Hello, my name is Sir David (Frederick) Attenborough. I was born in London, 8 May 1926, brother of actor Sir Richard Attenborough.
I was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester and then won a scolarship to Clare College, Cambridge, where I obtaned a degree in natural sciences.
I joined the Royal Navy in 1947 and, after two years' service, worked for a publishing company, eventually joining the BBC in 1952. My association with natural history programmes began in 1954 with the series, Zoo Quest.
From 1965 to 1968, I was Controller of BBC2 (as it was then styled). From 1969 to 1972, I was BBC Television's Director of Programmes (responsible for both BBC1 and BBC 2, but turned down the offer to become Director General of the BBC. In 1972, I resigned my post and returned to programme making.
Among the programmes I introduced were Monty Python's Flying Circus, Match of the Day, Pot Black, The Likely Lads, Not Only... But Also, Horizon, Man Alive, Masterclass, The Forsyte Saga The Old Grey Whistle Test, and The Money Programme.
Foremost among my TV documentary series are the trilogy: Life on Earth, The Living Planet and Trials of Life. These examine the world's organisms from the viewpoints of taxonomy, ecology and adaptive fitness respectively.
In addition to these series, I presented more specialised surveys including The Private Life of Plants, Life in the Freezer (about adaptation to cold climates), The Life of Birds, The Blue Planet (about life in the oceans) and The Life of Mammals. I have just finished work on The Life of Insects.
I also narrated the long-running half-hour nature series Wildlife on One on BBC ONE (sometimes retitled Wildlife on Two for BBC TWO, or just BBC Wildlife), where I only made two or three appearances on camera.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awarded me the Desmond Davis Award in 1970, and a Fellowship in 1979. I was appointed CBE in 1974, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1983, and received a knighthood in 1985. In 1991 I was made a CVO for producing the Queen's Christmas broadcast for a number of years, and in 1996 became a Companion of Honour for "services to nature broadcasting."
In June 2004, Sir Peter Scott and I were jointly profiled in the second of a three part BBC TWO series, The Way We Went Wild, about televison wildlife presenters. Part three also featured me extensively.
The next month, another BBC TWO programme, Attenborough the Controller, recalled my time as Director of Programmes for BBC2.
Some people, including the former BBC producer Brian Leith, have suggested that my 50 year career at the BBC making natural history documentaries and travelling extensively throughout the world, has probably made me the most travelled person on Earth, ever.
It's been an immense pleasure!
