Why Sir David Attenborough wouldn’t live anywhere else but London

Lying on his side on a dark summer night earlier this year, Sir David Attenborough watches a hedgehog snoring in a town garden.

“I think these are cute things,” he says quietly, chuckling.

His voice combines boyish wonder and the wisdom of his 99 years – both in equal measure.

Considered by many to be the most famous broadcaster and conservationist of our time, Sir David has been circling the globe to show us the splendor of the natural world for 70 years.

Now he has returned home to London in a new one-off documentary.

Gabi Bastira, executive producer of Passion Planet, which made the film, said Sir David “could live anywhere in the world… but he always comes home to London.”

The program, she said, is “an acknowledgment of his place, and he loves it.”

So can the capital's wildlife compare to the TV presenter's encounters with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, lyrebird mimicry in Australia or blue whale breakthrough next to your small boat?

Well, Wild London is teeming with strange animals, from pigeons hopping along the Hammersmith and City line to a colony of snakes by the canal.

Sir David also draws our attention to the dramas that happen every day among us and above us in this city of some nine million people.

In one scene, an aggressive, noisy animal flashes through the summer foliage.

This is not a tiger hunting in the Indian jungle, but a happily loitering Dalmatian dog in Romford's Dagnam Park, unknowingly approaching a days-old doe fawn.

David Mooney, chief executive of the London Wildlife Trust, which co-produced Wild London, said he was completely “fascinated” by the “juxtaposition”.

“That doesn't mean dogs are a problem. It’s just wildlife interacting with us all the time,” he said.

“The raw experience of nature is something we’ve been talking about at London Wildlife Trust for a long time.”

Perhaps the most poignant moments in Wild London, broadcast a few months before Sir David turns 100, are the moments when he shows special tenderness to the animals he meets.

At Parliament House, he holds a peregrine falcon chick while it is banded for identification.

He tilts his head back to look at him, and he quietly tells him: “Now we can recognize you anywhere – yes, yes, you.”

In Greenford, west London, Sir David carefully picks up a tiny mouse before releasing it into a meadow.

He encourages him to climb a wildflower and gently says, “Welcome to your new home, that’s all.”

He doesn't want to leave the safety of his folded hands.

Joe Loncraine, director of Wild London, has worked with Sir David on several other nature documentaries.

He said: “I think there were some moments that create this kind of interaction with him and the animal that I haven’t seen in a long time.

“There was something about that warmth. And I think his enthusiasm for what was happening was so infectious.”

Sir David was very impressed Ealing Beaver Projectwhich he talks about in the film has had such a “positive impact” on west London.

He notes: “If someone had told me when I first moved here that I would one day be watching wild beavers in London, I would have thought they were crazy. But here they are, right behind me.”

He uses this as an example of how we are “enabling a brighter future for both animals and us” in our unique metropolis – the greenest major city in the world.

Mr Mooney said: “His message is: people should take note of this – if people notice it, they will start to love it – if people like it, they will want to protect it. And if people protect it, we will be on the path to nature's recovery.”

Arriving late in the much-revered canon of nature documentaries, Wild London is Sir David's way of encouraging us to appreciate nature on our doorsteps, amidst the madness of everyday life.

Mr Loncraine sums it up: “We can be rushing through work, commuting, picking up the kids from school, going to the shops – and not even notice it.

“There can be some really really beautiful animals out there – so it's worth just taking a moment to have a look.”