Sir David Attenborough doesn't think the BBC would have commissioned his first nature show if it was suggested now.
Sir David Attenborough
The 94-year-old broadcaster thinks the organisation has changed a lot since he made his 1954 programme 'Zoo Quest', which saw him spend months in Africa, and they would be much more cautious about the idea of taking such a risk these days.
Speaking on the 'Call Of The Wild with Cell Spellman and WWF' podcast, he said: “Out of the blue I thought it would be wonderful to go to Africa.
"To my amazement the bosses at the BBC said, ‘That’s not a bad idea’... and they let me do it. I’m sure I could have done it much better if I’d been more experienced or talented, but we got away with it.
"The BBC said, ‘How long will it take?’ ‘Ooh, three or four months’. ‘Oh well, good luck, my dear chap. Hope to see you at Christmas’.
"It was that kind of organisation at the time, it isn’t like that anymore."
David previously warned there has been a shift in his programme making to feature more "woe-is-me" shows, even though his latest series, 'Life in Colour' - which was shot in the Maasai Mara reserve -allowed viewers to "rejoice" in the natural world.
He explained: "You might say that, in the past, we’ve concentrated on an idealised world where the animals are plentiful and abundant and so on, but I don’t think you can accuse us of that these days.
"In fact, the reverse is the case. I think a lot of people think we’re spending all our time saying, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, what a catastrophe faces us,’ which is perfectly true.
"But this series is about what it says it’s about, which is colour and yes, just being able to rejoice in it...
"I’m doing plenty of ‘woe-is-me’ programmes at the moment!"
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