David Attenborough's 100th birthday to be celebrated with special BBC programmes

A series of BBC programmes in celebration of David Attenborough's 100th birthday have been announced, and set for release this May.

The celebratory series David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth will include a live event from the Royal Albert Hall in London on May 8, featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra and special guests. The programmes will also feature Attenborough's special archival episodes, set to air on BBC One in the week leading up to his birthday, alongside new shows and interviews with the broadcaster, such as Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure, and Secret Garden.

BBC One will pay tribute to presenter's work by screening episodes of his best known series, including Planet Earth II, Seven Worlds, One Planet, Blue Planet II, and his most recent film Wild London. BBC iPlayer will also add over 40 of his programmes to their online catalogue.

David Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian, and writer. He first became prominent as host of Zoo Quest in 1954, later becoming BBC's director of programmes in 1969. He is the only person to have won BAFTA awards in black-and-white, colour, high-definition, as well as 3D, and 4K resolution. He's earned a total of three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narration, and one Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Personality.

In May of 2025, documentary Ocean with David Attenborough was released, coinciding with the biologist's 99th birthday. Its live show Ocean in Concert will take place at Dublin's 3Arena on March 7, comprising a screening of the documentary, accompanied by a live orchestral performance of Steven Price's soundtrack to the film.