Thanks to a recent remarkable discovery in the BBC's film vaults, the best of David Attenborough's early Zoo Quest TV adventures can now be seen in colour, along with the remarkable story of how this pioneering television series was made.
First broadcast in December 1954, Zoo Quest launched the career of the young David Attenborough as a wildlife presenter and completely changed how viewers saw the world. One of the most popular television series of its time, it revealed wildlife and tribal communities that had never been filmed or even seen before. Broadcast 10 years before colour television was available in the UK, Zoo Quest was thought to have been filmed in black and white, until now.
Using this newly found colour film, together with new behind-the-scenes stories from David Attenborough and cameraman Charles Lagus, this special exhibition showcases the very best of the series.
Photo © David Attenborough with Benjamin - who became known as ‘the Zoo Quest bear’ (a Malaysian sun bear). Borneo, 1956.
