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Life On Air: Memoirs of a broadcaster by David Attenborough, BBC Books, £18.99, ISBN 0563534613 Reviewed by Douglas Palmer

FIFTY years ago, Britain’s Auntie B (as in BBC) put an ad in The Times for staff to run her newfangled TV. One successful applicant was a bright young man called David. Having served an apprenticeship producing Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? and despite having teeth considered too large for television, he got his chance in front of the cameras in 1954. A trip to Sierra Leone and a star performer was born. Life On Air, David Attenborough’s professional autobiography, tells the entertaining story of how he turned us…

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