Most people know Sir David Attenborough for his whispers in the tall grass, but his impact behind the scenes was arguably just as revolutionary. As the Controller of BBC Two in the 1960s, he was the architect of color television in the UK.
## The Race for Colour
In 1967, Attenborough was tasked with launching Europe's first color television service. He was famously competitive about it, racing to beat West Germany to the punch. He succeeded on **July 1, 1967**, when BBC Two broadcast the Wimbledon tennis championships in color.
## Programming for the Palette
Attenborough didn't just want color for the sake of it; he wanted to prove its value to a skeptical public. To do this, he commissioned shows specifically designed to "pop" on the new screens:
* **Pot Black:** He brought snooker to television in 1969. While it seems like an odd choice for a visual medium now, the variety of colored balls against the green baize was the perfect advertisement for why viewers should upgrade their sets.
* **Civilisation:** He commissioned this landmark arts series (presented by Kenneth Clark) to show off the vibrant colors of the world’s great paintings and architecture.
* **Yellow Tennis Balls:** Interestingly, Attenborough is often credited with the push to change tennis balls from white to yellow, as the latter was much easier for viewers to see on color broadcasts.
## A Career Across Formats
Because he started so early and stayed so active, Attenborough holds a unique record: he is the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in **Black and White, Colour, HD, 3D, and 4K**.
He essentially moved from the man deciding how the technology should work to the man who used it more effectively than anyone else on the planet
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