THEY say never to meet your heroes because you’ll always be disappointed.
But that certainly was not the case for wildlife filmmaker Sam Stewart, who had the privilege of meeting Sir David Attenborough.
Sam, who lives in Poole, was responsible for filming the opening scenes to Sir David’s Wild Isles series, filmed at Old Harry Rocks, an opportunity he described as being a “dream come true”.
The 31-year-old said: “I’ve grown up in Dorset my whole life and have been obsessed with nature my whole life.
“I got into wildlife filmmaking because of him [Sir David], he’s the inspiration.
“So when I got an email one day asking him to capture those opening moments of the series of him at Old Harry, which is one of my favourite places ever, it was just a dream come true. I couldn't have written a better job for myself.”
Read more: No sixth episode for Sir David Attenborough’s Wild Isles, BBC says
In May 2022, Sam finally got to meet his idol – an “amazing man”.
He said: “To speak to someone who has had such an impact on the world – there's not many people out there I can think of that have inspired so many people in one way or another.
“It’s not often you get to meet the person who pretty much started the industry you work in. He carved the natural history unit and he has just been such an inspiration for so many people.
“Actually meeting him and hearing his voice in real life is totally mind blowing.”
Read more: Sir David Attenborough calls for action as ‘nature is in crisis’
Sam said he spent a lot of time prior to the big day practising filming at Old Harry Rocks.
“There is nothing easy about flying a drone to begin with. There’s nothing easy about flying a drone around cliffs, the ocean or the wind,” he added.
“But then having to fly it around one of the world’s most famous people is a recipe to make you nervous for sure.”
“If someone had told me years ago that I would be able to capture the opening shots of an Attenborough BBC One series I would not have believed them.
“It’s what I set out to do in life, work on one of his shows, and for it to be so close to home, at somewhere as iconic as Old Harry, is mental.”
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