David Attenborough is this week’s Radio Times cover star
Ahead of the BBC’s new series Wild Isles, producer Alastair Fothergill discusses Attenborough’s first home-based landmark show and how they prepare for physically demanding terrain.
No man has opened our eyes to more wonders of the natural world than Sir David Attenborough. From his Zoo Quest debut in the 1950s to his game-changing Life on Earth in 1979 and his travels round the globe for, among others, Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, Sir David has taken us to the farthest-flung parts of the world to study nature first-hand.
But in all his eight decades in front of the camera, he has never turned his gaze on the flora and fauna of the British Isles – not in a landmark series at least. Until now. Because this week he returns to our screens to present Wild Isles, which has all the hallmarks of an Attenborough epic, to study the natural wonders of his native islands.
It’s a spectacular look at our real national treasures, including the majestic eagles of the Scottish Highlands, the puffin colonies of Skomer Island in Wales, and the rare grasslands of East Anglia’s Fens. Proof, if it were needed, that you don’t need to go on safari to find awe-inspiring beauty in the wild.
At 96, Sir David still remains involved in all aspects of his film-making, even scrambling about on cliff tops after dark in pursuit of the perfect shot, as Radio Times magazine discovered for our latest issue when we took a look behind the scenes in the company of Wild Isles producer Alastair Fothergill.
This week also marks 38 years of Comic Relief and in this issue we’re joined by the charity’s co-founder, Richard Curtis, the man behind the classic TV comedy Blackadder and hit romcoms like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually. Discover his favourite memories from three-and-a-half decades of Red Nose Days.
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You can also read an interview with Curtis in View from My Sofa, and hear a longer version of that chat when he appears as this week’s special guest on The Radio Times Podcast. In the episode, Richard talks about his Love Island obsession, the tragedy of his acting career and his favourite Comic Relief moments.
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Also in this week’s Radio Times:
- Idris Elba and Luther writer Neil Cross on the “extended middle finger and a wink” to James Bond in Luther’s big-screen adaptation, and Elba’s lack of interest in playing 007
- Gogglebox narrator Carl Cash on feeling Caroline Aherne's "presence" on the show, the DNA the Channel 4 series shares with the Royle Family, and having his voice recognised in supermarkets
- Sir Tony Robinson on the revival of Baldrick for Comic Relief and Oti Mabuse, Emma Willis and Rylan Clark on forging close friendships on a mountain for Comic Relief
- Speaking to The Radio Times Podcast: Richard Curtis on why Love Island is far more convincing than his films, his own spectacular lack of success with romance, the life-changing impact of Comic Relief and the moment that inspired his greatest films
Wild Isles begins at 7pm on Sunday 12th March on BBC One.
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