A special announcement was made during his birthday celebration special programme on BBC One.
BBC viewers will be seeing more of David Attenborough(Image: BBC)
The BBC has made a major announcement about the future of Sir David Attenborough.
The legendary broadcaster was honoured with a special event at the Royal Albert Hall to mark his 100th birthday.
Hosted by Kirsty Young, it saw guest appearances from the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Sir Michael Palin, as well as historic clips of Sir David’s TV career.
And while he may be 100 years old, the national treasure clearly has no plans to slow down, as the BBC has now confirmed a new series of Blue Planet.
Moments before David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth came to an end, Kirsty announced: “Well, even though it’s his birthday week, David has still been hard at work, voicing a brand new series.
“Tonight, I am thrilled to announce that launching this autumn is Blue Planet III.
“We felt that we couldn’t go this evening without sharing a little glimpse, recorded just a few days ago, into 100-year-old David Attenborough’s typical working day.”
The show then aired a clip of Sir David voicing over an animal’s ‘mating call’, with Kirsty hailing him “an inspiration to us all”.
As the latest Blue Planet series was announced, viewers took to social media to share their excitement.
“Ooohh Blue Planet III so excited,” one person said, while another wrote: “Blue Planet 3!!! Always so hyped and it’s not even out yet.”
Wildlife documentary series Blue Planet first aired in 2001, with the sequel following in 2017.
This comes after a film producer who has worked with Sir David addressed the centenarian “slowing down”.
Joe Loncraine appeared on Good Morning Britain last month, where he recalled the privilege of working with him over the last decade.
He said: “I first worked with him just before his 90th birthday, and I thought, I’m so glad I got to work with him because surely he won’t be making films for much longer now that he’s nearly 90.
“Since then, I’ve worked with him on five projects, five different films over that time in the last ten years, and I’ve stopped thinking he’ll be slowing down. You’ll lose that bet if you have it any time.
“He always surprises us, he’s always wanting to do more. He remains very curious about the world and wants to learn more and show people what he’s learnt and show people what he’s excited about.
“I imagine he’ll probably rest a bit more, he’s earnt it. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps doing stuff for as long as we want him, which will be as long as we can have him.”
Back in 2019, Sir David, then 91, said he would retire from broadcasting if his work became substandard, or if he could no longer walk up and down stairs.
“I would like to think I would be able to detect when I couldn’t find the right words any more,” he told the Radio Times. “If I think I’m not producing commentary with any freshness or which is apposite or to the point, I hope I would be able to recognise it before someone else told me.
“If I thought I was turning in substandard work, that would stop me.”
He added: ““If I can’t walk up and down steps any more, that will stop me.
“Yes I do dread not working, although there are things I can do without running up steps six times – books to be written, things I’ve never got round to.”
David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.