ecosystems), ''Blue Planet II'', ''Frozen Planet'' (a more comprehensive look at life in both polar regions), ''Series/PlanetEarth'' (an overview of Earth’s major biomes), ''Planet Earth II'', ''Life'' (survival strategies employed by plants and animals), ''The Hunt'' (predator-prey relationships and hunting strategies), ''Our Planet'' (similar to ''Planet Earth'' but with a stronger emphasis on environmentalism), ''Series/PrehistoricPlanet'' (which applied ''Planet Earth''’s biome-based formula to the Mesozoic) and ''Frozen Planet II''. He also made one of the first major documentaries on [[PteroSoarer pterosaurs]], named ''Flying Monsters''.

Perhaps most widely-known is the epic "Life" series, beginning with 1974's ''Life on Earth'' and continued through 2010 with ''The Living Planet'', ''The Trials of Life'', ''Life in the Freezer'' (an in-depth survey of Antarctica), ''The Private Life of Plants'', ''The Life of Birds'', ''The Life of Mammals'', ''Life in the Undergrowth'' (invertebrates, mainly arthropods), ''Series/LifeInColdBlood'' (reptiles & amphibians) and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8AdMRWOBX4&feature=related Charles Darwin - The Tree Of Life]]''. More recent series include ''Micro Monsters'', ''Africa'' and ''Dynasties''. He has also narrated many other landmark achievements in the genre, including ''State of the Planet'' (on the detrimental effect mankind has had on the environment), ''The Blue Planet'' (oceans and their surrounding ecosystems), ''Blue Planet II'', ''Frozen Planet'' (a more comprehensive look at life in both polar regions), ''Series/PlanetEarth'' (an overview of Earth’s major biomes), ''Planet Earth II'', ''Life'' (survival strategies employed by plants and animals), ''The Hunt'' (predator-prey relationships and hunting strategies), ''Our Planet'' (similar to ''Planet Earth'' but with a stronger emphasis on environmentalism), ''Series/PrehistoricPlanet'' (which applied ''Planet Earth''’s biome-based formula to the Mesozoic) and ''Frozen Planet II''. He also made one of the first major documentaries on [[PteroSoarer pterosaurs]], named ''Flying Monsters''.

-> "The future of life on earth depends on our ability to take action. Many individuals are doing what they can, but real success can only come if there's a change in our societies and our economics and in our politics. I've been lucky in my lifetime to see some of the greatest spectacles that the natural world has to offer. Surely we have a responsibility to leave for future generations a planet that is healthy, inhabitable by all species."

-> Concluding remarks on ''State of the Planet'' (BBC, 2000)

Perhaps most widely-known is the epic "Life" series, beginning with 1974's ''Life on Earth'' and continued through 2010 with ''The Living Planet'', ''The Trials of Life'', ''Life in the Freezer'' (an in-depth survey of Antarctica), ''The Private Life of Plants'', ''The Life of Birds'', ''The Life of Mammals'', ''Life in the Undergrowth'' (invertebrates, mainly arthropods), ''Series/LifeInColdBlood'' (reptiles & amphibians) and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8AdMRWOBX4&feature=related Charles Darwin - The Tree Of Life]]''. More recent series include ''Micro Monsters'', ''Africa'' and ''Dynasties''. He has also narrated many other landmark achievements in the genre, including ''The Blue Planet'' (oceans and their surrounding ecosystems), ''Blue Planet II'', ''The Frozen Planet'' (a more comprehensive look at life in both polar regions), ''Series/PlanetEarth'' (an overview of Earth’s major biomes), ''Planet Earth II'', ''Life'' (survival strategies employed by plants and animals), ''The Hunt'' (predator-prey relationships and hunting strategies), ''Our Planet'' (similar to ''Planet Earth'' but with a stronger emphasis on environmentalism) and ''Series/PrehistoricPlanet'' (which applied ''Planet Earth''’s biome-based formula to the Mesozoic). He also made one of the first major documentaries on [[PteroSoarer pterosaurs]], named ''Flying Monsters''.

----

He is the younger brother of the late actor and director Lord Creator/RichardAttenborough.

Perhaps most widely-known is the epic "Life" series, beginning with 1974's ''Life on Earth'' and continued through 2010 with ''The Living Planet'', ''The Trials of Life'', ''Life in the Freezer'' (an indepth survey of Antarctica), ''The Private Life of Plants'', ''The Life of Birds'' and ''...of Mammals'', ''Life in the Undergrowth'' (invertebrates, mainly arthropods), ''Series/LifeInColdBlood'' (reptiles & amphibians) and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8AdMRWOBX4&feature=related Charles Darwin - The Tree Of Life]]''. More recent series include ''Micro Monsters'', ''Africa'' and ''Dynasties''. He has also narrated many other landmark achievements in the genre, including ''The Blue Planet'' (oceans and their surrounding ecosystems), ''Blue Planet II'', ''The Frozen Planet'' (a more comprehensive look at life in both polar regions), ''Series/PlanetEarth'' (an overview of Earth’s major biomes), ''Planet Earth II'', ''Life'' (survival strategies employed by plants and animals), ''The Hunt'' (predator-prey relationships and hunting strategies), ''Our Planet'' (similar to ''Planet Earth'' but with a stronger emphasis on environmentalism) and ''Series/PrehistoricPlanet'' (which applied ''Planet Earth''’s biome-based formula to the Mesozoic). He also made one of the first major documentaries on [[PteroSoarer pterosaurs]], named ''Flying Monsters''.

He was the subject of ''Attenborough: A Life on Camera'', a three-part [=BBC2=] tribute, on the 60th anniversary of his broadcasting career in 2012. His 90th birthday in 2016 has been marked by a number of special programmes, including a compilation of newly-found and remastered ''colour'' footage from his first overseas trips in the 1950s, shot more than a decade before Britain had colour television.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: A cornerstone of his documentaries is to take simple acts, both with animals and the environment, and to portray them in such a manner that they become riveting to watch.

* GentleGorilla: A legendary sequence in one documentary had him discussing mountain gorillas while sitting close to a gorilla family in Rawanda when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeaAZ1On-w8 they drew him into their grooming activity.]] He always emphasizes that they are indeed gentle creatures and the danger to him was low, but given their strength, and the fact that he was close to their young while their parents were present, Attenborough's calm was astonishing.

* CoolOldGuy: A charismatic, well-mannered and knowledgeable British gentleman with a soothing voice, born in 1926 and still active. When he appeared unannounced on the stage at Glastonbury 2019, he got a reception as enthusiastic and rapturous as any rockstar.

* TheDeterminator: Born in 1926, and still very much on the go. Even more so since the late nineties when his wife died; he likes to keep himself busy.

* RefusalOfTheCall: Refused to climb up the BBC promotion chain, because he loved making documentaries so much.

Perhaps most widely-known is the epic "Life" series, beginning with 1974's ''Life on Earth'' and continued through 2010 with ''The Living Planet'', ''The Trials of Life'', ''Life in the Freezer'' (an indepth survey of Antarctica), ''The Private Life of Plants'', ''The Life of Birds'' and ''...of Mammals'', ''Life in the Undergrowth'' (invertebrates, mainly arthropods), ''Series/LifeInColdBlood'' (reptiles & amphibians) and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8AdMRWOBX4&feature=related Charles Darwin - The Tree Of Life]]''. More recent series include ''Micro Monsters'', ''Africa'' and ''Dynasties''. He has also narrated many other landmark achievements in the genre, including ''The Blue Planet'' (oceans and their surrounding ecosystems), ''Blue Planet II'', ''The Frozen Planet'' (a more comprehensive look at life in both polar regions), ''Series/PlanetEarth'' (an overview of Earth’s major biomes), ''Planet Earth II'', ''Life'' (survival strategies employed by plants and animals), ''The Hunt'' (predator-prey relationships and hunting strategies) and ''Our Planet'' (similar to ''Planet Earth'' but with a stronger emphasis on environmentalism). He also made one of the first major documentaries on [[PteroSoarer pterosaurs]], named ''Flying Monsters''.

* LimitedWardrobe: Nearly always wears the same light blue shirt and khaki chino trousers--supplemented as needed with the same olive military-style parka and black gloves--regardless of location, unless thermal or other specialized gear is required (as in the Antarctic, where he was required to wear a different colour-coded outfit in each territory he visited). WordOfGod is that this is intended to avoid the viewer focussing on him and/or his possible motives for changing, instead of whatever he's showing on screen. It also of course greatly simplifies continuity when editing the footage later.

* GilliganCut: In ''Zoo Quest for a Dragon'', Attenborough's memoir of a trip to Indonesia to film a documentary about the Komodo Dragon, he recalls that one of the officials who helped them obtain travel permits was bemused by the idea of traveling to distant places to film animals and kept hinting that it would be easier to arrange for them to go and film Borobodur[[note]]The largest Buddhist temple in the world, one of Indonesian's biggest tourist attractions[[/note]] like all the other foreign film crews.

* LimitedWardrobe: Nearly always wears the same light blue shirt and khaki chino trousers--supplemented as needed with the same olive military-style parka and black gloves--regardless of location, unless thermal or other specialized gear is required (as in the Antarctic, where he was required to wear a different colour-coded outfit in each territory he visited). WordOfGod is that this is intended to avoid the viewer focussing on him and/or his possible motives for changing, instead of whatever he's showing on screen. It also of course greatly simplifies continuity when editing the footage later. A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0xcA86bHoo&t=84s behind-the-scenes clip]] for ''Galapagos 3D'' revealed that the iconic light blue shirt even has a customized loop of fabric in the lapel specially made to hold a lavalier mike! But it was later subverted in the same documentary when the producer had him switch to a ''navy''-colored shirt because the light blue made his shoulders look weird to the 3D cameras. He replied, (mostly jokingly) aghast, that he'd "never heard such codswallop".

* GentleGorilla: A legendary sequence in one documentary had him discussing mountain gorillas while sitting close to a gorilla family in Rawanda when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeaAZ1On-w8 they drew him into their grooming activity.]] He always emphasizes tat they are indeed gentle creatures and the danger to him was low, but given their strength, and the fact that he was close to their young while their parents were present, Attenborough's calm was astonishing.

* LimitedWardrobe: Nearly always wears the same light blue shirt and khaki chino trousers--supplemented as needed with the same olive military-style parka and black gloves--regardless of location, unless thermal or other specialized gear is required (as in the Antarctic, where he was required to wear a different colour-coded outfit in each territory he visited). His iconic light blue shirt even has a customized loop of fabric in the lapel specially made to hold a lavalier mike! WordOfGod is that this is intended to avoid the viewer focussing on him and/or his possible motives for changing, instead of whatever he's showing on screen. It also of course greatly simplifies continuity when editing the footage later. Subverted in ''Galapagos 3D'', where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0xcA86bHoo&t=113s the producer had him switch]] to a ''navy''-colored shirt because the light blue made his shoulders look weird to the 3D cameras. He replied, somewhat aghast, that he'd "never heard such codswallop".

* AffectionateParody:

* LimitedWardrobe: Nearly always wears the same light blue shirt and khaki chino trousers--supplemented as needed with the same olive military-style parka and black gloves--regardless of location, unless thermal or other specialized gear is required (as in the Antarctic, where he was required to wear a different colour-coded outfit in each territory he visited). WordOfGod is that this is intended to avoid the viewer focussing on him and/or his possible motives for changing, instead of whatever he's showing on screen. It also of course greatly simplifies continuity when editing the footage later.