Nearly forty years in the field with Sir David Attenborough (27 Apr 2026)

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:30:00 GMT

Image courtesy of the speaker

The F.L. Attenborough Lecture

Alastair Fothergill OBE

CEO of Silverback Films

Lecture outline

In this lavishly illustrated lecture, Alastair Fothergill recalls nearly forty years of close collaboration with Sir David that took them both from the North Pole to the South Pole, and many other global locations

Biographical note

Alastair Fothergill, WWF Ambassador, is a director and co-founder of Silverback Films.

Alastair is the producer of the Netflix documentary "A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough," which premiered globally on April 17, 2026. Directed by James Reed, the film reunites Fothergill with Sir David Attenborough to revisit the naturalist's iconic 1978 encounter with a baby gorilla named Pablo, tracing the lives of Pablo’s descendants in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.

Other recent productions include Sir David Attenborough’s “Wild Isles’ and ‘Our Planet” for Netflix. Alastair is behind 5 of the top 10 grossing natural history cinema films ever. Alastair joined the BBC Natural History Unit in 1983 and was appointed Head of the Unit in November 1992, aged 32. Alastair’s collaborations with Sir David include ‘The Trials of Life’, ‘Life in the Freezer’, ‘The Blue Planet’, ‘Frozen Planet’, ‘Planet Earth’ and its companion feature film ‘Earth’ In November 2012 Alastair left the BBC to set up his own production company Silverback Films.

Alastair is a fellow of the Royal Television Society and of the Royal Geographic Society, who awarded him their gold medal in 2012. He has honorary doctorates from the University of Durham, Bristol, Hull and York St. John.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

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Nearly forty years in the field with Sir David Attenborough (27 Apr 2026)