For more than 70 years, Sir David Attenborough has brought all the animals – from the tiniest insects to the largest ocean dwellers – to life in his extraordinary documentaries. To celebrate his centenary, the beloved wildlife filmmaker sat down with Woman’s Day to share some of his favourite memories and the legacy he hopes to leave behind…
You turn 100 this week and yet you’re still working. Would you describe yourself as a workaholic?
It has been said, but I enjoy what I do very much. I can always think of more I want to do, if I am spared. But I’ve had a very good run for my money, so that’s not at all depressing. I know plenty of people who are a lot worse off than me, with muscular diseases, stuck in wheelchairs, battling Alzheimer’s and things like that. It’s just luck that I’m not like that. However, the days of limitless travel for me are, sadly, over and I doubt very much if I will be climbing many more trees!
You could have taken it easy and just retired like most of your peers. The odd round of golf perhaps…
Good grief, what a horrible thought! I’ve never ever given the thought of taking up golf a moment, not even a millisecond, of my time. The idea of hanging around in a golf club bar with a gin and tonic appals me.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like listening to music. The operas of Handel are a particular favourite and I love the BBC Proms.
When did your fascination with the natural world begin?
I grew up in and around Leicester. I was a very ordinary little boy, going for walks in the countryside and examining things that my brother found in the hedgerows – and collecting fossils when we went to the seaside. I used to go to Nottingham by train to take extra geology lessons. I suppose I could be described as being born inquisitive.
How does it feel knowing you’ve inspired so many people around the world to pay more attention to the environment around them?
Hmmm, well, I just make programmes to entertain and to inform. I do it for very selfish reasons – because I love it. Is it a huge achievement to get people interested in the programmes that I do? I am not a great crusader. I admit that I have a lovely time! But people today are, thank goodness, far more aware that the natural world is interesting, fascinating and crucial to life.
In all your years travelling the world, you must have stayed in some very unusual places…
Oh, many. I’ve slept in some very odd places around the world! I’d be the first to admit that now, at my age, I would far prefer a bed to a floor.
What is the worst thing that has happened to you on your travels?
Having a rat emerge from the toilet bowl while I was sitting on the lavatory! I don’t know which was the most surprised – the rat or me! I hate rats at the best of times. Vile creatures.
And the most unusual thing you’ve eaten?
Caterpillars – not the squiggly ones that smell of sick, the others. Cooked, they taste a lot like Twiglets [savoury snacks]. You can’t be squeamish when you’re at the far ends of the earth.
When you look back on everything you have achieved, do you have any regrets?
Well, all my travels did take me away from home a lot. Maybe I should have been there more for my family and my children. My children still tease me about it now. I’m sorry that I missed some parts of their lives.
Finally, what would you like your legacy to be?
Crikey, that sounds rather pretentious! But, alright, the many hours of film that will, I hope, show future generations what this world was like at the end of the 20th and at beginning of the 21st century.
