Great Barrier Reef might be Sir David Attenborough’s final ‘proper’ documentary, says producer

'I feel this one is the last of what I call ‘on-the-road’ David Attenboroughs.'

Sir David Attenborough, a man for whom the term ‘national treasure’ doesn’t even begin to cover it, turns 90 next month.

He is an absolute inspiration in his unwavering enthusiasm and dedication when it comes to making nature documentaries, but his days of being fully involved in them could be coming to a close.

“In a way I feel this one is the last of what I call ‘on-the-road’ David Attenboroughs,” Anthony Geffen told Guardian Australia, the producer of Great Barrier Reef, which is due to premiere in the country this weekend.

“That does not mean this is his last film, because he’ll top and tail films, and he’ll do narrations forever. But I think the idea of taking Attenborough… for a year to two years on a project where he’s involved intensely and goes on locations a lot throughout - I think at 90, that can’t go on forever.”

That said, Geffen can’t speak for Attenborough, who has apparently quite wonderfully suggested he would like to see out his days surrounded by the nature he is chronicling.

“Will he stop? No, he’ll never stop,” Geffen added. “In fact he’s often said to me ... the best way to go would be on the road ... In some ways I hope that’s the case, because that’s what he loves: he loves being out there.”

In 2014, Sir David Attenborough told us that he believes human beings may be an endangered species due to overpopulation.