By James Fair

Published: Sunday, 08 May 2022 at 12:00 am

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The longevity of Attenborough’s career is remarkable. He has often said during his life that work was what made him get up in the mornings, and that as long as people wanted to watch and listen to him, he would carry on.

But then Attenborough has never considered what he did as arduous. Indeed, he was once quoted as saying that the time when he felt like he was really working was the “nasty time” as a senior BBC executive.

He became controller of BBC Two in 1965, then four years later was made director of programmes of both BBC One and BBC Two. He eventually quit in 1973, hanging up his suit to return to his earlier, happier existence as a peripatetic natural-history presenter.

One of the ironies of Attenborough’s career has been that while many members of the public appeared to believe he did just about everything, from writing and presenting the scripts to operating the boom and making the tea, he has always made a point of highlighting the teamwork required to create his programmes.

He lavishes praise on the patience and dedication of cameramen, sound mixers, producers and researchers. They in return respect Sir David’s willingness to get his hands dirty and the fact that he rarely needed more than one take. And they adore his sense of fun. He is renowned for telling stories round the restaurant table or campfire.

The Attenborough brand is built on his authority, drawing much of its power from his refusal to do commercial voiceovers. “If I start telling people to buy margarine not butter, they won’t believe a word I say any more,” he said once.

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