The young naturalist

Born in 1926, David Frederick Attenborough was the middle child in the family – his older brother Richard would of course become a top film director, while his younger sibling John became an executive in the car industry.

Attenborough became fascinated by natural history in his early childhood. In fact, by age seven he had already created his very own "museum" of bird eggs, old stamps and ancient fossils. It was at this young age that he had one of the defining experiences of his life, when his father – who worked at a university – introduced him to a young academic named Jacquetta Hawkes. She was so impressed by his "museum" that she sent the lad a box brimming with fossils, dried seahorses and other exotic artefacts. It confirmed in the young David's mind that he wanted to be a naturalist, and he remained in touch with Jacquetta when he grew up – by which point she herself found some fame as an archaeologist.

The dawn of television

Although Attenborough studied natural sciences at Cambridge, he was reluctant to become an academic as he disliked the idea of being stuck in labs and lecture theatres all his life. So, following a stint in the Navy, he found himself a job editing children's science textbooks.

It wasn't exactly the most fulfilling job for him, so when in 1950 he saw an ad in the paper for a job at BBC radio, he jumped at the chance. He didn't actually get that job, but his application was passed to the television department. At that point, TV was so new that many thought it would be a passing fad, and Attenborough was a bit sceptical, having only ever seen one TV programme himself at that point. Still, he decided to go for it, and found himself working at what was then Europe's only television studio.

Attenborough's animals

His boss at the BBC initially told Attenborough he shouldn't actually work in front of the cameras as his "teeth were too big" (we're not making this up), but soon enough he ended up presenting his first series – a rather stuffy show called The Pattern of Animals, which was co-presented by the famous naturalist Sir Julian Huxley (brother of Brave New World novelist Aldous Huxley).

The show didn’t exactly have high production values - they basically sat in a studio and discussed zoo animals, but things livened up with Attenborough's next show, the more hands-on Zoo Quest, made in 1957. However, it would be decades before Attenborough's name would become truly synonymous with wildlife – that moment came with the landmark 1979 series Life on Earth, which is now regarded as one of the greatest documentaries ever made.

Executive Attenborough

There's far more to Attenborough than great natural history documentaries. What a lot of people don't know is that he played a crucial role in the development of television in this country.

In 1967, while serving as controller of BBC 2, he actually orchestrated the birth of colour TV in this country. On top of that, he commissioned many of the most famous programmes in history, including Match of the Day, The Likely Lads and The Old Grey Whistle Test. And he's the man to thank for bringing snooker coverage to the telly. In fact, Attenborough was even offered the biggest job of all – Director-General of the BBC – but turned it down to devote himself to documentary making.