He is also signing up to Netflix to narrate a new programme called Our Planet, in liaison with James Honeyborne, the creator of Blue Planet II. The eight-part Netflix wildlife show is due to be aired in April, while One Planet: Seven Worlds is scheduled for the autumn.
Attenborough, who has been hosting television series about nature and the environment since 1952, is also rumoured to be appearing in Green Planet for the BBC, focusing on plants and their crucial role in the global ecosystem.
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Blue Planet II
Attenborough has always been interested in the environmental effects of modern living on our planet. His popular show, Blue Planet II, was seen by a staggering 750 million viewers worldwide in 2017.
Blue Planet II was broadcast 16 years after the original series. The presenter added his voice to the growing tide of concern about the effects of plastics in our oceans.
The series revealed the damage that carelessly-discarded plastic was doing to our marine life, urging international action and quite rightly pointing out that the future of humanity was in our own hands.
Attenborough said plastic pollution and rising global temperatures were the biggest concerns for the ocean. With an estimated increase of 1.5 degrees in the ocean's temperature over the next decade, he said he "didn't know" what we could do about this - but that we should be doing something about plastic pollution now.
He spoke of how he had seen tragedies occur because of plastic in the ocean, such as albatrosses trying to gather food for their young but coming back sick having ingested plastic, thus leaving the chicks facing death with no food.
Original series
Attenborough first hosted the original Blue Planet in 2001, when it was recognised as a ground breaking series on marine life, giving viewers at home the chance to view some phenomenal creatures that live in our oceans. The series won BAFTA and Emmy awards for its amazing underwater filming and atmospheric music.
The programme explored the uncharted depths of the ocean - the 60% of the sea that is more than a mile deep. It creates the most mysterious part of the ocean, but Blue Planet managed to follow a number of marine creatures into the unknown.
Series' highlights included the journey of a sperm whale, who was looking for food at a depth of 1,000 metres. The whale's journey was followed, thanks to the technology of the Johnson Sealink submersible craft, revealing a host of other weird and wonderful creatures on the way.
Transparent squids and sea jellies swam past, providing pulsating displays of colour, while the rare sixgill shark was filmed. Described as a "living fossil", it has remained unchanged for around 150 million years and can grow up to eight metres long.
At seven miles deep, the mysterious Mariana Trench was explored. Attenborough commented that more was known about the moon's surface than about the bed of the ocean. Fish were found right down to the bottom, and a number of rare species were captured on film for the first time.
These included the Dumbo octopus, the hairy anglerfish and the hagfish that was caught on camera eating the remains of a whale. The series was filmed in oceans all over the world, including the Arctic and Antarctica, where the water temperature was as low as -50°C and frozen water presented massive filming challenges.
Early career
Despite Attenborough having been a broadcaster for 67 years, he has lost none of his zest for wildlife programmes. The Middlesex-born naturalist spent his childhood collecting fossils and natural specimens.
His father, Frederick, was principal of the University College, Leicester, so the young David spent much time on the campus, growing up in College House. His childhood fascination with nature, conservation and the planet grew into a career.
He studied geology and zoology at Clare College, Cambridge, from 1945, obtaining his degree in natural sciences. He completed his National Service in the Navy, after which he applied for a job with the BBC as a radio talk show producer.
His application was unsuccessful, but TV producer Mary Adams, head of the BBC's factual broadcasting department, liked his CV and offered him a three-month training course with the fledgling television service. At the time, Attenborough didn't even own a TV set!
This led to the broadcaster's lifelong association with the BBC. He presented numerous nature programmes, beginning with Zoo Quest in 1954. He later completed his postgraduate degree in social anthropology at London School of Economics, while still working for the BBC.
He was also the director of programming for BBC Television and controller of BBC2 in the 1960s and 1970s. Through the years, his wildlife programmes have included BBC2's flagship programme, Natural World, Planet Earth and the long-running BBC1 series, Wildlife on One. He narrated each of the 253 episodes that were broadcast between 1977 and 2005.
Blue Planet Effect
The Blue Planet II series focusing on ocean pollution led to a phenomenon called the "Blue Planet Effect". The hit TV show helped sustainable investment to go mainstream, according to Andrew Dykes, founder of the Global Sustainability Trust - a new £200 million ethical fund.
He said the “Blue Planet Effect” had made the investments that benefit environmental and social causes a major City trend, adding, the whole purpose of the trust had been brought to life by Blue Planet, with the people watching it realising things needed to change. The trust is managed by Aberdeen Standard Life.
The Blue Planet Effect was also responsible for spurring organisations, businesses and individuals into doing their bit to help save the planet. Initiatives included the BBC's announcement that it would end the use of single-use plastics throughout its operations by 2020. This includes banning the use of plastic cups, packaging and cutlery.
If you're interested in exploring the undersea world portrayed in Blue Planet, it's crucial that you have the correct equipment. Solent Plastics' Gulper equivalent storage boxes are great for diving and wet gear.