
Alastair Fothergill
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1960-04-10 (65 years old)
Place of Birth
London, England, UK
Alastair Fothergill
Biography
Alastair Fothergill (born 10 April 1960 in London the United Kingdom) is a producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is the executive producer of the multi-award winning series The Blue Planet (2001) and Planet Earth (2006) and the co-director of the associated feature films Deep Blue and Earth.
Fothergill attended Harrow. He studied zoology at St Cuthbert's Society in the University of Durham and made his first film, On the Okavango, while still a student. Fothergill joined the BBC Natural History Unit in 1983, working on The Really Wild Show, Wildlife on One and David Attenborough's The Trials of Life. He was appointed head of the Unit in 1992, and during his tenure he produced Attenborough's award-winning series Life in the Freezer.
In June 1998, he stood down as head of the Unit to concentrate on his work on The Blue Planet. He has also presented several television programmes, including The Abyss and is the author of three books.
He was awarded the "Clean Energy Award" by BMW during the Cinema for Peace award ceremony on 11 February 2008.
In 2008, he signed a multi-picture deal with newly formed Disneynature, and now spends six months each year on sabbatical from the BBC developing feature documentaries as an independent producer. The first two titles under the Disneynature deal will be Big Cats and Chimpanzee, which he is co-directing with Keith Scholey and Mark Linfield respectively. He is also producing a new seven-part natural history series for the BBC called Frozen Planet, due for completion in 2011. The series will feature the struggles of charismatic animals during a time of rapid climate change in the polar regions. David Attenborough will again narrate. Fothergill currently lives in Bristol with his wife Melinda and his two sons, Hamish and William.
Known For
Acting
(2020)
Penguins: Life on the Edge
as Self
(2007)
(2002)
The Abyss
as Self - Presenter
Crew
(2024)
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
Executive Producer
(2023)
Hamza: Strictly Birds of Prey
Producer
(2022)
Bear Witness
Director
(2022)
Polar Bear
Director, Producer
(2021)
Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet
Executive Producer
(2020)
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
Director, Executive Producer
(2020)
Penguins: Life on the Edge
Director
(2020)
Elephant
Co-Director
(2020)
Sir David Attenborough and Sir Michael Palin in Conversation
Executive Producer
(2019)
Dancing with the Birds
Executive Producer
(2019)
Our Planet: Behind the Scenes
Producer
(2019)
Penguins
Director, Producer
(2018)
Dolphin Reef
Co-Director, Producer
(2015)
Monkey Kingdom
Director, Producer
(2014)
Bears
Director
(2014)
(2012)
Chimpanzee
Director, Producer
(2012)
Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild
Executive Producer
(2011)
African Cats
Director
(2007)
Earth
Director, Screenplay
(2007)
(2006)
Desert Lions
Director
(2003)
Deep Blue
Director
(1990)
The Trials of Life
Producer