Doug Allan Tribute - A look back at Ep. 314 with the wildlife cameraman, who died this week

My Time Capsule

Cast Off Productions

Comedy Interviews, Society & Culture, David Mitchell, Caroline Quentin, Interview, Comedy, Michael Fenton Stevens, Lee Mack, Arabella Weir, Rob Brydon, Mike Fenton Stevens, Personal Journals, Stephen Fry, Ross Noble

4.8 • 842 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After the extremely sad news of the death of wildlife cameraman Doug Allan this week, we thought we would share his wonderful episode again as a tribute to his extraordinary life and career. It was first released in August 23. Our love and thoughts to his family and friends.

Doug Allan was lead cameraman on The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet, Frozen Planet, Expedition Iceberg and Forces of Nature and is responsible for some of the most famous wildlife footage ever filmed, including the extraordinary sequence of killer whales creating waves to wash seals off ice floes in Antarctica. He spent much of his career working alongside Sir David Attenborough. Doug has won eight Emmys and four BAFTAs and in 2017 he won an outstanding contribution award at the British Academy Scotland Awards. In 2011 he filmed and was a presenter for the BBC series Ocean Giants about whales worldwide and In 2012 he was one of the presenters on Operation Iceberg, as well as filming many of the sequences in this award winning series. Doug appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 2014 and The Museum of Curiosity in 2019 .

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello. We're putting this episode from a few years ago out again as a tribute to the wonderful wildlife photographer Doug Allen, who very sadly passed away this week. I hope the introduction will tell you the things he's done, but I'm sure the episode will tell you what a wonderful man he was. I love to his family.
0:33.2	Hello and welcome to my time capsule. My name's Mike Fenton-Stevens, and my timecaptured is the podcast where, as always, my guest tell me the five things from their life that they wish they had in a time capsule.
0:48.5	They pick four things that they cherish and one thing that they'd like to bury and forget.
0:53.3	My very special guest in this episode is
0:55.7	Doug Allen. Now you may not have heard of Doug, but you will have seen his work. Doug Allen is a Scottish
1:02.2	freelance wildlife and documentary cameraman, famous and lorded, for his work in the Arctic and
1:08.2	Antarctic, both on land and in water. Yes, below the ice.
1:13.4	He's been lead cameraman on a number of award-winning programs, including the blue planet,
1:18.3	planet earth, life, human planet, frozen planet, expedition iceberg, and forces of nature.
1:25.6	I'm not sure I really need to say much more, but I will do. He's made over
1:29.2	a hundred filming trips and is responsible for some of the most famous footage of marine and polar
1:34.3	wildlife, including orcas attacking grey whales of California, polar bears trying to capture
1:40.0	belugas in a frozen hole in Arctic Canada, and killer whales washing seals off ice flows in Antarctica.
1:47.0	Yes, that piece of film, which I'm glad to say he talks about in this episode.
1:52.0	In 2011, he filmed and was a presenter for the BBC series Ocean Giants about whales worldwide.
1:59.0	And in 2012, he was one of the presenters on Operation Iceberg,
2:02.9	as well as filming many of the sequences in this award-winning series.
2:07.1	And talking of awards, Doug has won eight Emmys,
2:10.3	including outstanding cinematography for Blue Planet and for Planet Earth.
2:14.9	He's also won four BAFTAs,
2:16.7	and in 2017, he won an outstanding
2:19.2	contribution award at the British Academy Scotland Awards. Doug appeared on BBC Radio 4 as the
	...

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