Down to Planet Earth
Sir David can’t face flying off to far-flung places any more
SIR David Attenborough has revealed he may never film overseas again after notching up an incredible 1.9 million miles of international travel.
The 94-year-old admitted his “heart was sinking deeper into my boots” every time he boarded a plane.
In his lifetime, it has been estimated Sir David has travelled the equivalent of flying around the world 76 times with almost 400 trips to 94 countries.
The veteran broadcaster recorded the narration for a new BBC series from his London home due to the pandemic, and thinks he will carry on working that way.
He told Radio Times: “It’s probably a fact of age, but I was finding my heart was sinking deeper and deeper into my boots every time I walked up into an aircraft and looked down that long line and thought, ‘I’m going to be here for another 24 hours.’ It didn’t make my heart lift with pleasure.”
Asked if he believed he would ever film a wildlife documentary overseas again, Sir David admitted: “No, not a lot.”
He has been making nature programmes since The Pattern of Animals and Zoo Quest in the 1950s. He travelled around the world three times for groundbreaking 1979 series Life on Earth. For
The Life of Birds, broadcast on the BBC in 1998, he travelled 256,000 miles – the equivalent of circumnavigating the globe 10 times – to visit 42 countries.
But for 2019 series Seven Worlds, One Planet, he went to just two of the 41 countries featured – Kenya and Iceland.
Discussing his carbon footprint at the time, he said: “I don’t think people should fly just for the hell of it.”
Sir David also welcomed Joe J Biden’s victory in the US Presidential election by punching the air, and said it was “of course” a good thing for the planet.
He is pleased the new US leader plans to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change. He previously described Donald Trump’s decision to pull out as “a blow”.
He said of Biden’s plan: “It’s of the greatest possible importance. The major economic power in the world?
“It’s absolutely crucial that it is party to all these things. If we are to find a solution with international agreements, the presence of America is beyond measure.”
Sir David recorded his narration for BBC1’s A Perfect Planet from the dining room of his home near Richmond Park, which he soundproofed with duvets.
He has only left home twice since the first lockdown, to visit the dentist.
It is absolutely crucial that the major economic powerwer is party to the Paris accord rd
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