Sir Terry Wogan turned down for BBC Two job by Sir David Attenborough, letters show

Terry Wogan was turned down for a job at the BBC by Sir David Attenborough in 1965, recently unearthed letters reveal.

Two archive letters show that Sir Terry wrote to BBC Two in 1964 and again a year later in 1965 but was "politely rebuffed", on the second occasion directly by Sir David, who was the controller of the channel at the time.

Talking to the Radio Times, Sir David said he does not recall the letter addressed to him as he received more than 10,000 letters a year.

He said: "Good Lord! He wrote asking me for work? I don't remember this at all."

Sir Terry's letter, typed on the notepaper of Irish broadcaster RTE, says:

Sir David's reply is frank as he writes that "we do not have any vacancies for anyone with your particular talents and experience".

He goes on to write that one of their chief announcers (Denis Tuohy) is from Dublin and says:

Reflecting on his reply now, Sir David said he thought it was a perfectly reasonable answer.

He told Radio Times: "To have had two Irishmen presenting on BBC Two would have looked ridiculous. This is no comment whatsoever on Terry Wogan's talents. It's just that I couldn't have had two Irish presenters."

Sir Terry went on to land a job in radio on the BBC in 1966, presenting a show called The Midday Spin and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Limerick-born star went on to become a household name presenting his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, Children In Need and the Eurovision Song Contest.

The BBC confirmed that Sir Terry's funeral would take place this week, but said in a statement it would be a private service.

"No further details will be released, and we ask that the family's wish for privacy is respected at this time," it said.