to consider David Attenborough our greatest national asset ?

[Marilynsbigsister]

Happy to be proved otherwise but he is 90 this year and STILL making Sunday night docs that make our jaws drop.. Any other nominees welcome.

He is a wonderful human being and a champion for the environment. I hope he lives forever.

YANBU

I adore him. He's just bloody brilliant.

One of my favourites is him talking about the Lyre bird - it does impersonations of camera shutters and such like.

Natural history will not be the same without him. No one can match his delivery.

I'm still in awe of him squeezing himself in that sub and going down to goodness knows what depth on the GBR. I wouldn't do it!!

Firecrotch I just googled 'write to David Attenborough ' (!) and his production company address came up. It's a Richmond Park address.

Thank you! :o

I was reading list of his achievements, awards, work etc the other day. The amount he has done is unbelievable. It's like he's fit 10 high achieving lifetimes into one and he's still going. There's no-one else's quite like him is there? He really is an amazing man.

Yanbu! He is totally amazing. Dd and I spend a lot of time snuggled down just listening to him talk. One of the greats.

I love David Attenborough and have watched his programmes since I was a child. Never managed to see him in the flesh though. It's great that he can still film on location at nearly 90.

He's amazing, a real national treasure. Every time he does a new series I think 'oh no, this is going to be his last ever series isn't it?' But then he always goes and does another series after series of absolutely breathtaking documentaries.

I love that he's truly involved and his passion and knowledge is palpable in his commentary. He's not just a narrator, he's a true naturalist - but a humanist as well. I love how he relates animal and plant behaviours to human behaviours, making whimsy the majesty of the natural world.

I had a lump in my throat watching him in his new Great Barrier Reef series. Seeing him in that submarine, in awe of the technology and of his favourite place on Earth (and he's seen a lot of it) - knowing that would probably be his last ever visit.

Have you seen this? dearsirdavid.wordpress.com/

YANBU
When I was 7 They asked me what I wanted to be and I said David Attenborough. I'd just seen him on TV meeting the gorillas.
I didnt actually mean I wanted to be David Attenborough, I judt didnt know what his job was called.
They sent me to see a psychiatrist.

I've said it before on mn but happy to say it again and again: he is the greatest living human. I don't care if that sounds like an exaggeration, I love him! No-one has done more to expand our understanding of our world than him. He is a gift and completely irreplaceable. slightly obsessed

YAdefinitelyNBU. He is a true legend. I met him 5 or 6 years ago and he was polite, charming and of course fascinatingly interesting. I adore him.

YANBU, I love his documentaries and have always thought he seems like such a lovely gentleman. I use a lot of his clips when I am teaching (biology) to illustrate an example, and even bottom set Year 11 like him!

Champale when you ask ds2 (5) he says the same. He will sit for ages watching him. There is a selection of his documentaries on Netflix and he has a dvd collection. I can't believe how much of it ds2 takes in. Sir David is an inspiration to so many.

There is an archive collection on the i player bbc 4, that has a lot of his stuff all the way back to the 50's, my son is watching it but I am driving him mad with the squealing about how young and dashing and bashful and awwwww every time.. (had some chats also about how very differently they did things in those days too)

He must have a passport like a brick!

What struck me when he did that 'Night in the Natural History Museum' or whatever it is called, he was pushing for the latest stuff, keen to try the latest ideas and really looking forward. It can be hard to find a thirty year old with that sort of open mind, let alone someone who made BBC 2 cutting edge for its time in the seventies

I know, definitelybutter1. And he views the natural world through brand new eyes. He's pushing 90, yet still manages to make everyday events, like an ant walking across a leaf, or a bird swooping over the sea, seem wondrous and magnificent. I think that's incredible.

I agree. His sense of awe and wonder is so palpable. He is utterly spellbinding.

I have loved his nature programmes, but even more will thank him for his time in charge of BBC2 and the programmes he commissioned.

I recommend his autobiography: Life on Air. Even more, I recommend the audiobook, narrated by him.

There are some lovely snippets about his childhood, and his wife was clearly as lovely as he is.

It's also a fascinating history of the development of television and filming techniques.

I remember one of his anecdotes: One of his earlier series was in the preliminary process of being sold to a USA TV network. The network wanted to use an actor to dub over his narration. Fortunately, there was a clause in Sir David's contract that meant he could veto that, which he did. Later, another network (possibly PBS) paid for the series for much less money, but with his voice. Although aired on a minor channel, the ratings were high. And when the DVD, with his voice, was released, it had the highest sales for a non-fiction series in the USA at that time.

So, he's not only our greatest national asset, he's probably a very significant export asset as well.

Nature documentries bore me to tears, but i do like DA. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad word about him. Which sounds like a banal thing today, but given that he's been in the public eye for ,60 odd years and with click bait journalists and online trolls everywhere I've never heard anyone express a negative opinion along the lines of 'nah, don't like him' or 'something about him rubs me up the wrong way.'

My fantasy dinner party guests would be Sir David, Joanna Lumley and my 11yr old son ... I could dine on that out for years!!
Love love love him-he's just so -everything that a human should be- curious, delighted, grateful, always asking.....why?

Erm I actually would ...