Attenborough continues to bring nature’s wonders to the small screen

David Attenborough is the first to admit that TV shows about crusty old fossils are a tough sell for today’s “Avatar”-addicted crowd. But the renowned natural scientist hasn’t survived a half century in television without learning how to adapt.

So, he explained during an interview, expect to see plenty of computer-generated images and other feature film effects that make ancient creatures come alive as vividly as James Cameron’s big, blue Na’vi in his latest special “First Life,” which premieres Sunday on Discovery Channel.

“If we went out and asked people if they wanted to see a program about pre-Cambrian fossils, what do you think they’d say?” said Attenborough, sitting poolside at the Beverly Hilton earlier this year. “Unless you present it in a thrilling and exciting way, you’re wasting everyone’s time.”

The two-hour program traces the origins of life back half a billion years and shines a light on recent groundbreaking — unusual — discoveries, such as the existence of a millipede the size of a Volkswagen. That odd creature, and another one that had 5,000 lenses for eyes, are the foundation for animal life, he said.

“The reality is way more interesting than something you could make up,” said executive producer Anthony Geffen, whose London-based Atlantic Productions created the show. “We can be scientifically accurate and bring these creatures to life in a way that we never could before, with cutting edge techniques.”

“First Life” goes further back in the planet’s history than has ever been presented on TV, Attenborough said. New fossil discoveries, the latest research and technologically enhanced ways to interpret the data have provided scientists with a clearer picture of how ancient creatures lived, hunted and evolved.

“This was the big unknown — a major gap in our knowledge that needed to be filled,” said the 84-year-old who was also behind such projects as “Planet Earth” and “The Life of Birds.” “It’s thrilling to discover a whole category of life to which ultimately we’re all related. And to be able to document it this late in the day — while I’m still vertical — is a huge privilege.”

Discovery Channel’s President and General Manager Clark Bunting said there are few personalities left like Attenborough who can engage and educate audiences.

“He’s able to ignite the wonder that we all had as kids and might’ve lost somewhere along the way to adulthood,” Bunting said. “There’s still a twinkle in his eye. He has true passion for this subject.”

Though he made his reputation on scrutinizing the past, Attenborough has always tried to incorporate the latest technology to juice his storytelling. Early in his career at the BBC, he was among the pioneers of adopting color TV and became one of the first network executives to fully employ it on the small screen. And more recently, he has embraced the latest technology for a couple projects in the works — a 3-D film on pterodactyls and an Imax movie about the Antarctic.

A world traveler who’s filmed giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands and wildebeest migrations in the Serengeti, Attenborough has been known to break out in Swahili or tell tales about meeting Elsa the “Born Free” lioness. (One of his favorites — Elsa climbed onto his chest as he napped and he was greeted with the animal fouling the whole room with her “terrible halitosis”). His latest special took him from the Canadian Rocky Mountains to Australia to Morocco.

A lifelong conservationist, Attenborough is worried about climate change and overpopulation, but he’s encouraged by the environmental awareness of young people. He credits TV, long criticized for being an “idiot box,” for fueling eco-friendly attitudes.

After all, more than half of the world’s population is urbanized, Attenborough said, and is cut off from nature. The only wild creature people may ever see is a rat or a pigeon, he added, “yet paradoxically, they know more about the variety and beauty of the world than anybody in history through television.”

“The natural world is in greater peril than ever, and the peril comes from us, and we’re the only species that can do anything about it,” he continued. “If people have no feeling for the natural world and do nothing about it, we’re in real trouble.”

calendar@latimes.com