The series is a follow-up to a 1989 BBC radio series and accompanying book, both also titled Last Chance to See, in which Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine traveled the world in search of endangered animals.
As a joke for April Fool's Day 2009, the BBC website carried purported footage of Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine discovering the mythical "shark-whale".
After breaking his arm, Fry would spend time working on the series Stephen Fry in America. He can be seen wearing in a sling partway through that series.