Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock
Topics: TV and Film, David Attenborough
Gregory Robinson
Sir David Attenborough - AKA the nation’s sweetheart - has admitted he has regrets from his legendary career.
The 96-year-old broadcaster has captivated us all since the 1950s, with his astounding documentaries about wildlife and the environment from across the globe.
In fact, Attenborough is best known for his shows about the farthest reaches of the world and our Earth’s most extreme climates.
However, it turns out that the Planet Earth frontman wishes he had been able to make more shows about home soil.
Advert
Attenborough said internal politics at the BBC, where he has spent most of his career, prevented him from producing documentaries about Britain.
“If there is one thing I regret, and to be honest there isn’t a lot, it would be that I spent so much time doing overseas natural history,” he told The Telegraph.
Sir David explained he was prevented from filming in Britain early in his career at the BBC by ‘a chap trying to establish Bristol as a centre of natural history’.
He was then urged to focus on global wildlife, while the Natural History Unit, which was founded by the BBC in Bristol in 1957, would focus on nature closer to home.
Advert
“He knew which strings to pull and I could see things coming to a head. Eventually, we had a meeting and it was agreed I wouldn’t look at British natural history at all," Attenborough explained.
"Instead, I would go to Africa, South America and so on and [they] could deal with natural history in Britain. And I stuck to that until very recently.”
That’s a very long time to observe an agreement as this year actually marks the 69th anniversary of The Blue Planet narrator’s on our TV screens. He made his big debut in 1954.
So, Attenborough has now filmed a brand new documentary series, Wild Isles, which delves into Britain’s spectacular wildlife.
Advert
It will be aired later this year and was filmed in Britain over the past three years, using cutting-edge filming techniques to capture incredible footage of Britain’s nature.
From ancient oak woodlands to seabird breeding colonies, it’s set to be a mind-blowing adventure.
The five episodes will focus on Britain’s four key habitat types: woodland, grassland, marine and freshwater.
In a previous statement about the new show, Attenborough said: “In my long lifetime, I have travelled to almost every corner of our planet.
“I can assure you that in the British Isles, as well as astonishing scenery there are extraordinary animal dramas and wildlife spectacles to match anything I have seen on my global travels.”