Mumbai: Sony BBC Earth is celebrating the 100th birthday of David Attenborough with a special programming initiative, culminating in the exclusive premiere of Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure on May 8, 2026, at 12 PM and 9 PM.
As part of the celebrations, the channel has rolled out a curated ‘100 Days Tribute’, showcasing some of Attenborough’s most iconic works spanning decades. The initiative builds up to the one-hour special, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Life on Earth, a landmark production that redefined wildlife filmmaking.
The special features exclusive interviews with Attenborough and members of the original crew, revisiting the challenges of filming across geographies during a time when global travel and colour television were still evolving. From shooting amid political unrest in Comoros and Rwanda to navigating risks in Iraq, the documentary highlights the scale and ambition behind the series, which first aired in 1979 and reached over 500 million viewers worldwide.
In the programme Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure, Sir David Attenborough comments, “I have been lucky enough to have a long career making natural history programmes, but there was one series that changed everything – Life on Earth. It was the most ambitious lifestyle expedition ever undertaken, the first truly global natural history series filmed entirely in colour, nothing on this scale had ever been attempted before. It took you to areas in the natural world which you hadn’t considered before. What we set out to do was tell the greatest story to all the world. That was a turning point in my life.”
The special is executive produced by Mike Davis, with Sue Aartse-Tuyn as Production Executive and Victoria Bobin as Producer-Director.
Over the years, Sony BBC Earth has brought Indian audiences several acclaimed Attenborough-led titles, including Planet Earth, Blue Planet II, Frozen Planet, The Hunt, Dynasties, and Life, reinforcing its positioning as a destination for premium factual storytelling.
The initiative underscores the enduring legacy of Attenborough’s work in shaping global appreciation for the natural world, while offering audiences a rare glimpse into one of television’s most influential productions.
