Sir David Attenborough and The Open University

Updated Thursday, 5th May 2016

Sir David Attenborough and The Open University have had a long-standing relationship since the university's birth. David explains how that relationship came about and how it has developed over the years.

Watch David Attenborough talk more about his inspirations, regrets, environmental issues, digital archive and the future of the Earth
Learn more about the Earth in Vision project
Desmond Morris talks about his career as a natural history television pioneer, why David Attenborough is so great and where he thinks we are headed

Transcript

David Attenborough

When I took over BBC2 I had the responsibility of turning Jennie Lee’s concept into practicality and working with The Open University as it was established, and looking back on it now the insuperable, the major problems that worried us all the time have simply evaporated, they don’t exist anymore. For example, The Open University lectures, I remember saying actually to Jennie Lee <chuckles>, I didn’t see her many times but I saw her a couple of times, saying, ‘One of the problems about this is that you’re trying to tuck it in on BBC2; it’s like saying that you’re going to do all the courses that you can imagine and you only have one lecture room which you can use, and it’s all going to have to go in there. That’s not practical.’ And that led to the realisation that the television was a valuable icing on the cake, but it wasn’t the cake. And the problem would be how you would get Open University lecturers and make them available as teachers to the whole audience who wanted to listen to them. Even with the whole network devoted to that, you couldn’t really do it. Well, that problem has disappeared now, of course, because of course everybody can record things and distribute things and the network, so that problem has absolutely gone. And you have all the facilities now that you have to speak to everybody, all the time, whenever you want, and everybody has to listen to you. Well that is a fantastic opportunity and it seems to me, I mean I watch The Open University’s proceedings with amazement and admiration, and with the little pique of pleasure to think that I saw something of its birth. And it’s getting better and better and better, and learning for its own sake is really taking off to all sorts and kinds of people, which is wonderful, which enriches lives.

I know that I think The Open University is one of the great institutions that this country should be very proud of.

Explore more...

The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

Earth in Vision

Interviews with media producers, from the icons Sir David Attenborough & Desmond Morris, to new digital natives. This is an important historical collection and a powerful resource for anyone wanting to make or think about environmental media.
Read moreEarth in Vision
The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

About Earth In Vision

The Earth in Vision project explores the BBC archives of environment themed television and radio programmes from the last 70 years, looking at the potential of these archives as a digital resource as well as to illustrate the potential of digital broadcast archives for researchers.
Read nowAbout Earth In Vision

Article

Level: 1 Introductory
The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

Joe Smith - Earth In Vision Introduction

Joe Smith, Professor of Environment and Society at The Open University, introduces Earth in Vision and explains why it is so valuable.
Watch nowJoe Smith - Earth In Vision Introduction

Video

Level: 1 Introductory