The national British treasure, Sir David Attenborough is certainly a talented man. His love and passion for nature inspires many people, young and old, with his new show Planet Earth 2 amazing the nation with scenes such as the iguana vs snake! It all started in 1979 with David Attenborough’s first big documentary ‘Life on Earth’. The benchmark for wildlife documentary films were set, and Attenborough remains the best of them all, never failing to inspire awe amongst viewers and connect people to the wonders of the wildlife that we share this beautiful planet with. You can be sure that he will have a fitting epitaph on his Headstones like those that you can get at https://abbeymemorialsltd.co.uk/.
David collected fossils and had a great interest in the environment and nature from a very young age. As a child, he attended the local Wyggeston Grammar School for boys and a lecture that he and his brother Richard attended at De Montfort Hall in Leicester had a huge influence on his future. The lecture that they attended was on the importance of preserving the environment and how humans need to stop polluting and destroying the delicate eco-systems around the world. This stuck with him and inspired him to pursue his career in the BBC – and we are all so lucky that he did!
When his first documentary, Life on Earth aired on the BBC in 1979 it was obvious that Attenborough was breaking the mould with nature documentaries – and the public loved it. The most memorable event being the encounter with the gorillas, he got up close and personal with the family group that were being studied. Using his own words, rather than the agreed script, David spoke about the similarities between the gorillas and man, and how, although they are much stronger than us are – unlike human beings – rarely violent, unless in defence of their family. His wonder and love of these beautiful creatures came across and caught the public’s imagination.
Five years later, The Living Planet was broadcast, drawing in large audiences with the never seen before footage. It caused some controversy with scenes of animals hunting and killing prey, but it was a project designed to show all of life in the often-brutal natural world, doing what David Attenborough does best, showcasing the beautiful and tragic in all its glory.
In 1993, he pushed the boundaries even further with Life in the freezer. In one of the most inhospitable and dangerous environments on the planet – Antarctica. We had a fascinating view into how life has managed to adapt and survive in this frozen and brutal landscape – as David Attenborough commented, it is the last great wilderness and life here is still the way it should be before the world was changed by humans.
Sir David Attenborough’s ability to make these documentaries whilst doing battle with some of the most extreme environments on the planet is incredible and he has given so much to the world. These documentaries are a treasure, that should be seen by all the generations as a reminder of the beauty of our planet, the privilege that we must be its guardians and the real importance of preserving our fragile ecosystem.
