David Attenborough at 90: TV's last colossus looks ahead
Virtual reality the next frontier for BBC broadcaster and naturalist, who turns 90 on May 8 still full of wonder at the 'glory of life' and as reticent as ever to talk about his least favourite subject - himself - writes Etan Smallman
David Attenborough is tired. It is written all over his voice. Those deep, languid vowels elongate and the breathy drawl becomes even more exaggerated than those of the many mimics who have attempted to imitate his famous whispers.
In fairness, the star is on the cusp of 90 (he was born on May 8, 1926, in Isleworth, west London), but that isn't what's holding him back - as prolific as ever, he recently enjoyed a jaunt to the Great Barrier Reef, has just been filming luminous earthworms in France and dropped by Argentina to see the largest dinosaur fossil ever found being dug up.
The weariness is more to do with him burning the midnight oil the previous evening, filming the BBC's tribute programme for his milestone birthday ("It isn't what I'd do for an evening off") and being up bright and early for a raft of interviews at a fancy hotel near his home, in the leafy west London suburb of Richmond.
Despite the lack of sleep, a mention of tardigrades (1mm-long creatures that are virtually indestructible) jolts him into enthusiasm. Talk of a pufferfish or peacock spider instantly perks him up. And the fact that I'm here for the 's has him gushing with interest.
"Ask me about it - I'll tell you about south China," he effuses. "Kunming. I could tell you more things about Kunming than you've had hot dinners. And I've filmed in that area. It was fossils … feathered dinosaur fossils."
