Chris Packham has opened up about his friendship with Sir David Attenborough spanning decades.
The Earth star first met David as a teenager when he won a photography competition.
Their paths crossed again while Packham was working as a cameraman for the NHU (the Natural History Unit) before he became a TV presenter.
“I met him in Florida... We spent the whole evening together and he tried to convince me that opera was a good thing,” he says. “I’ve had a lot of great advice from David but I’ve not got into the opera.”
He said it’s “always a joy” when they meet up - sometimes in the pub - and they share presents from the natural world.
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“I always make a point of taking something and giving him something, a bit of the natural world. The last time I saw him I gave him a feather and then the time before that, I can’t remember what it was and a little while ago I gave him an intervertebral disc from a Fin whale. He loves it of course.”
Chris Packham first met Sir David when he was just a teen after winning a competition (PA)Another time Packham brought Sir David a “fossilised shark tooth” that belonged to his stepdaughter Megan.
“It was a pretty nice one, it was beautiful. It wasn’t very big but it was in perfect condition. I was really pleased with it. I said to Megs, 'Can I borrow that to show to David? He loves fossils.’ So I had it in my pocket and I said: ‘Oh I’ve got something to show you’ and I got it out and I showed it to him and I said: ‘Look at this’ and he took it and he looked at it and said: ‘That’s a beautiful one. Lovely condition, lovely colour’ and then he handed it back to me.
“He put his hand in his pocket and he pulled one out and it was twice as big and just perfect and we were splitting our sides for ages. We couldn’t stop laughing. He just outdid me! We laughed hysterically. He does have a great sense of humour. A dry sense of humour.”
He said Sir David is in good nick despite his age.
“He’s 97, he’s obviously stepped back and he’s not doing as much work. When did I last see him? It must have been before Christmas now, or maybe just after Christmas and he was on really good form, really good form. I went to the car, to help him out of the car and he just leapt out and started off down the pavement.”
Chris dismissed suggestions that he could be his successor.
“He is the greatest broadcaster there has ever been, the greatest advocate for the natural world that you will ever have, he’s inspired generations around the world to develop a love for life on earth. To call him a natural treasure is an insult because it’s an understatement, he’s a global treasure.”
Packham is currently presenting Earth on BBC, and he revealed how programme makers were conscious of their carbon footprint while making the series.
“We were really conscious of the climate components of the programme, so we didn’t go to very many locations. We also used local people and local scientists, he said.
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On what he wanted viewers to get from the programme, he added: “I want people to look at it and think: What a wonderful planet we’ve got, what an extraordinary place. It’s the only place in the Universe where we know there’s life. It’s been through all these ups and downs and at this point, it’s got humans on it. I know we are doing some pretty disastrous things at times but we are still a remarkable species in terms of our adaptability, our creativity, our imagination, all that sort of stuff.”
Earth airs every Monday at 9pm on BBC Two.
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