Doug Allan, cameraman on David Attenborough’s Planet series, dies trekking in Nepal | UK news
An award-winning wildlife cameraman known for his work with David Attenborough has died aged 74 while trekking in Nepal.
Described as a “true pioneer” of wildlife filmmaking, Doug Allan has won several Bafta and Emmy awards and served as lead camera operator on BBC series including Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and The Blue Planet.
His management company, Jo Sarsby Management, said he died “in nature and surrounded by friends”, adding: “A true pioneer of wildlife filmmaking, Doug captured some of the most breathtaking and intimate moments in the natural world.
“Doug leaves behind a visual legacy that few can match. His work has brought audiences closer to the wonders of our planet, inspiring awe, understanding and deep respect for it.”
Allan, from Dunfermline in Fife, graduated with honors in marine biology from the University of Stirling in 1973, and in 1976 became a research diver at the British Antarctic Survey station on Signy Island in South Orkney, where his interest in film developed.
He was later awarded the Polar Medal, an honor he would earn twice, for his expertise in shooting in some of the planet’s most extreme environments.
Explaining why he became a wildlife cameraman, he said: “It was a chance meeting with David Attenborough in 1981. He came to our base with a small film crew. I helped him out for a few days and at the end of those two days I literally looked at the cameraman and thought, you know, you do everything I like to do.”
“On my next trip to Antarctica I bought a 16mm film camera and with the wonderful naivety of youth I went and took pictures of emperor penguins and when I came back I sold the images to the BBC. That’s where it all started.”
He has won eight Emmy awards and five Baftas for his work, and was awarded an OBE in 2024 for services to broadcast media and environmental awareness.
In a 2017 interview, he said he spent approximately 620 days of his life searching for and recording polar bears. Describing his encounter with a polar bear, he said: “For a moment, I thought someone with a squeegee mop was cleaning the outside of the window. I turned around and saw the bear’s wet nose rubbing against the window.”
In another close encounter while filming underwater, a hungry walrus mistook him for a seal and grabbed him by the legs. Allan scared him away by hitting him in the head with his camera.
