When Attenborough met the gorillas – the story behind his iconic TV moment

But just as with Attenborough’s filming in the 1970s, things did not go as expected. Over 250 days of filming, Pablo’s descendants were in the midst of a complex battle for supremacy between three adult males that led to beatings, a killing and mourning. Once again, the gorillas were writing the script just as they had in 1978.