Veteran national history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough is be awarded Bristol’s highest honour – the freedom of the city – at a special ceremony next week.
The 86-year-old naturalist, film-maker and former BBC senior manager, pictured, is widely recognised as the world’s greatest natural history programme maker and has had a career spanning nearly six decades. 
His links with Bristol go back nearly as far through his work with the BBC’s Natural History Unit, based since 1957 in Broadcasting House in Whiteladies Road.
While best known for his natural history programmes such as Life on Earth, Sir David also played a pivotal role in widening the reach of BBC television as a senior manager in the 1960s and 1970s, first as controller of BBC 2 shortly after its launch and later as director of programming for both BBC TV channels.
He is acknowledged with commissioning such ground-breaking programmes such as The Ascent of Man, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The Old Grey Whistle Test. He also introduced televised snooker to take advantage of BBC 2’s new colour transmission.
Sir David Attenborough said: “It is a pleasure to receive this honorary title from Bristol, a city I know well and love to visit. To be made a Freeman of the City is a great privilege and one I’m delighted to accept.
“My ties with the city lie in the strong links between Bristol and the BBC’s Natural History Unit. A wealth of local talent and expertise in the film industry and an enduring interest in the natural world has ensured the continuing success of the BBC’s Natural History Unit.
“Bristol’s annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition also helps to focus interest in the natural world and encourages public debate as to how the global community – and future generations – can work together to protect the planet we all share.”
Bristol’s Roll of Honorary Freemen of the City has, over the centuries, included members of the royal family, William Pitt the elder, Lord Nelson, Sir Winston Churchill and, most recently, Professor Peter Higgs, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics earlier this year.
Sir David will receive his honour at an extraordinary full meeting of Bristol City Council on Tuesday December 17.
