New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) It’s an incredible life spent documenting the natural world and its many wonders for decades. As David Attenborough marks his birth centenary on May 8, filmmaker Victoria Bobin says it felt like the right time to celebrate his legacy through a special documentary centred on one of his landmark works, “Life on Earth”.
Titled “Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure”, the one-hour special on BBC Earth will take viewers behind the scenes of the documentary, which was first broadcast in 1979 and has acquired a classic status over the years.
The documentary features exclusive interviews with Attenborough and members of the original crew to revisit a time when global travel and colour television were still evolving. The crew shot it amid political unrest in Comoros and Rwanda, navigated threats in Iraq to capture television’s most influential productions.
Bobin, who has worked with the legendary broadcaster and one of the most influential natural historians in the world for over 10 years, said it was “an absolute pleasure and a privilege to work with Attenborough”.
“It felt like a very good chance to celebrate his incredible life and career by focusing on this very significant series from his career,” Bobin told PTI in an interview.
“David has spent his life showing audiences and millions of people around the world how extraordinary the natural world is, and how incredible nature is.That’s been his passion throughout his whole career,” she added. According to the filmmaker, “Life on Earth” as well as Attenborough’s subsequent documentaries like “Planet Earth” and “Blue Planet” have set the standard for wildlife films.
“We were also aware that it was something that David Attenborough was very proud of. It is probably one of the most significant series of his life, in terms of it as a sort of real changing time, a significant pivotal moment in his life… He left his senior position within BBC Management, and went off to make ‘Life on Earth’,” Bobin said. Bobin is a multi-award-winning filmmaker with more than twenty years of experience working on natural history and live programming for global broadcasters including the BBC, PBS, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros.
She has previously worked with Attenborough on “Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster” and the new documentary “Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure for BBC One and PBS”.
She also serves as the series producer on “Sir David Attenborough: 100 Years on Planet Earth”, a live celebratory event at the Royal Albert Hall marking the birth centenary of the naturalist.
Bobin said those who have worked with Attenborough always say that he has not changed at all in his enthusiasm for the natural world.
“He is absolutely a delight to work with, and he is as incredibly charming and personable, and a fascinating person that you could ever wish to meet. I feel very fortunate to have worked for over 10 years with him,” she said, recalling that she had produced the program “Attenborough at 90” in 2016.
“We were looking back at his career from the 1950s through to that stage back in 2016. And at that point, he was about to launch ‘Planet Earth 2’, and probably a lot of people thought, ‘Now he’s 90, maybe he will retire’. But of course, in these last 10 years, he has gone on to do even more, like ‘Planet Earth 2’, ‘Blue Planet 2’, and now ‘Planet Earth 3’. ‘Blue Planet 3’,” she said.
Bobin said when she interviewed Attenborough for the documentary, she was surprised that he could recall people, places, animals and locations with so much clarity.
“He has a childlike awe and wonder at the planet and the universe. Even when I was doing these interviews for ‘Making Life on Earth’, he was recalling things that happened 50 years ago, but his recall was phenomenal.
“It was incredible that he was talking about something from so long ago, but his memories of it are still very vivid. So I would say the incredible thing about him is that he does not change, and he is who he is. And he is incredibly authentic. And I think that is why people love him and love his programmes,” she said.
“Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure” will premiere on Sony BBC Earth on May 8 at 1 PM and 9 PM. PTI BK RB BK
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