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David Attenborough is 99

Although he is just months away from hitting his 100th birthday, Sir David Attenborough seems to show no signs of retiring. The veteran broadcaster lends his soothing voice to many nature documentaries and is a complete national treasure.

However, with him not getting any younger, the discussion of who might step in to replace him on shows such as the BBC's Planet Earth and Blue Planet has often come about. While there is no official replacement for Sir David lined up, there are a number of prominent contenders.

We take a look at some of the people in the running.

Known for his extensive wildlife TV experience, Springwatch star Chris Packham is thought to be in the running to fill Attenborough's shoes.

He is also listed second, only below Sir David, on the non-alphabetical list of a dozen key presenters on the BBC Natural History website.

Wonders of the Universe narrator, Brian Cox, is also in the running. The scientist was previously credited with making physics sexy.

And he is actually Attenborough's own pick. Speaking at the annual Radio Times Covers Party at Claridge's in London, Sir David told the audience: "If I had a torch I would hand it to Brian."

Cox, who has become a household name following the success of his BBC2 series Wonders of the Solar System, praised Sir David's "inspirational" example in bringing science to the masses.

"He's contributed to science, and thereby contributed to society, to Britain and indeed the world. That's what great science communicators can do," he said.

Wildlife cameraman and CBeebies presenter Hamza Yassin has previously publicly said that he would love to put his hat in the ring to replace Sir David.

He said "no-one" is able to replace Sir David Attenborough, but he would like to "show people what the natural world" means to him and carry on the veteran broadcaster's legacy.

In 2022, the pair collaborated as they both worked on BBC's factual programme Dinosaurs: The Final Day With David Attenborough.

Hollywood actor, Tom Hanks, once stepped in to voice BBC's The Americas in place of Sir David.

The team behind David Attenborough's popular and groundbreaking Planet Earth and Blue Planet series but it was the Big star who narrated.

Speaking about why he accepted the chance to narrate the series, Tom Hanks said: "When the opportunity arose to be the voice of The Americas, I said: 'I think I've lived for that opportunity.' I knew that I would be learning an awful lot.

"I wanted to be on the front line. I feel lucky to be a part of this extraordinary project - of capturing something that is so real that is it's irrefutable to anybody who watches it. And it's just glorious to be a part of that."

Executive producer Mike Gunton, who worked on Planet Earth said: "Tom was the obvious person to do it."

Backshall is seen as a potential successor by many due to his popular wildlife shows, such as Deadly 60, Lost Land of the Jaguar, and Expedition. However, he actually doesn't want to be the next Attenborough.

In an interview with The Telegraph, he said: "I'm not going to try and become Attenborough. We have so little in common. I think the kids' stuff is more important than the grown up stuff, anyway, and I certainly don't want to lose that audience.

"The first kids' programme I presented was The Really, Really Wild Show. That was 16 years ago. I'm getting to the stage in my career where I will go to a university to lecture and students will come up to me and go, I got in to biology because of you. That is just the most incredible thing to hear."