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David Attenborough 'Ocean' premiere: Red carpet interviews / arrivals; ENGLAND: London: Royal Festival Hall: EXT Michael Palin (Actor, comedian and presenter) interview SOT Q: SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH GAVE YOU AND THE PYTHONS YOUR FIRST REALLY BIG BREAK INTO TELEVISION / WHAT KIND OF MAN IS HE - David is a man of great humour, enthusiasms and intelligence / and he was the one when Python were grumbling about being taken off air in some parts of the country and shown late at night so children couldn't see it / he was the only one at the BBC who attempted to justify what they were doing / what he said was 'look, we're making you into a cult, because no one can see it' / he was absolutely right, because that's what Python was, it grew from students in pubs and bars and college bars late at night into what Python became, so you know, he is sharp Q: DOES SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH RELISH HIS STATUS AS NATIONAL TREASURE - I don't think he'd ever flaunt being a national treasure, it's not his thing at all / what he is I suppose after is as big an audience as possible, therefore it will make the programs popular, that's great / but he's got no ego himself, he doesn't really want to be seen as the great national treasure and all that sort of stuff / he wants the access to I suppose the backing to be able to keep the team at BBC Bristol going and to make the programs / one thing is he's very good on technology, and he embraced modern technology quite early on and the way they could shoot, that's been very important / so he moves with the times Q: IS THERE ANY SIGN YOU CAN SEE THAT HE'S READY TO RETIRE - Oh I don't think he'd ever retire / I think at 99 you have less energy, I mean I'm 82 and I've got no energy at all / I think his motivation is still there, his sense of curiosity about the world is still there / he will go on until the very last breath doing what he can do / but at 99, it's extraordinary he's still producing a new series.