Sir David Attenborough's first Zoo Quest and a WW2 sabotage mission in Norway

About this episode

The episode features Sir David Attenborough's early career and a World War II sabotage mission, along with various historical accounts.

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We start with the broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. To mark his 100th birthday, we go back to the mid 1950s and the television programme that launched his career. Our guest is Dr Paula Kahumbu, a Kenyan conservationist and head of the conservation organisation, Wildlife Direct. Then, the story of a World War Two sabotage plot carried out by a team of Norwegian resistance fighters. We hear about Africa's worst stadium disaster, at the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana. Plus, a Spanish nun reflects on the killing of two fellow sisters during the Algerian civil conflict in the 1990s. We also hear how the world's most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex was found in South Dakota, USA, in 1990. Finally, how the Nigerian 4 x 400m relay team were declared Olympic champions, 12 years after the race. Contributors: Sir David Attenborough - naturalist and broadcaster (BBC archive) Dr Paula Kahumbu, CEO of Kenyan conservation organisation, Wildlife Direct Gunnar Deinboll Jenssen - nephew of the Norwegian resistance fighter Lieutenant Peter Deinboll Herbert Mensah - former…

People in this episode

Host: Max Pearson

Guests: Sir David Attenborough, Dr Paula Kahumbu

Topics covered

• natural history
• World War II
• sports history
• African history
• conservation
• personal stories

Keywords

• David Attenborough
• WW2 sabotage
• Norwegian resistance
• Accra Sports Stadium
• Tyrannosaurus rex
• Nigerian relay team
• Algerian civil conflict

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wildlife Direct

Places: Ghana, Algeria, South Dakota, USA

More episodes of The History Hour

• Opening the archives: A cellist, a playwright and a king · June 13, 2026 · 1h 1m
• The creation of Inspector Montalbano and Australia's first Big Thing · June 6, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Mexican history: A love song and a gas explosion · May 30, 2026 · 1h 0m
• The first reality game show and a joik performance on Eurovision · May 16, 2026 · 1h 1m
• The world’s first perfume archive and Dutch car-free Sundays in the global oil crisis · May 1, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Cleaning up Chernobyl and Canada’s war in the woods · April 25, 2026 · 1h 1m