In the BBC


Source: BBC Archives 

Sir David joined the BBC in 1952 after a three-month training course, leading him to become the producer for the Talks department, which handled non-fiction programmes.  His first programmes included Coelacanth (1952), which discussed the rediscovery of the prehistoric Coelacanth, and The Pattern of Animals (1953), his first natural history series.  Later, he secured the chance to embark on external filming and thus launched Zoo Quest (1954), which established his career as a nature documentary presenter.  That was his first major appearance on television and he soon gained much popularity with increased viewership of the show.


Sir David in Zoo Quest.  Source: BBC Archives 

Sir David formed his own department, the Travel and Exploration Unit in 1957, to continue to produce Zoo Quest and other long-running and successful programmes like the Travellers’ Tales (1960) and Adventure (1961) series in London to stay with his family.  He resigned from full time work in 1960s for his postgraduate studies on social anthropology in London School of Economics.  However, he later decided that he was more suitable to be a broadcaster than an academic, and thus accepted the offer to run BBC Two as the controller.  He transformed BBC Two from a struggling channel to a successful network, which offered diverse programmes and Britain’s first colour television service, all while making his own programmes occasionally.  In 1969, Sir David was promoted to director of programmes for both BBC One and BBC two, but resigned in 1972 with clear interest in returning to broadcasting rather than administration.


Filming in the wild with David.  Source: Wild Film History