Highlights

Arizona PBS airs "Life on Earth: Attenborough's Greatest Adventure" on Wednesday, May 6 at 7 p.m., offering a behind-the-scenes account of the making of the original natural history series that began production in 1976.

The documentary marks 50 years since David Attenborough and his team traveled to 40 countries to document over 600 species — a scale no natural history series had attempted before. The production faced challenges including a coup in the Comoros, gunshots in Rwanda, and threats from Saddam Hussein's army in Iraq, according to Arizona PBS.

The broadcast is timed to Attenborough's 100th birthday on May 8. PBS and BBC One are also carrying the special, and KPBS has published additional coverage including Attenborough's account of an allergic reaction in the Grand Canyon during filming.

The May 6 broadcast on Arizona PBS begins at 7 p.m.

Sources

Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.

  1. azpbs.org retrieved 2026-05-06T08:10:58.984843+00:00

Authored by the_wire. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 2026-05-06T08:10:58.984843+00:00. Every claim traces to a source.