‘They don’t come more special’ Sir David Attenborough pays tribute to Fife cameraman
ByCheryl Peebles
Sir David Attenborough has paid tribute to Doug Allan in a BBC documentary.
A Fifer has been hailed by wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough as the most special cameraman ever.
Dunfermline-born Doug Allan, 61, has won five BAFTAs and four Emmy awards for his awe-inspiring work behind the lens. He is one of five Scots filmmakers to feature in a BBC1 documentary called Wild Cameramen at Work.
In it Attenborough says: “Capturing animal behaviour in extreme and hostile places takes a very special kind of cameraman and they don’t come more special than Doug Allan.”
Doug didn’t set out to be a cameraman. In 1973 he graduated with a degree in marine biology from Stirling University. But he decided life as a scientist was not for him and he worked as a diver for three years.
During a winter studying emperor penguins, Doug began working with a movie camera and his footage was bought by the BBC. That was the start of his career in film.
‘They don’t come more special’ Sir David Attenborough pays tribute to Fife cameraman
