IN HIS OWN WORDS: Chris Packham

As Britain’s Ancient Capital (9pm, BBC2) concludes, we take a look at what the colourful presenter Chris Packham has had to say about his life and TV career…

On falling for punk rock when he was a teenager:

‘I dyed my hair blue, wore a studded leather jacket and put safety pins everywhere. People would cross the road or shift along the bus stop to distance themselves from me. That suited me perfectly at the time.’

On knowing he was different even before he was found to have Asperger’s syndrome:

‘I looked through my diaries and in 1994, there’s a six-page section written about autism and my autistic traits. I’d begun to figure that out, basically.’

On attracting female fans when he took over presenting Springwatch from Bill Oddie, in 2009:

‘I can only imagine these ladies wear thick spectacles, or their TV sets are extremely old and crying out for a sharper picture – but I suppose I am the only clean-shaven man in ornithology…’

On his little-known passion for… chairs:

‘I began collecting in about 1992. I bought the first few new, then started to shop at auctions. I haven’t counted recently, but I remember my stepdaughter wandering around and saying, “Chris, there are 29 chairs in this house, and I can only sit on two of them.” Then she went and sat

on the step in a strop.’

And on his littleknown passion for… words:

‘Words make my world more complete and colourful. My favourite words are wasp, destroy and strumpet.’