Legendary wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough will be 90 on May 8 next and the BBC will celebrate that landmark by screening his first TV wildlife show in colour.
Now this isn't some corny 'coluorized' version for people too dim to appreciate the subtleties of monochrome. Far from it. This is the real deal.
The 1950s' series Zoo Quest originally aired in black and white, but when footage was unearthed in the BBC vaults last year it emerged that it had actually been filmed in colour.
David Attenborough was as surprised as anyone to discover that his first gig wasn't in the then standard black and white format.
"I was astonished when someone said we've got nearly all the film of the first three expeditions you did in colour," he admitted. "I said, 'It's impossible, we shot in black and white.'"
Zoo Quest in Colour will be screened on BBC Four in May as part of a week of programming across the British broadcasting service to mark the veteran naturalist's 90th birthday.
First broadcast in December 1954, Zoo Quest was one of the most popular television shows of its time and launched the career of the young – as you can see - David Attenborough as a wildlife presenter.
And although the footage was filmed in colour, it would be another ten years before colour television was introduced in the UK.
