You Can Watch Early David Attenborough Shows On BBC iPlayer

Over the course of his long, celebrated career, natural historian and broadcaster David Attenborough has become a genuine living legend - an international treasure, if you will, which is a status few people in this world can claim to hold.

We've laughed, we've cried and we've watched on in awe as he's said 'boo' to a sloth, been chased away by a horny capercaillie and played with a gang of adorable baby mountain gorillas, all while issuing stark warnings to the world about the state of our planet, urging us to get our arses into gear.

But while it's easy to think of Attenborough as some grandfather figure of the animal kingdom, he's been schooling us about all things nature-related for bloody decades, having first started out at the BBC back in the 1950s.

While you may know Attenborough - who turned 93 today - for popular big-budget series like The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, his television credits span seven decades, dating right back to his work on The Pattern of Animals and Zoo Quest in the early 1950s.

BBC

But if you're one of the many people missing out on classic Attenborough TV shows, here's some good news - you can find LOADS of the stuff on BBC iPlayer.

We're talking old school episodes of Zoo Quest, The People of Paradise, The Miracle of Bali, Elsa the Tamworth Lioness and Adventure, transporting us everywhere from Madagascar and Bali to the Zambezi river and Borroloola in Australia's Northern Territory.

BBC

While Attenborough's career is seemingly endless, and many of us can't bear the thought of a world without him, he's reminded us that he'll one day have to pass on the baton to younger people.

Speaking to the Guardian about what he thinks the planet will look like after he's gone, the 92-year-old said: "I can't bear it.

"I'm just coming up to 93, and so I don't have many more years around here. I find it difficult to think beyond that as the signs aren't good.

"Young people may lack experience but they also have clear sight. They can see perhaps more clearly than the rest of us who have been around for some time."

He added: "My generation is no great example for understanding. If we are not making progress with young people, we are done.

"We have no option, if we want to survive. We have a moral obligation on our shoulders and it would be to our deep eternal shame if we fail to acknowledge that."

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, david attenborough, Animals, Nature

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

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