Ahead of David Attenborough’s New Zealand live show, superfan Anthony Gardiner assembles the great naturalist’s greatest television moments.

Ahh David Attenborough <heart eyes>. More so than any other human on Planet Earth, Sir D.A has inspired generations of us to love nature. The modern environmental movement is said to have started in the ’60s. How coincidental that this follows so closely the time when Sir D.A’s natural history documentaries first began to be shown to the masses.

Through his travels, his passion, his knowledge and the amazing teams he has assembled, he’s brought many sights we would never normally be able to witness into our living rooms. Over his many years in our lives, acting as everyone’s extra grandfather, he has delivered some incredible television moments.

I was asked to pull together a list of my most memorable 10. Whittling it down to just that many was challenging, so here are 17…

Sir D.A has taught us about all facets of life on Earth, beginning with babies.

He has taught us about the importance of play, and inclusivity, in our growing up.

Eating, and trying not to be eaten, has been shown on many occasions.

A meal is always better when you share it with friends though. Even if they are a motley kind of a crew.

Even Sir D.A had a feed every now and then.

If you manage to eat enough, say 40 million per day of something, you can get pretty big.

Many creatures use speed to avoid being eaten…

…while others are a bit more chill

Ultimately though, they all have to eat. David Attenborough has shown some harsh realities regarding this part of nature. And some of these harsh realities are fricking awesome!

There has been a fair bit of sex that Sir D.A has shown us over the years, and the way some creatures go about attracting their mates are incredible.

Not everyone is a singer, however. Some need to use stuff and things to attract a mate. Whatever works. Not sure it is the right way to get a long-term thing happening though.

For some, reproduction is all over rather quickly.

But life, sex and death is not always the end. He has introduced us to the zombies of the animal kingdom, who invade the bodies of their hosts and take over.

He has spent a fair bit of time looking at our unique environment here in New Zealand, where birds won the battle against mammals for supremacy of our land after the dinosaurs died off.

We all share and live in a pretty damn special place.

Let’s stop fucking it up. Sir David Attenborough has asked us to stop fucking it up. And who are you to say no to him?

Bonus moment because he is, after all, Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM CH CVO CBE FRS FRSB FLS FZS FSA (yes, he has that many letters).

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