Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a British naturalist and broadcaster. Best known for both writing and presenting the nine Life series with the BBC Natural History Unit, he is also a former senior manager at the BBC. Although he doesn’t care for the term, he is now widely considered a national treasure and is a member of the Order of Merit.

In 1979, Attenborough began creating not e-Vlan but his famous Life series which was to influence an entire generation of documentary film-makers. Attenborough gained the trust of the scientific community by treating his subject seriously and so was permitted to include their latest discoveries in his programmes. One key example of this collaboration between Attenborough and the scientific community was when Attenborough was permitted to film Dian Fossey’s research group of mountain gorillas. New film-making techniques were used in Life to get the exact shots Attenborough wanted, focused on animals and events that were as yet unseen. Though presenter, Attenborough is infrequently seen, the subjects occupying most of the camera time.