The broadcaster was delighted to visit UK locations for new BBC series (Picture: Alex Board/PA Wire)
A pivotal moment in Sir David Attenborough’s new BBC series was at risk of not being filmed due to concerns over the potential harm that bird flu could have posed to the broadcaster.
For decades, Sir David has become a nationally and internationally beloved role model on our TV screens, transporting viewers across the globe to educate about a fascinating array of habitats and animals.
In his latest documentary programme, the 97-year-old has travelled far closer to home, exploring challenges within the British Isles for the very first time in the aptly-named Wild Isles.
Metro.co.uk recently spoke to the creators of the TV show with other media, hearing from executive producer Alastair Fothergill about what it was like working with Sir David behind the scenes.
Having first worked with the presenter in the late 1990s – collaborating with him on series including The Blue Planet and Planet Earth – Alastair recalled a particular sequence in Wild Isles where Sir David encountered Manx shearwater chicks on Skomer Island off the Pembrokeshire coast of Wales.
Sir David was set to talk about the long journey that the chicks faced ahead of them, leaving their underground burrows for the first time to fly 6,000 miles away… but there were concerns over the spread of bird flu.
Sir David and Alastair have worked together for three decades (Picture: BBC/Silverback Films/Alex Board)
‘We didn’t know to be honest whether we were going to get it,’ Alastair explained, emphasising how ‘nervous’ they were about the possible threat of bird flu.
The producer outlined how the spread of bird flu was ‘really bad’ last year when they were filming, and it had spread close to where they were based two weeks before filming was due to take place.
Adding that the gulls in the affected area would fly to Skomer, he said: ‘I thought I’d have to cancel it all.’
Luckily, Alastair had a ‘very old friend’ who works as a government adviser on infectious diseases, and so he turned to him for guidance.
The natural historian simply becomes more and more legendary (Picture: Alex Board/BBC)
‘I said to him, “What should we do?” And he said, “If David gets it, he will die. But it’s actually very, very hard to get bird flu,”’ he recalled.
It was decided that filming would continue, with Sir David keeping a safe distance away from the bird situated on the rock in front of him.
‘Everybody was happy. His daughter was happy, he was happy and there wasn’t any risk, but it was a bit unnerving at the time,’ Alastair said.
The sequence they ended up filming was extremely emotional, having begun at 11pm at night and stayed there until around two in the morning to capture the footage.
Alastair addressed the fact that while Sir David rarely travels anymore, he was ‘really up for it’ when the prospect of going to locations in the UK for Wild Isles was put forward to him, filming the series while he was 96 years old.
‘David just hasn’t changed. He has a boyish enthusiasm for nature, which all of us who make these films, who are privileged enough to do it, have as well. It was an amazing night actually,’ he stated.
Wild Isles begins on Sunday March 12 at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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The broadcaster was delighted to visit UK locations for his new series Wild Isles.
