My father, Julien Balchin, who has died aged 75, was retired for far longer than he ever worked – something of a feat. His career in cinematography spanned 25 years, taking him across the globe with the BBC’s film and documentary units. He worked on TV classics such as Blue Peter, Doctor Who and The Travel Show, and series such as All Creatures Great and Small, and Colditz.

Julien was born Nottingham in 1949 to Iole (nee Stocco) and George Balchin, a coal miner and later a traffic warden. His parents had met some years earlier during Britain’s administration of Venice just after the second world war and moved to the UK in 1948. His mother’s job at the local cinema proved to be his making. She set him to watching Saturday matinees as a way of providing free childcare, and it sparked an abiding love for film.

After attending Bramcote Hills grammar school, in 1965 he took a course in photography and film at Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, and in 1968 was offered a place with the BBC, astonishingly from two locations simultaneously: Manchester and London. As a confident 19-year-old he accepted both, first to Ealing studios for a brief stint before settling in Manchester, a centre of activity for BBC North.

He worked with Danny Boyle on one of his earliest productions, Mr Wroe’s Virgins, and became the first cameraman to film the ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanazania; he was also nominated for a Bafta as part of the cinematography team for Kilvert’s Diary (1977-78), a TV adaptation of a 19th-century curate’s account of life on the Welsh borders.

In 1984 Julien married Celestina Coronato, whom he met through family friends, and had two daughters, Lisa and me. By 1993 he decided to take early retirement, as cinematography transitioned from analogue to digital, and with it his new chapter began.

On completing a biology degree from the Open University (2000) he decided to become an adventurer, traversing the globe for the next three decades with his family. He enjoyed everything from Comic-Con in San Diego, to the wildebeest migration in the Maasai Mara, to drinks on Copacabana beach. A bon vivant, he loved all that life had to offer.

Some of his final days were spent at the 2024 Paris Olympics, enjoying one last adventure, and playing with his grandchildren in the garden.

Julien and Celestina divorced in 2003. He is survived by Lisa and me, six grandchildren, and his brother, Paul.