The natural world held a global birthday party for Sir David Attenborough as he turned 100 years old on May 8. Global broadcast networks and streaming services joined in the celebration, with services like the BBC, Discovery, Nat Geo and Sky programming plenty of Attenborough-produced and -narrated content around the occasion. 

Sky Creative launched the above spot across Sky TV channels and social media platforms to celebrate the moment, with elephants, wolves, dolphins, whales, lions, various birds and more coming together in a loose rendition of “Happy Birthday.” 

Sky also designed some birthday posters for Attenborough, featuring elephants, lions and one big gorilla. 

“We wanted to celebrate Sir David in a way that felt true to everything he’s given the world. The idea that the natural world might ‘sing’ back to him felt both simple and emotional and hopefully something that brings a smile, just as his work has done for generations,” said Tim Brookes, Sky Creative, in a statement. 

Attenborough first became known to viewers in 1956 with his series for the BBC, Zoo Quest. For that production, he traveled to such far-flung places as Borneo to acquaint viewers with orangutans and other exotic creatures. From then on, the BBC remained Attenborough’s broadcast home, although his work would ultimately air globally.

For that reason, the BBC held a week-long celebration of Attenborough’s birthday across its channels, including a documentary on the making of Attenborough’s ambitious foray into natural history production: Life on Earth. It was the first time anyone had attempted something on that scale. Production took three years, a million miles of travel across 40 countries and film documentation of more than 600 species. Moreover, production was frequently hampered by such events as a coup in the Comoros, civil conflict in Rwanda and threats from the Iranian army. 

The documentary was finally broadcast in 1979 to a global audience of 500 million, establishing Attenborough’s reputation as the world’s foremost producer of natural history.

BBC also produced a live special on Attenborough’s entire life, David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth. The special, which included the BBC Orchestra playing music from the scores of both Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, was broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London and jointly staged and produced by BBC Studios Music Productions and Natural History Unit in partnership with The Open University.

National Geographic – in partnership with Disney+ and Hulu on the broadcast and streaming side – and with its own magazine on the print side, also dedicated time to the famed naturalist. Disney+ and Hulu promoted Ocean with David Attenborough, one of the brand’s most-watched nature films. National Geographic Magazine ran features on seven of Attenborough’s favorite places to travel as well as on the wasp that was named after him in honor of his century on the planet. 

Living for ten decades isn’t slowing Attenborough down, however. He’s actively in production on his latest nature documentary special, Blue Planet 3, a six-part series exploring Earth’s underwater habitats that will air on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC America; on ZDF in Germany; on France Télévisions in France; and on Skai TV in Greece. Blue Planet 3 will also air on Sony BBC Earth in India and on regional BBC Earth channels in Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, South Africa and Turkey.