“You have to read Last Chance to See.”
I was, therefore, rather excited when I saw the ad for the documentary. The program is a few years old and I’ve been wondering if it would ever get around to Australian screens.
Last Chance to See, for those who don’t know, was the book which came out of an expedition author Douglas Adams and ecologist Mark Carwardine undertook in the 80’s. The idea was to travel the globe finding creatures on the very brink of extinction. Twenty years later Steven Fry and Mark Carwardine revisited the places and the animals that the original work covered. The reason Steven Fry features in that sentence (and you really should know this part of the story) is that Douglas Adams died tragically and suddenly in 2001.
Last night they travelled to the Amazon to find a manatee. Before I say anything else can I say I enjoyed the whole thing immensely. I shall be sitting down religiously to watch the remaining episodes play out. It was sweet and beautiful and, once or twice, even laugh out loud funny. Plus I have a genuine interest in what has happened to the creatures the book made me fall in love with.
But there is one problem with the show, and that is the overhanging but.
At one point Mark Carwardine put a satellite phone to his ear, deep in the Amazonian jungle.
“Steven?” he said as it was answered.
My brain jarred painfully. I had been fully expecting him to say “Douglas.”
Steven Fry lived in Douglas Adams’ house while he was exploring the world on the original adventure. Its only fitting that he should be involved in the revisiting…as a guest appearance, wishing them luck at the airport. We all love Steven Fry BUT he isn’t Douglas Adams.
There is a sense that everyone, even Mr Fry himself, feels this way. It’s a bit like making a movie adaptation of a novel but changing the main character. It should be said that Steven Fry is the only person to do this job. He is the perfect, and only, candidate to replace Douglas Adams. Its just so zarking, painfully unfair that anyone needs to replace him at all.
It is a mark of Douglas Adams’ greatness that we spend an hour wishing STEVEN FRY was someone else. Even more remarkable was the way I keep imposing a different character on this, usually quite adequate, personality. It will be interesting to see how, and if, this diminishes as the series progresses.
I’m going to tell people they should watch this show. I will recommend it to strangers. But I don’t quite think I’ll be able to do so without also saying-
“And you should read the book. Its amazing.”
Last Chance to See is on the ABC, Sunday nights at 7:30.
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