A successful translation to television

TwoFatFeet from , 11th March, 2010

There can't be many books I've read more times than 'Last Chance To See ...', the late Douglas Adams' documentary of his travels with zoologist Mark Carwardine while making this series' predecessor, the 1980s radio series of the same name, in which they travel all over the world in search of endangered species. I've never actually listened to the radio series, and have often wondered quite how well a series about wildlife would work on the radio. The pictures may be better on the radio, but I would have thought that being able to see what is being described is rather crucial to the whole thing. At least the book has photographs, although the aspect of the book that I probably enjoyed the most is the travelogue - it's as much about their experiences in foreign countries and cultures as about the animals and is frequently hilarious, as one would expect if you are familiar with Adams' writing, which is as entertaining when he is writing factually as fictionally. It may well be that the radio series leans quite heavily on this aspect too, but the tv series certainly doesn't. The focus rarely strays from the animals themselves, although there are plenty of wittily edited inserts of Stephen Fry, stepping into Adams' rather large shoes, and the returning Carwardine, joking and bantering and just enjoying themselves while on these trips. Fry is typically amusing with his layman's observations, although his gentle but frequent griping about missing various home comforts can grate a bit. Carwardine is particularly impressive, not just for his knowledge but for his natural screen presence. You can't help but like the bloke and one suspects this series could open the way to expand his career into more television presenting - the new David Attenborough maybe? He knows his stuff and he obviously really enjoys his work. As for the wildlife footage, well if their mission to find these creatures proves less productive on the whole than it did twenty years ago - which unfortunately suggests it may not have been the kick-start to saving these species that they had been hoping for at the time - the animals they do encounter are never less than fascinating to watch. So on the whole, the format has survived the translation to television, but I still heartily recommend the book - if you can still find it.

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Last Chance to See

Blackbird6 from , 18th January, 2010

Most excellent, throughly enjoyed it

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