David Attenborough at 100: Mike Gunton recalls historian's wildest filming adventure inside a termite mound | Exclusive

David Attenboroughrsquos is a voice that generations of viewers will unmistakably remember as the one that brought Earthrsquos wonders into their living rooms For decades Attenborough has been the face of nature storytelling measured authoritative and deeply passionate On May 8 2026 the legendary man turns 100 and is garnering more love than everAhead of his milestone birthday Midday spoke to his longtime collaborator Mike Gunton Creative Director amp Executive Producer at BBC Natural History UnitThe funny manAccording to Mike Gunton the man behind the camera is often far more mischievous than the public imagines Gunton who has worked extensively with Attenborough across landmark BBC productions says his most treasured memories arenrsquot of rare animals remote jungles or technically complex shoots theyrsquore of what happened after the cameras stopped rollingldquoI think my biggest my most intense memory is actually when we finish filming cut the cameras get put away boxes get shut we go back to the tent or back to the hotel or back to camp open a few beers and start talking about what wersquove just donerdquo Gunton recalls ldquoThatrsquos my memory just hilariously laughingrdquoFor audiences who associate Attenborough with solemn narration and scientific precision Gunton offers a different portraitldquoHersquos phenomenally funny He could quite easily be an entertainer a talk show host something like that Hersquos got fantastic comedic timing Hersquos a great anecdote tellerrdquoWhile Attenboroughrsquos onscreen persona carries a certain intensityldquobecause he sees himself as an educatorrdquo Gunton explains off screen humour is central to who he isGunton says some of that humour has increasingly found its way into Attenboroughrsquos recent work One of his favourite examples came while filming The Green PlanetAttenborough was explaining a species of cucumberlike plant that disperses its seeds by building up enormous water pressure until the slightest touch makes them explode ldquoHe touched it with a stick and it just squirted seeds everywhererdquo Gunton remembers ldquoAnd you could see this grin on his face he laughed his head off That is him The wonder the beauty but also the slight absurdity of nature is hilariousrdquoThe Green Planet UK 2019ldquoHersquos like Doctor DolittlerdquoIf Attenboroughrsquos humour is one side of his genius Gunton says his instincts in the field are another One moment filmed years earlier for The Trials of Life remains etched in his memoryThey were filming a sequence about the hermit hummingbird a bird whose curved beak has evolved perfectly to feed from equally curved flowers Attenborough was walking through the story on camera explaining how the bird returns to the same flowers in carefully timed intervalsldquoAs he finished saying that the hummingbird needs to come back to the flower to begin the feeding process again we suddenly heard this buzzrdquo Gunton recallsA hummingbird appeared out of nowhere hovered right in front of Attenborough and flew offldquoMost people would have just stoppedrdquo Gunton says ldquoBut David instantly looked up and said lsquoLook at that right on timersquordquoFor Gunton that moment captured Attenboroughrsquos brillianceldquoIt was that speed of thought and understanding the television of it that was geniusrdquo he says ldquoHersquos completely aware of what hersquos saying but also of everything else happening around himrdquoThen laughing Gunton adds ldquoHersquos like Doctor Dolittle animals do turn up when hersquos aroundrdquoTrials of Life Costa Rica in 1988When David crawled inside a termite mound TWICEOf all the adventures theyrsquove shared one of Guntonrsquos most vivid memories involves what might also be one of Attenboroughrsquos most outrageous assignments crawling inside a termite moundIt was 1989 Gunton was working on a programme about how animals build homes and in their view no home was more extraordinary than the towering termite mounds of NigerialdquoThese termite mounds are 15 to 20 feet highrdquo Gunton explains ldquoInside are millions of termites all generating heatThey should cook themselves alive But somehow these tiny creatures have created this extraordinary airconditioning systemrdquoThe challenge was figuring out how to show viewers what was happening inside And the solution was to make David crawl into the moundA trench was dug six feet underground leading into the moundrsquos inner chamber There was just one problem the species they were filming was Macrotermes bellicosusldquoMacrotermes means big termiterdquo Gunton explains ldquoBellicosus means warlikerdquo The soldier termites unsurprisingly were not thrilled by the arrival of a sixfoot intruder ldquoAll we could hear was David crawling in while these termites were fighting him and attacking himrdquo Gunton saysWhen Attenborough finally emerged he was covered in mud his hair dishevelled his shirt tornAnd then Gunton had to deliver the bad news of having to reshoot as they could not secure the footage due to angle issueldquoI had to tell him lsquoDavidhellip we have to do that againrsquordquoAttenboroughrsquos responseldquoHe just looked at me and said lsquoIrsquove got another shirtrsquordquoThe second take was perfect ldquoHe crawled all the way in delivered this fantastic piece to camera and we got itrdquoLooking back now Gunton laughs at the audacity of it allldquoI look back and think what the hell was I thinkingrdquo he says ldquoLuckily I didnrsquot get firedrdquoFor Gunton David Attenboroughrsquos greatest legacy lies in education ldquoHe has shown us the wonders of nature in a way nobody else hasrdquo he says adding that Attenboroughrsquos work also leaves viewers with a simple responsibility to do their part in protecting the natural world for future generationsDynasties Zimbabwe 2018You can catch Sir David Attenboroughrsquos epic collection of documentaries including Planet Earth series Blue Planet and ASIA on BBC Player on Prime Video and Tata Play Binge along with a new special Making Life on Earth Attenboroughrsquos Greatest Adventure on Sony BBC Earth