david attenborough to be celebrated with three special programmes marking his 100th birthday
Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday will be honoured with a dedicated week of programming beginning 8 May 2026 (ET). The schedule pairs fresh commissions with landmark episodes from across his seven-decade career, capped by a live celebratory event in London.
New commissions revisit landmark work and local wildlife
The broadcaster has assembled three new projects that put both history and close-to-home nature in the spotlight. Making Life on Earth: Attenborough's Greatest Adventure is an hour-long, behind-the-scenes exploration of the seminal 1979 series Life on Earth. The new film reunites members of the original production team for fresh interviews with Sir David and reflects on the challenges of making a global natural history series when colour television and international air travel were in their infancy.
Contributors recount dangerous and dramatic moments encountered during that original shoot, including political unrest in the Comoros, being fired on in parts of Africa, and the production’s celebrated encounter with gorillas in Rwanda. The new programme aims to show how technical limitations, logistical risks and sheer determination combined to produce what remains a touchstone for wildlife broadcasting.
Alongside that retrospective is Secret Garden, a five-part series filmed around the UK that turns the lens on the wildlife thriving in ordinary back gardens. From otters in river-side towns to blue tits in urban parks and dormice in hedgerows, the series illustrates the surprising diversity of species living close to home and offers practical ideas for viewers on how their own gardens can support struggling populations.
Live celebration and a curated week of classics
The centenary week will also feature a live event at the Royal Albert Hall titled David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth. The concert-format celebration will include an orchestra and a slate of special guests, recorded before an audience and intended as a tribute to a career that reshaped how people view the natural world.
To complement the new projects, the schedule will revisit episodes from the presenter's most-loved series, drawing from Planet Earth, One Planet, Blue Planet, Frozen Planet and recent specials such as Wild London. In addition to the broadcast slate, a curated collection of more than 40 programmes will be assembled on the network’s streaming service to allow audiences to watch highlights spanning decades.
Jack Bootle, head of commissioning for specialist factual, described the week as a moment to say thank you for a lifetime spent bringing the wonders of nature into people's homes. He emphasised that the presenter’s work has not only defined science and natural history broadcasting but has also reshaped public thinking about the planet and our place within it.
What the week means for public engagement with nature
The mix of archival reflection, local natural history and a high-profile live event underscores a broader aim: to connect large-scale environmental storytelling with everyday actions. Secret Garden in particular frames ordinary gardens as part of the conservation conversation, noting that private green spaces collectively cover a vast area and can make a meaningful difference to wildlife if managed with biodiversity in mind.
For viewers, the centenary week offers both a nostalgia trip through some of the most influential wildlife television ever made and a prompt to engage with conservation on a practical level. Whether audiences tune in for the backstage tales of early global productions or to learn how to make their own gardens more welcoming to wildlife, the programming is designed to celebrate a singular career while urging renewed attention to the natural world.
