The BBC is to honour Sir David Attenborough with a landmark 100th birthday week.

It will air a range of new shows, live events, and classic documentaries, across multiple BBC platforms, to celebrate the legendary broadcaster’s centenary and his profound impact on nature storytelling.

The celebration of Attenborough’s 100 years on the planet, which falls on May 8 2026, will be marked by week-long programming across TV, radio, and online media platforms.

During this special week, the BBC will premiere a new documentary Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure, exploring the making of the original 1979 Life on Earth series.

The Corporation will also launch the Secret Garden series, in which he will be examining the incredible wildlife in Britain’s backyards.

The BBC will also host David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth live event at Royal Albert Hall, with musical performances from the BBC Concert Orchestra and a variety of special guests.

The celebration is particularly poignant given how much the natural world has changed over the 100 years of his life.

In the past, Attenborough has been publicly vocal on the dangers of human overpopulation, which he has cited as the fundamental driver of global environmental destruction, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

In 1926, when David Attenborough was born, global population was approximately 2 billion.

When he began his career in the 1950s, the population was around 2.5 billion.

On his 100th birthday, the Earth’s human population will be over 8.2 billion.

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