Charlotte Hadfield
Reporting from the Royal Albert Hall

Kirsty is now giving the audience a whistle stop tour of Attenborough's broadcasting career.

Starting as a wildlife presenter for Zoo Quest, Sir David later became the BBC's director of programmes, meaning he was essentially in charge of all BBC's TV output.

But Kirsty says management "wasn't where his heart lay", and Sir David chose "once and for all to swap his office suit for his safari suit" in 1979, when he brought us Life on Earth.

Image source, BBC Studios

A clip of Sir David's encounter with gorillas as part of Life on Earth is now shown on screen.

This moment was cited to me by multiple members of the audience here this evening as their favourite memory of David Attenborough.

If you think things couldn't get any more heartwarming you're in for a treat, as we are given an update of how those gorillas - Pablo and Poppy - are doing.

Sir David looks visibly moved as the camera pans to him.

Attenborough's birthday has its own 'Paddington moment'published at 20:52 BST 8 May

20:52 BST 8 May

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

Image source, BBC Studios NHU/Buckingham Palace

The heartwarming film of a relay of wildlife delivering the King’s letter to Sir David Attenborough has been a showcase moment of the birthday tribute.

With its series of animal posties, holding on tightly to the letter, it’s a different kind of Royal Mail, and a memorable way of connecting the King, Britain’s wildlife and Sir David.

A top team of animals including a border collie, fox, red squirrel, eagle, hedgehog, otter and deer, all make an appearance in this beautifully-crafted film, as the letter is brought from Scotland to London.

It could be the ‘Paddington moment’ of the Attenborough birthday celebrations, with echoes of that meeting between Paddington and the late Queen Elizabeth II in a video for the Platinum Jubilee.

The Attenborough film was devised by the BBC Studios Natural History Unit and Buckingham Palace, with filming taking place with the King in Balmoral in early April.

There’s also a cameo appearance by Moley, the dog Queen Camilla adopted from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter at the Royal Albert Hall

Image source, BBC Studios NHU/Buckingham Palace

A very special handwritten birthday message from King Charles III has just been delivered from Balmoral Castle to London.

The King paid tribute to Sir David as he wrote the message, and recounted their seven-decade friendship, which began when a nine-year-old Prince Charles visited the set of Zoo Quest in 1958.

The audience here watched as the King's congratulatory card was initially met an obstacle en route - a fallen tree - but luckily a group of friendly animals helped get the message on its way.

An eagle, a fox, a red squirrel and an otter helped carry the message across the British Isles in time for Sir David to receive it at the Royal Albert Hall.

This feels very much like the night's "Paddington moment", similar to the moment that the Peruvian bear had tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace to celebrate her Jubilee in 2022.

Image source, BBC Studios NHU/Buckingham Palace

We've just seen a video of a very special delivery for Sir David, which was shown to the crowd in the Royal Albert Hall.

A cavalcade of animals have relayed a handwritten congratulatory message from King Charles III at Balmoral Castle to the Royal Albert Hall for Attenborough's 100th birthday.

In the video, the card's journey was initially thwarted by a fallen tree, but rescued by an eagle, a fox, squirrel and otter, who traversed the British Isles to ensure Sir David received his Royal dispatch.

Image source, BBC Studios NHU/Buckingham Palace

The crowd in the Royal Albert Hall all applaud as David Attenborough lifts the letter from the King.

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter at the Royal Albert Hall

Presenter Kirsty Young reminds viewers of the importance of how wildlife footage is soundtracked, and the relationship between programmes and music.

Singer Dan Smith then joins the BBC Concert Orchestra for a live rendition of his band Bastille's most famous hit, Pompeii.

Frogs, turtles, flamingos, deer, ostriches, whales, crocodiles, bison and some stunning birds of prey are just a handful of the animals that appear on screen on the gigantic screen behind him.

But the song's famous lyrics, about the struggle to be optimistic, strike a bittersweet tone in light of Sir David's continued campaigning for climate change.

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter at the Royal Albert Hall

Presenter Kirsty Young previously interviewed Sir David for his 90th birthday, so it's fitting that tonight's show opens with a look back at what he has been up to over the last decade.

Appropriately soundtracked by Coldplay's Adventure of a Lifetime, viewers are reminded of sequences such as the snakes versus iguanas chase from Planet Earth II - a moment that will be revisited in full later tonight.

We then move on to scenes from Blue Planet II, which Young notes helped spark a global movement against plastic pollution.

"There were some pretty difficult scenes," reflects presenter Liz Bonnin, "but shot so stunningly, told so beautifully, it engages you and makes you feel like you can be part of the solution".

Clips from Sir David's other recent shows such as Dynasties and Parenthood also flash up, as Young remarks: "Even in his hundredth year, he's still making programmes that are watched and loved by millions of us across the world."

"It's a damn nuisance," laughs his friend Sir Michael Palin, "because all the rest of us who want to retire see David there on the horizon - we can't keep up!"

Charlotte Hadfield
Reporting from the Royal Albert Hall

Kirsty Young introduces the evening as she tells the audience "we are all here to celebrate the 100th birthday of a very special person".

"He's changed the way we see the world," she says.

But the most poignant moment comes as Kirsty asks everyone to join her in giving "a huge birthday welcome to Sir David Attenborough".

Sir David gets to his feet and bows as he receives a standing ovation for the second time in the space of just a few minutes.

Prince William grins from ear to ear as he sits beside him.

"Can you feel the love?" Kirsty asks. We certainly can.

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter at the Royal Albert Hall

The concert gets under way with a short film looking back on Sir David's decades-long career, starting with some black-and-white footage from his early series.

Live music from the BBC Concert Orchestra swells as he's seen interacting with animals, peering through binoculars, and walking and sailing into the wild.

Out in the Royal Albert Hall auditorium, huge puppets of some of the animals Sir David has encountered over the years are walked through the crowd, including a gorilla, deer and (very tall) giraffe.

"I've been lucky enough to live through what well might be considered the golden age of natural history filmmaking," Sir David says in the pre-recorded voiceover. "I've enjoyed every minute of it."

The footage on the big screens turns to colour as the years spin by and Sir David gradually starts to get older on screen, reminding us of the huge number of TV series he has recorded and the variety of habitats he has visited.

Snakes, monkeys, parrots, leopards and hippos are seen in the footage interacting with Sir David around the world, but the film concludes back in the UK, as he feeds a fox in a residential garden, taken from his recent series Secret London.

Charlotte Hadfield
Reporting from the Royal Albert Hall

The sound of a live orchestra has kick-started the 90 minute special programme celebrating Sir David Attenborough.

Papier-mache animals, including a giraffe and a zebra, make their way through the crowd.

The Prince of Wales has just walked out, closely followed by Sir David Attenborough.

The room erupts and the audience gets to their feet as he receives a standing ovation.

Sir David appears to be overcome with emotion as he smiles and nods his head in appreciation.

Tonight's special celebrating Sir David's centenary is about to be broadcast on BBC One, iPlayer and the stream at the top of this page.

As we explained a little earlier, tonight's show began at 19:30 BST in the Royal Albert Hall but is being broadcast across BBC platforms from 20:30 BST.

We'll be following David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth on the page as it's broadcast.

Image source, Pam Jackson

Pam Jackson was a producer’s assistant with Sir David Attenborough on the 1979 BBC series Life on Earth.

During her work with the BBC Natural History Unit, based in Bristol, she travelled to North, Central and South America - and Iceland.

Pam worked with the unit on documentary series The Private Life of Plants, which was first broadcast in 1995.

Image source, Alastair Fothergill

Alastair Fothergill has produced natural history documentaries with Sir David Attenborough for four decades.

He was previously head of the BBC’s Natural History Unit based in Bristol. He is now a co-director of Silverback Films.

Alastair Fothergill says:

Fothergill continues by saying “he’s never lost his temper with me, he occasionally gives you the famous Attenborough stare, which basically means come on boys get your act together!"

Alastair says Attenborough has "seen more of the natural world than any other human being that has ever lived on our planet, but in that same time he’s seen more change than that’s ever happened on our planet".

“He used to say I am not the star, the animals are the stars. He very rarely says I... and I think people really respect him for that," Alastair adds.

Charlotte Hadfield
Reporting from the Royal Albert Hall

The auditorium here at the Royal Albert Hall quickly filled up with guests ahead of tonight's special celebration.

People of all ages have been taking to their seats and there's a general buzz of excitement among them.

Some fans tell me they got their tickets by being members of the Royal Albert Hall, while others bought them just a few days ago.

Jane Giles, from Heathrow, is visibly emotional as she talks about how much of a "genuine person" David Attenborough is and his achievements.

Claire Robinson, from Hull, who works in primary education, says Sir David is "still inspiring the younger people today", with his work.

Claire is looking forward to looking back at his achievements this evening, which she says started with the yellow tennis ball, and went from TV to natural history.

Jack Burgess
Live page editor

Image source, BBC Studios

One of my earliest memories of watching television was seeing a Venus flytrap on David Attenborough's The Private Life of Plants and being amazed that carnivorous plants existed.

That experience led to a lifetime following Attenborough's documentaries, inspiring me from a young age to want to work for the BBC one day.

Fast forward 30 years and I'm delighted to be editing today's live page covering Sir David's 100th birthday celebrations.

Last night, I watched his latest series – Secret Garden – with my three-year-old daughter. She was utterly entranced by the kingfishers, otters and ducklings.

Her endless questions reminded me of the power of Attenborough's stories about the natural world to inspire people of all ages.

Image source, PA Media

We've just seen some photos of celebrities, and friends of David Attenborough, arriving at the Royal Albert Hall.

Sir Michael Palin and Chris Packham are among those featuring in the event tonight.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Ian West/PA Wire

Manish Pandey
BBC Newsbeat

Singer Sienna Spiro tells BBC Newsbeat she "can't believe" she's involved in the celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall, where she will be performing this evening.

The 20-year-old describes Sir David Attenborough as her “favourite person ever”.

“He’s just a national treasure. He’s always been a pioneer and advocated for the planet, for animals, and I love animals,” she says.

And the Die On This Hill singer admits the moment she found out was a total shock.

“I was eating a meal, I looked on my phone and there was a screenshot of an email which said ‘David Attenborough’.

“And I looked at it and I spat my water out,” she says, laughing.

“I didn’t even know this was a possibility. This is the biggest honour of my entire life.”

Image source, PA Media

8 May 1926: David Attenborough is born to parents Frederick and Mary in Isleworth, Middlesex. He grew up on a campus of University College, Leicester, where his father was principal, alongside his two brothers

1945: After attending Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester, he won a scholarship to study geology and zoology at the University of Cambridge

1952: Attenborough joins the BBC as a trainee producer

1954: He presents hit series Zoo Quest, which combines live studio segments with footage of rare animals - chimpanzees, pythons, birds of paradise - shot on location for the first time

1965: Attenborough becomes controller of BBC Two and oversees the first ever colour broadcasts in Europe

1969: He commissions cult comedy sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC

1970s: Attenborough returns to presenting and travels around the globe to deliver iconic natural history show Life on Earth

1985: He is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

2001: Sir David narrates classic nature series The Blue Planet, which introduces viewers to the deep sea and is the first time some species, including the hairy anglerfish fish and the "Dumbo" octopus, are captured on film

2015: He dives 1,000ft in a submersible off the Australian coast to film previously unseen parts of the Great Barrier Reef, and collaborates with the Natural History Museum on virtual reality projects Planet Earth II and Wild Isles

2019: The presenter appears on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury - shortly before Kylie Minogue's set - to preview some of his new work and thanks festival-goers for cutting their plastic use

2022: Sir David receives a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael And St George, for services to TV, broadcasting and conservation, in a ceremony carried out by then-Prince Charles, now King Charles III

8 May 2026: He celebrates 100th birthday at the Royal Albert Hall

Charlotte Hadfield
Reporting from the Royal Albert Hall

Husband and wife James and Becky Francis, from Bromley in south London, are among the guests here tonight.

James has a shrine to David Attenborough at his home and says he's been excited all week after getting tickets to tonight's event for his birthday.

He says what makes Sir David so special is the "effort he's made towards animal conservation", and how he delivers everything he does with "a sense of calmness".

"He keeps on fighting and hopefully he can achieve something for the planet in the remaining years that he has," James adds.

Meanwhile, Neil Vest and Jacqueline Bailey have travelled from Dover to be here tonight.

Neil says he's "thrilled to bits" to have been able to get a ticket for such a special celebration.

He says that what Sir David has done over the years with shows like Blue Planet is "just incredible", adding "we've learnt so much from him".