The life and Legacy of Sir David Attenborough

Nature documentaries are a way to transport people to worlds that they may never see and experience incredible events that they may have never had experienced, all without leaving the couch. Nature documentaries are important because they bring up important issues surrounding deforestation, hunting and climate change while providing a sense of optimism surrounding these issues. As popular as this genre is very few people have been able to actually make a career out of presenting these types of shows. The name that is most recognizable is David Attenborough, his career spans more than half a decade and is way more varied than you may originally believe. In this essay I’m going to look deep into David’s career, specifically how he went from the controller of a well-known tv channel to be the most recognizable presence in the history of nature documentaries. I will also be talking about the impact he has had on both the industry he works for and the world around him.

Sir David Attenborough was born on the 8th May 1926 in Leicester, England [themozinity,2022] and is the younger son of famous actor Richard Attenborough known for films like Jurassic Park. From an early age he had taken a great interest in the local wildlife and especially fossils and other natural specimens [Attenborough D and Huges J 2021] that he would collect for his own “museum”. During the second world war he attended Wyggeston Grammar school [Tes, 2018] which at the time did not teach the subject of geology, however he was lucky that his physics teacher was also very interested in that subject too and offered to help guide his interests in the right direction. He then went on to get an honorary degree in natural science at Claire’s college which is part of the prestigious Cambridge University [WWF,2017]. From there he did a brief 2-year stint in the army before then spending the next 3 years in an editorial job for the University of London press. In 1952 David made the move over to television where he started working for the BBC as a trainee before becoming a producer. In 1954 he was first seen in front of the camera in the hit series called ‘Zoo Quest’ where he would travel to various countries in search for animal, the show had lasted for 10 years and after he resigned to do a post-graduate degree in social anthropology.[WWF,2017] David then returned to the BBC in 1965 to manage BBC 2 which was relatively new at the time and was struggling to gain viewers. While overseeing BBC 2 he commissioned favourites such as Match of the day and Monty pythons flying circus, he also commissioned Europe’s first colour broadcast which was of the popular tennis tournament Wimbledon [BBC]. He resigned from full time work to become a freelance broadcaster when he went onto create/involve himself in shows that have proceeded to define the genre like life and then later planet earth. The budgets for these programs were so big [Boboltz, S., 2015] that the BBC had to ask for money from foreign broadcasters who in turn broadcasted the program worldwide. Overtime his influence has become so great that he has been invited to speak at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (better known as COP26), the world economic forum in Davos and has used his influence to promote the issues surrounding climate change.

I feel that David Attenborough is an inspiration for many because he picked up his passion for wildlife at a very early age and has made a 50-year career out of it, and yes he did dip in and out of other work in the television industry in his early days but wildlife documentaries have become the thing that he has spent most of his career on and because of that, they are what he is most well known for. He also describes himself as being a naturalist [Attenborough D and Huges J 2021] and seems to adopt a sustainable lifestyle as a vegetarian. When you watch one of his programs you can easily get the sense that he has a very deep and personal connection to animals and wildlife which Is something that I personally feel is lacking in other nature documentaries. He didn’t create the genre but the documentaries he has released have frequently focused on showing nature in new and exciting ways and have therefor defined the genre. For example, his ground-breaking television show Life featured the first-ever time-lapse (of its kind) of a plant springing to life [kate,2017]. And later on planet earth 2 was the first to use handheld rigs and 4k cameras. And because of this the rest of the industry has had to change or they would have risked being left behind. David has also shown a vested interest in natural history [Attenborough D and Huges J 2021], this stemmed from when he used to collect fossils. On more than one occasion he has taken the viewer on journeys into the past (using technology) to showcase the world of the dinosaur. On a global stage he uses his platform to politely tell people why they should care about the planet and why they should act now to protect it. I mentioned his speech a cop 26 earlier [United Nations,2021] and for good reason, here he utilizes the form of video effectively to help get his message across to the delegates in attendance and members of the audience, he also adorned the same tone that he always uses when narrating his documentaries, it is calming but at the same time you feel a sense of urgency in his voice. In the video he shows nature in its prime and showing what humanity has done to it over the years. He also went to a great length to include the voices of young activists who may not have been heard otherwise. He always ends his speeches in the same way that he ends his documentaries, and that is with a message that would provide hope to those people who feel there is none when it comes to climate change. Maybe he’s being way too optimistic when he says these things however I believe he does this to make people feel more hopeful that if everybody plays their part then humanity will be ok in the future.

I first took an interest in Attenborough’s work when Blue Planet II was released back in 2016 and that was the first ever nature documentary of that scale that I had seen. His work is what introduced me to the genre in the first place. So for me, he has become so synonymous with his industry that I have absolutely have no idea where it would be now without him. Saying that when researching him for this article I had only a vague idea of the impact that he had on the tv industry as a whole because I was surprised to find out that he was behind the first ever colour broadcast and that without his input cult classics like Monty Pythons flying circus may not have even made it to the airwaves. Sir David is also one of the very few who are devoid of any controversies and sees himself as a role model for future generations so when he’s in the public eye he behaves as such. Like Attenborough I also took an interest in wildlife from an early age, I grew up in a more urbanized area compared to Attenborough however there was no lack of beaches or woodland accessible a short walk away, unfortunately there was a lack of fossils and other natural specimens (other than the annual abandoned egg the ‘resident’ blackbirds would leave in my back garden) so I resorted to just collecting shells. When the first lockdown hit I (like many others) turned to his documentaries for some soles but they helped me out in another way too, at the time I had absolutely no idea what career path I should take, and while watching I realized how much I wanted to be the ‘man behind the camera’ filming the action and because of that I now have a clearer sense of direction than ever before.

In conclusion I believe that Sir David is one of the most influential people that Britain has to offer. Without his calming presence maybe the genre wouldn’t be as popular as it now is because he is the person that has defined the genre for so many people. Some people believe that there may never be another person as influential as him however time will have to tell on that one. Furthermore I hope you have enjoyed reading this article as much as I did researching for it. I hope to be covering other influential figures going forward because it helps me hone in my research and essay writing skills which will come into use when I start my bachelor of arts degree later this year.

References:

Anon., 2017. Sir David Attenborough, OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS [online]. WWF. Available from: https://www.wwf.org.uk/council-of-ambassadors/sir-david-attenborough [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].

Anon., 2021. Sir David Attenborough’s Address to World Leaders at COP26 — Speech in Full [online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjq4VWdZhq8.

Anon., 2023. National Treasure: The life of Sir David Attenborough [online]. Sky HISTORY TV channel. Available from: https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-life-of-sir-david-attenborough [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].

Ashwood, J., 2022. The extraordinary legacy of Sir David Attenborough. The Mozinity [online]. Available from: https://themozinity.com/the-extraordinary-legacy-of-sir-david-attenborough/ [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].

Attenborough, D. and Hughes, J., 2021. A life on our planet A life on our planet: My witness statement and a vision for the future. Thorndike Press Large Print.

Barkham, P., 2019. The real David Attenborough. The guardian [online], 22 October 2019. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/oct/22/david-attenborough-climate-change-bbc [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].

BBC, n.d. 50 years of BBC TV colour. BBC [online]. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/bbc-tv-colour#:~:text=The%20talents%20of%20early%20day,of%20BBC%202%20in%201967. [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].

BBC Wildlife Magazine, 2022. Who is Sir David Attenborough? [online]. Discover Wildlife. Available from: https://www.discoverwildlife.com/people/david-attenborough-facts/ [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].

The Times educational supplement, 2018. Mr Lacey by Sir David Attenborough. The Times educational supplement [online], 14 September 2018. Available from: https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/mr-lacey-sir-david-attenborough [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].

Boboltz, S., 2015. Filming ‘Planet Earth’ was even crazier than the documentary itself [online]. HuffPost UK. Available from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/making-of-planet-earth_n_7287508 [Accessed 2 Mar 2023].