Sir David Attenborough visits city

Nathan Paull | 15th December 2009

ABOUT 50 years ago, as small children played in the dust in a Papua New Guinean valley, a quaint European man stepped into their midst.

He was unlike anything the children had seen.

He was Sir David Attenborough, intrepid naturalist and broadcaster and the first European to set foot in the secluded area.

Sir David told the remarkable story during breakfast at the Gladstone Yacht Club this weekend with a gleam of adventure still very much alive in his 83-year-old eyes.

But as he spoke, the story became even more remarkable.

“Twenty-five years ago, a friend of mine was a professor in anthropology in Port Moresby and he said would I go to talk to his research anthropology students and I didn’t know too much about anthropology but said ‘yes certainly’,” Sir David said as his excitement intensified.

“He said, ‘I’ve got three people who are doing doctorates and they are very eager to meet you’.

“So I went and met these people and the reason they wanted to meet me was that, for two of them, I was the first white face they had seen when they were little boys playing in the grass and dust and they remembered me.

“Now that is a fantastic thing. Absolutely mind-blowing.

“How those men dealt with that – of growing up in the Stone Age and becoming responsible scientists in the 21st century is extraordinary.”

Although considered by Sir David to be the fondest memory of his illustrious career, it is certainly not an uncommon one.

As Sir David and Atlantic Productions CEO Anthony Geffen spoke about their current and past projects – filming seals in Antarctica, searching for the elusive Bird of Paradise, or uncovering dinosaur fossils – one thing became clear – Sir David did not travel the world for fame or fortune. He did it for fun.

“I’ll tell you something,” he said.

“I don’t make these (documentaries) because I think they are important. I make these things because I think they are fun. I don’t know greater pleasure than becoming involved in these programs and seeing these things.

“I don’t make them carrying a banner.”

But Sir David’s notoriety has meant he has undoubtedly become a spokesman in the defence of the natural world that he loves.

Humans must work to combat climate change, he said with fierce passion.

“(My views on climate change) would be what any responsible scientist would say,” Sir David explained.

“And that is it’s an extreme danger.

“I mean, you don’t get all the nations of the world assembling in Copenhagen for nothing.

“It’s not a crank’s view and it’s not just somebody with an axe to grind, the facts are irrefutable.”

The well-travelled naturalist did not have good news for Australia on the topic.

“Australia is going to be hit worse off than Britain. Global warming is going to cause you great, great problems,” he said.

“Scientists who have been studying (Australia’s weather patterns) are in no doubt at all that your weather patterns have changed and you’re likely to see more severe weather, both in terms of drought and in terms of cyclones.”

Sir David said it was imperative there was a firm knowledge of the natural world, so man can comprehend the consequences of his actions.

“We’re like kids in a toy shop, you know, thrashing about,” he explained.

“And then discovering we’re throwing it all away.”

But Mr Geffen said while mankind searches for answers, they were often found scattered throughout history.

“It’s amazing when you keep making films that go further and further back and you see the same sorts of things happening but no one seems to have cottoned on to it,” he said.

“We’re doing a film at the moment where we’re taking a bunch of modern engineers back to the ancient world.

“They are now working out there with all sorts of things way beyond what we thought were being built in Rome and Egypt – the techniques, the use of concrete.

“We always thought Romans sort of knew about concrete, but we didn’t know they had concrete that could actually be set underwater.

“Now we’re going back and taking those techniques and using them.”

Mr Geffen is a brilliant producer in his own right. He has won numerous awards for his documentaries on ancient civilisations.

“When you’re involved in digging out a new tomb in Egypt, it’s almost like a detective story when you’re finding out where it all fits in,” he said.

“If you’ve got a great individual story, there can be nothing more rewarding to work on with a team of experts and unravel it.”

While Sir David admitted he had dabbled in anthropological films, animals remained his main passion.

“(Films about people) are much more complex than making programs about animals, because what kind of patronising chap are you to say ‘look at these funny people doing these funny things with not many clothes on’,” he explained.

“Those people ought to be making programs about you.”

While the naturalist said animal films were easier, his latest documentary about fossils and early life on Earth – partly filmed on Heron Island – was quite the challenge.

“Making sensational programs about sharks is not difficult. There are lots of programs about sharks,” Sir David said.

“Making programs about... fossils is more difficult. There have been no programs about (them).”

Mr Geffen said his production company, Atlantic, would use computer graphics to bring otherwise boring fossils to life.

“(Fossils) aren’t very interesting because they are fossils and they are little marks but once you connect that world with a sense of history you can go back in time,” Mr Geffen said.

“Like Walking with Dinosaurs, it brought to life a world we knew nothing about.

“The reason (we) wanted to it is this is a world that couldn’t be told until now.

“Now it can be told and it’s very exciting to bring it to millions of people.

“The graphics will take you to creatures you can’t even imagine existed over 500 million years ago.

“Story tellers have got to find new stories. We can’t keep going back and doing sharks... they don’t tell us a lot that’s new.”

Although his career has spanned five decades, the iconic broadcaster does not plan to hang up his well-worn boots any time soon.

“(I’ll do this) as long as I’m vertical,” Sir David said.

“I don’t fancy just sitting about dribbling or watching the telly.”

That will have to be left to the rest of us mere mortals watching his amazing exploits from our living rooms.