Attenborough’s Life on Earth: The series that started it all

David Attenborough with one of his Life on Earth Diaries, 2024

the greatest story in all the world

When David Attenborough set out to tell “the greatest story in all the world”, at the time very few could imagine what that would take. The answer was three years, 49 countries, and the most ambitious series the BBC’s Natural History Unit in Bristol had ever attempted.

Life on Earth was a 13-part journey through the history of life on this planet, stretching back three and a half billion years to its very beginnings.

Pam Jackson, Maurice Fisher, Chris Parsons, Paul Morris filming in Petrified Forest, 1977

a feat of logistics as much as filmmaking

Boiling the story of the evolution of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now live around us, into 13 hours was a feat of logistics as much as filmmaking.

The crew filmed across more than 100 locations, travelling 1.3 million passenger miles on 63 airlines and consulting over 200 academic institutions, all without a single email or computer.

David Attenborough during filming for the 1979 Life on Earth series.

Seen by up to 500 million people

The effort paid off.

Seen by up to 500 million people worldwide and described as “an absolute revelation”, it became the first truly global natural history series filmed entirely in colour.

The moment when Attenborough met the gorillas

Sir David and Life on Earth producer John Sparks recall filming the iconic gorillas.

Many creatures and behaviours were captured on film for the first time, among them the living fossil fish coelacanth and the dazzling courtship displays of birds of paradise.

gorillas are the most peaceful of primates

But the sequence that stopped viewers in their tracks was when Attenborough sat among a group of gorillas, calmly explaining how closely humans and gorillas share sight, hearing, life expectancy and family life. Despite their fearsome reputation, gorillas are the most peaceful of primates.

David Attenborough during filming at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef for the 1979 Life on Earth series.

a breath-taking experience

Sir David called it “a fantastic privilege” and “a breath-taking experience” and its influence proved lasting.

Life on Earth provided the template for landmark series including Living Planet, Trials of Life and Life of Birds.

David Attenborough and Martin Saunders on location for Life on Earth.

a lifetime revealing the story of life

As David Attenborough turns 100 on 8th May 2026, that legacy feels as vivid as ever.

He is not only a brilliant naturalist but a superb storyteller who has spent a lifetime revealing the story of life on our constantly changing planet.