![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
A Secular Saint
28 Jan 2006
Life on Air - David Attenborough - BBC Books, 2003
* * * * *
To me, it is firm proof of the non-existence of a benevolent all-powerful deity that David Attenborough is beginning to show his age. In any properly run universe, things would be so ordered that he could continue to make his stunningly beautiful and jaw-dropping natural history programmes for centuries to come. Yes, I know that he is only the figurehead for an outstanding production team and that a certain amount of trickery is involved in the filming, but the fact remains that they are pretty much the only good reason for owning a television set.
And he seems so nice. In interviews he is consistently good-humoured, with a nice line in witty stories about his adventures. His colleagues never have a word to say against him. But surely he has a nasty side? After all, he was controller of BBC2 and subsequently Director of Programmes at the BBC. Surely you can't get that high without a ruthless streak?
Well, I hate to disappoint you, but on the strength of this autobiography he really is what he seems to be. The humanity, compassion, wit and enthusiasm for natural history that he displays on screen shines through the writing. If one wanted to criticise, you could argue that the concept behind his first series Zoo Quest (accompanying expeditions by London Zoo to bag new specimens for its collection) is a bit dodgy, but then attitudes to conservation in the 1950s were rather different from what they are today. Other than that, it is hard to fault his career.
The book starts with his recruitment into the BBC at age 25 and consists of clearly well-honed anecdotes about his expeditions and his life in the corporation. As you might expect, there are plenty of descriptions of animal encounters, but there are also gentle and humorous observations of the cameramen and producers he worked with and the people he met. As with his natural history scripts, his writing has a balanced objectivity - no false modesty, but no false pride either. He describes the privations that he sometimes had to endure on his expeditions in such a way that you can imagine the discomfort he must have been in, but without a hint of complaint.
His writing about the early days of BBC television is equally interesting, from the charmingly amateurish days of the 1950s to the early days of BBC2 (Attenborough was responsible for the editorial policy that BBC2 should show programmes that offered a smart alternative to BBC1 and ITV programming, a policy which is still in evidence today). You get a real feel for what the BBC was like in the early days of television and the way it has changed over the past fifty years.
Those looking for details of Attenborough's personal life, however, will be disappointed. Apart from one heart-rending description of the death of his wife Jane from a cerebral haemorrhage (a tragedy which perhaps explains his programme-making activity at an age when most people would have retired), his family is kept firmly off-stage. I actually think this is wholly admirable - the families of famous people should have a right to privacy, even in autobiographies. However, it is odd that his famous brother Richard is mentioned only once in passing. Surely their paths in public life must have crossed from time to time? The impression given is that fraternal relations are somewhat distant, which I am sure is not the case.
So, a wonderful book by a wonderful man. In fact, I would say that he is a prime candidate for secular sainthood. Sadly, in the absence of a benevolent all-powerful deity, this is not a guarantee of longevity (he will be 80 on 8th May this year). I only hope he lives long enough to complete his last major series about reptiles, Life in Cold Blood.
Life on Air - David Attenborough - BBC Books, 2003
* * * * *
To me, it is firm proof of the non-existence of a benevolent all-powerful deity that David Attenborough is beginning to show his age. In any properly run universe, things would be so ordered that he could continue to make his stunningly beautiful and jaw-dropping natural history programmes for centuries to come. Yes, I know that he is only the figurehead for an outstanding production team and that a certain amount of trickery is involved in the filming, but the fact remains that they are pretty much the only good reason for owning a television set.
And he seems so nice. In interviews he is consistently good-humoured, with a nice line in witty stories about his adventures. His colleagues never have a word to say against him. But surely he has a nasty side? After all, he was controller of BBC2 and subsequently Director of Programmes at the BBC. Surely you can't get that high without a ruthless streak?
Well, I hate to disappoint you, but on the strength of this autobiography he really is what he seems to be. The humanity, compassion, wit and enthusiasm for natural history that he displays on screen shines through the writing. If one wanted to criticise, you could argue that the concept behind his first series Zoo Quest (accompanying expeditions by London Zoo to bag new specimens for its collection) is a bit dodgy, but then attitudes to conservation in the 1950s were rather different from what they are today. Other than that, it is hard to fault his career.
The book starts with his recruitment into the BBC at age 25 and consists of clearly well-honed anecdotes about his expeditions and his life in the corporation. As you might expect, there are plenty of descriptions of animal encounters, but there are also gentle and humorous observations of the cameramen and producers he worked with and the people he met. As with his natural history scripts, his writing has a balanced objectivity - no false modesty, but no false pride either. He describes the privations that he sometimes had to endure on his expeditions in such a way that you can imagine the discomfort he must have been in, but without a hint of complaint.
His writing about the early days of BBC television is equally interesting, from the charmingly amateurish days of the 1950s to the early days of BBC2 (Attenborough was responsible for the editorial policy that BBC2 should show programmes that offered a smart alternative to BBC1 and ITV programming, a policy which is still in evidence today). You get a real feel for what the BBC was like in the early days of television and the way it has changed over the past fifty years.
Those looking for details of Attenborough's personal life, however, will be disappointed. Apart from one heart-rending description of the death of his wife Jane from a cerebral haemorrhage (a tragedy which perhaps explains his programme-making activity at an age when most people would have retired), his family is kept firmly off-stage. I actually think this is wholly admirable - the families of famous people should have a right to privacy, even in autobiographies. However, it is odd that his famous brother Richard is mentioned only once in passing. Surely their paths in public life must have crossed from time to time? The impression given is that fraternal relations are somewhat distant, which I am sure is not the case.
So, a wonderful book by a wonderful man. In fact, I would say that he is a prime candidate for secular sainthood. Sadly, in the absence of a benevolent all-powerful deity, this is not a guarantee of longevity (he will be 80 on 8th May this year). I only hope he lives long enough to complete his last major series about reptiles, Life in Cold Blood.
no subject