Sir David Frederick Attenborough, OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA, is still alive.
Despite being 84 years old, he is still narrating documentaries in the tone of a man bursting with excitement who, unfortunately, can only whisper the information he is dying to scream to you at the top of his lungs.
And yes, the information Attenborough is desperate to impart is still in the form of the nature documentary.
And yes, even if the sight of some sort of big cat striding lithe and dangerous through the heat haze on the sweltering African veldt has you grasping for the remote to find something good on the television, if that hushed delivery holds you for more than 10 seconds, you might just say: "Hey, this is actually quite interesting; I didn't know the Free State Pygmy Mouse had that fascinating survival technique."
Then you are caught, as firmly as if in the teeth of one of the fearsome beasts that populate the world of nature documentaries.
That is what good nature documentaries can do.
And Sir David does the very best.
Proof of his excellence comes in the form of the comedians who have parodied his style, and they include Spike Milligan, Marty Feldman, The Goodies, and even Monty Python's Flying Circus.
The latest of the master's offerings to hit our screens is Life.
I have to say this: Life begins on Prime next Sunday week, and ends about an hour later.
It tells of the remarkable techniques plants, insects and animals have developed to survive.
It begins with bottle nose dolphins - and I'll have to just agree to disagree with Sir David on this point - one of the most intelligent animals on earth.
He finds a group of these overgrown fish near Florida, who beat the sea floor with their tails to trap small fish in a circle of mud, then merely sit back with open mouths as their prey try to jump out of the trap they have created.
It is hilarious in slow motion, honest.
In Madagascar, preying mantises sit on branches, but are themselves prey to patient, deadly chameleons with tongues that shoot out at 15m per second, grasp their prey and end their little mantis lives.
In the weeks ahead, Sir David delves into the lives and deaths of reptiles and amphibians, mammals, fish, plants and primates, all captured in the most mind-boggling way, with filming techniques that defy the imagination.
The slow motion shots of flying fish with perfectly developed wings that can glide up to 200m on a good day are quite stunning.
The 10-week series begins on Sunday, February 27, 8.45pm.
It will entertain you.
