{"id":16619,"date":"2022-05-08T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=61305"},"modified":"2022-05-08T08:25:41","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T06:25:41","slug":"david-attenborough-a-national-treasure","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/david-attenborough-a-national-treasure\/","title":{"rendered":"David Attenborough: A National Treasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By James Fair\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 08 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The longevity of Attenborough\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cnasty time\u201d as a senior BBC executive.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

One of the ironies of Attenborough\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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Sir David Attenborough (right) with Huw Wheldon and Michael Peacock at BBC Television Centre in London, 5th March 1965. \u00a9 Evening Standard\/Stringer\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

He lavishes praise on the patience and dedication of cameramen, sound mixers, producers and researchers. They in return respect Sir David\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The Attenborough brand is built on his authority, drawing much of its power from his refusal to do commercial voiceovers. \u201cIf I start telling people to buy margarine not butter, they won\u2019t believe a word I say any more,\u201d he said once.<\/p>\n

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