Doug Allan, cameraman on David Attenborough’s Planet series, dies trekking in Nepal

An award-winning wildlife cameraman renowned for his work with David Attenborough has died aged 74 while trekking in Nepal.Doug Allan, described as a “true pioneer” of wildlife film-making, won several Bafta and Emmy awards and was principal camera operator on a number of BBC series including Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and The Blue Planet.His management company, Jo Sarsby Management, said he died “immersed in nature and surrounded by friends”, adding: “A true pioneer of wildlife film-making, Doug captured some of the most breathtaking and intimate moments in the natural world.“Doug leaves behind a visual legacy that few could ever match. His work brought audiences closer to the wonders of our planet, inspiring awe, understanding and deep respect for the planet.”Allan filming a swimming polar bear in the Canadian Arctic in May 1996. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/AlamyFrom Dunfermline, in Fife, Allan graduated from Stirling University in 1973 with an honours degree in marine biology and in 1976 he became a research diver on the British Antarctic Survey station at Signy Island in the South Orkneys, where his interest in filming developed.He was later awarded the Polar Medal, an honour he would win twice, for his work, specialising in filming 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, of all people, in 1981. He turned up in our base with a small film crew. I helped him for a couple of days and quite literally at the end of those two days I looked at the cameraman and thought, you know, you are doing all the things I like doing.Allan in an ice hole while filming in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, in 2008. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy“The next trip to the Antarctic I bought a 16mm movie camera and in the wonderful naiveness of youth I went and did some filming of emperor penguins and sold the footage to the BBC when I went back. That’s where it all started.”He went on to win eight Emmy awards and five Baftas for his work and was made an OBE for services to broadcast media and environmental awareness in 2024.Allan was made an OBE for services to broadcast media and environmental awareness in 2024. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.In a 2017 interview he said he had spent about 620 days of his life searching for and recording polar bears. Describing one encounter with a polar bear, he said: “For a brief second, I thought there was someone with a squeegee mop cleaning the outside of the window. I turned around, and it was 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 took hold of his legs. Allan frightened it away by hitting it on the head with his camera.