The producer who thought he'd killed David Attenborough
Ever wonder what it would be like to go through life known as ‘the person that killed Sir David Attenborough’? Probably not, unless you’re Alastair Fothergill, the producer of Sir David’s newest series, Frozen Planet. As he says, not really something you want on your CV.
While Fothergill and Attenborough have worked together on numerous series over the years, their newest collaboration presented a bit of a challenge given the fact that the production of Frozen Planet, which premiered this past week on BBC One, began almost four years ago and required the brilliant naturalist and long-time host/narrator of the best natural history programs on the planet to be on camera at both the North and South Poles (at different times, of course). That, in itself, presented issues given the temperature during the South Pole filming was a crisp 35 degrees below zero. Did I also mention that, at the time, David was 84 years of age, making him the oldest person to have ever gone to the Pole.
Fothergill goes on to say: “The American National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Programme (NSF) had kindly allowed us to use their base at the South Pole. But they initially raised concerns because of David’s age. The very high altitude and extreme cold could cause a man of his age health problems, they warned. Understandably, the last thing they wanted was a medical emergency.”
In this Telegraph article, Fothergill goes on to recount his ‘scary moment’ that occurred during the production of Frozen Planet with David Attenborough. Obviously, with the series premiering earlier this week, all turned out well. Don’t think that counts as a ‘spoiler’ do you?
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