Many, many happy returns

MARION MCMULLEN LOOKS AT THE FAMOUS FACES MARKING MILESTONE BIRTHDAYS IN 2026

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S-M*A*S*H-ED IT: Actor Alan Alda

LEGENDARY broadcaster Sir David Attenborough turns 100 this year.

He joined the BBC in 1952 and later became controller of BBC2, overseeing the advent of colour TV before he became BBC director of programming.

The naturalist has been on our television screens for more than seven decades presenting programmes such as Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, and brought out Ocean last year.

Born on May 8, 1926, he was 26 when he applied for the Television Training Course following his unsuccessful application for a producer role in 1952.

A letter dated July 22, 1952, with a letterhead which reads The British Broadcasting Corporation, says: “Dear Mr Attenborough, thank you for coming to the Central Interviewing Board on Wednesday, July 9, 1952.

“I am now writing to let you know that you were selected for the Television Training Course as a Talks Producer.”

Sir David's famous whispering voice captured the imaginations of the nation in 1979 when he was seen mingling and bonding with a family of gorillas in Life on Earth and its sequel, The Living Planet, in 1984.

The following year, he was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II before being awarded a Knight Grand Cross honour in 2022.