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

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 chair of the football club Asante Kotoko Sister Lourdes Migueles - Spanish nun who chose to stay in Algeria during civil conflict Peter Larson - American commercial fossil collector and researcher Enefiok Udo-Obong - former Nigerian sprinter (Photo: Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and broadcaster, with two ring-tailed lemurs. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

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Sir David Attenborough's first Zoo Quest and a WW2 sabotage mission in Norway is an episode from The History Hour by BBC.

This episode is 60:50 long.

This episode was published on May 9, 2026.

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