The acclaimed wildlife cameraman and photographer Doug Allan has died while trekking in Nepal. Allan, 74, was principal cameraman on a number of BBC programmes including The Blue Planet, Blue Planet II, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, and spent much of his career working alongside Sir David Attenborough. He won eight Emmy Awards for his work and was made an OBE for services to broadcast media and environmental awareness in 2024.
Allan's management company said he had died "immersed in nature and surrounded by friends". In a statement, Jo Sarsby Management described him as a "true pioneer of wildlife filmmaking" who had captured "some of the most breathtaking and intimate images" of the natural world. They added: "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. "When we think of Doug, we will always remember his unforgettable kindness and his extraordinary talent. He was a true gentleman and he will be profoundly missed.
"Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues across the wildlife filmmaking industry and the many people around the world who admired his work." Born in 1951, in Dunfermline, Fife, Allan became interested in snorkelling and diving after watching Jacques Cousteau's film, The Silent World, a 1956 documentary which was one of the first to use underwater filming. After graduating with a degree in marine biology from the University of Stirling, he took on a number of diving jobs. His big break came when he was taken on as a research diver with the British Antarctic Survey, stationed at Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands.
He was later awarded the Polar Medal, an honour he would win twice, for his work. In 1981, a chance meeting with Attenborough led to Allan working on the documentary series Living Planet, part of which was filmed in the Antarctic. He began specialising in filming in some of the planet's most extreme environments.
In 2017, he told BBC Scotland he had spent about 620 days of his life searching for and recording polar bears. He described how on one occasion a polar bear came looking for him. "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. Allan later became a campaigner on environmental issues and, earlier this year, urged the Scottish government to back an "ecocide" bill designed to penalise companies that caused severe or widespread damage to the natural environment.
Allan won eight Emmy Awards, five Bafta's and was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society throughout his career. Bafta Scotland awarded him the Outstanding Contribution to Craft prize in 2017 in recognition of his work.
