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Stephen Fry: Inquisitive Documentaries

Aussie Comedy Kingdom
Published by in DVD Reviews ·


'Britain’s national treasure Stephen Fry has embarked on amazing journeys of discovery which have been scenic, historical, glamourous and thought-provoking all at the same time, embellished with his own inimitable style.  Collected together for the first time, become an armchair traveler as Stephen shows us what makes America “so unique, so diverse, so very American”; witness as he follows in the footsteps of Douglas Adams to uncover some of the rarest and most threatened animals on earth; and examines the incredible invention that sparked a cultural revolution.'

I was very excited when I received a special package containing this HUGE Stephen Fry boxset from my mates at Madman, and even more excited to tear through the plastic wrapping and sink my teeth into 14.5 hours of intriguing entertaining and insightful documentaries from one of Britain's most popular personalities.

This massive boxset brings together four previous Stephen Fry documentary releases in one pack to create the perfect gift for fans of the QI master! Contained within are; Stephen Fry In America, Last Chance To See (In The Footsteps of Douglas Adams), Last Chance To See (Return of the Rhino) and The Guttenberg Press. I've divided the following review into mini reviews of each title within this boxset.

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Stephen Fry In America

"I could have been American: after all, I was nearly born there. So I wanted to find out what it is that makes the United States of America so unique, so diverse, so very American..." - Stephen Fry

In this series, Stephen travels around each of America's states in a black cab in order to discover, in his own inimitable style, what makes the country unique and to get under the skin of American life. Stephen is shown the country by its proud citizens as he drives across the continent uncovering the idiosyncrasies that makes each state individual and the similarities that make America distinct.

His journey across the vast country takes him on a wide variety of adventures including: a whiskey distillery in Kentucky, lava fields in Hawaii, an Amish community in Wisconsin and a brothel in Nevada, as well as hunting in New York State, sailing on an America's Cup boat in Rhode Island, basket weaving with Navajo Indians and meeting environmental activists in Oregon.

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Last Chance To See - In The Footsteps of Douglas Adams

In this special series, we join Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine as they follow in the footsteps of their late friend Douglas Adams in search of some of the rarest and most threatened animals on earth.

In the 1980s celebrated writer Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) teamed up with Mark Carwardine and together they embarked on a groundbreaking expedition, travelling the globe in search of the world’s endangered animals. Twenty years later Stephen Fry returns with Mark to see if the species still exist. Their journey uncovers some of the weirdest, most remarkable and most troubled creatures on earth.

This documentary series is a unique insight into the disappearing world around us, and this is their hilarious, entertaining, informative and thought-provoking adventure. I highly recommend this to anyone frankly...it's rated 'G' so even the kiddies may enjoy it!

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Last Chance To See - Return Of The Rhino

During the first series of Last Chance To See, Stephen Fry & Mark Carwardine went in search of the Northern White Rhino, but the animal was declared extinct before their planned encounter. Now Stephen and Mark embark on a new adventure to follow an attempt to take White Rhinos from captivity and return them to Kenya.

This feature length film follows the fortunes of four rhinos, but can they survive such a long journey to such a contrasting country? And can zoo animals ever reacclimatize to the African bush? This is a dramatic, engaging and at times emotional story following the last hope for one of the biggest and most spectacular African animals. A very informative and intriguing look into the life of the Northen White Rhino, a definite must-see.

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The Guttenberg Press

The printing press was the world’s first piece of mass-production technology. Its invention in the 1450s changed the world as dramatically as splitting the atom or sending men into space, igniting a cultural revolution which shaped the modern age. In this BAFTA nominated program, Stephen Fry embarks on a journey to investigate, Johann Gutenberg, the elusive inventor of the printing press.

Stephen's detective work reveals the lengths to which Gutenberg went to keep his project secret to avoid his ideas being stolen by competitors and uncovers why printing mattered so much in medieval Europe. To learn the processes and challenges, Stephen commissions a modern day craftsman to build a working replica of the original 15th Century machine. He makes authentic paper and tries to master the arcane art of punch-cutting – the process by which moveable type is actually produced. Once the press is complete, he’ll attempt to print with it, using 15th century materials.

At its heart, this is not simply a story about paper, ink and metal type but one about flesh and blood characters driven by some recognisably modern forces: money, power, ambition, betrayal, bloody religious conflict and industrial espionage.

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Along with the hours of intriguing and entertaining documentaries contain in this boxset, there is plenty of bonus previously unseen footage that gives us some further insight into each individual topic at hand.

Overall, I found this Inquisitive Documentaries collection to be very entertaining and informative. No one else could make some of the adventures and events throughout these documentaries so enjoyable and addictive than Mr Fry, a true documentarian up there with David Attenborough!

★★★☆☆
Stephen Fry: Inquisitive Documentaries
can be purchased on DVD NOW!



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