PBS Celebrates Attenborough Centenary with 'Life on Earth' & 'Green Planet II'
Sir David Attenborough will be 100 years old in less than two months. Here's how the BBC and PBS are celebrating.
Perhaps it is due to his love of the natural world that has kept Sir David Attenborough happy, healthy, and hale for almost 100 years. After all, despite that whole “mindless tiny organism” thing, microbes of all stripes owe him for his dedication to the cause and tireless cheerleading for the health of our planet and their continued existence. Even if that’s not why various cancers and illnesses that have claimed the lives of his peers have left him alone to continue narrating Nature specials, it’s still something to celebrate, a man of his advanced age still out there doing the work.
The BBC and PBS will do just that come May 2026, as Attenborough arrives at the three-digit marker of his life. The main one, coming to both networks, is the hour-long special Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure*. The BBC will also have two further offerings: Secret Garden, a five-parter featuring the naturalist exploring the backyards of the U.K., and a live special from the Royal Albert Hall, David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth, with the BBC Orchestra and special guests, to mark the occasion. All three will debut on the BBC on Attenborough’s actual birthday, Friday, May 8, 2026.
(*PBS will drop the “Making” bit from the title for the more streamlined Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure.)
Here’s the synopsis for Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure:
Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure goes behind-the-scenes on this groundbreaking landmark series, featuring exclusive interviews with David Attenborough and other members of the original crew. With fascinating insights, they reveal the highs and lows of filming the series during a truly exciting moment in television history, when global jet travel and colour filming were still in their infancy. Along the way, the crew encountered multiple challenges, including a coup in the Comoros, being shot at in Rwanda, and threats from Saddam Hussein’s army in Iraq. Broadcast in 1979 and watched by 500 million people worldwide, it confirmed David’s reputation as the most successful and influential wildlife filmmaker of our time. His astonishing encounter with gorillas in Rwanda's mountains for this series is frequently voted one of the top TV moments of all time.
However, that’s not the only Attenborough special PBS has signed onto. The BBC has further announced plans to bring back The Green Planet for a second season. The series initially debuted in early 2022 and then aired and streamed on PBS the next year. The Green Planet II will also run five installments, and is currently slated to premiere in late 2026/early 2027.
Here’s the synopsis:
Plants support all life on the planet, and every animal, including us, couldn’t survive without them. But it’s the plants that are in charge – both forging wonderfully harmonious relationships, but also using bribery, trickery, and deception to get what they want. Unique, cutting-edge filming technology, including hyperlapse and multi-axis robotics and 4K mini-drones, will transport the viewer into the plant’s world, showing life from their unique perspective and timescale, and capturing the drama of their dynamic lives.
Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure and The Green Planet II are produced by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, with the latter co-produced by PBS. Mike Davis is the executive producer for Making Life on Earth with Sue Aartse-Tuyn, with Victoria Bobin directing. Mike Gunton and Holly Spearing executive produce The Green Planet II with Scott Alexander as series producer and Anna McGill as production manager. Diana El-Osta is the Executive in Charge for PBS for both series.
Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure will premiere on PBS stations as part of the long-running Nature series on Wednesday, May 6, two days before the U.K. debut on Friday, May 8, 2026.
The Green Planet II does not yet have a release date on either side of the pond. Neither Secret Garden nor the Royal Albert Hall specials have American distribution as of this writing.
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