Paul O’Grady’s Great Elephant Adventure viewers left emotional as they watch late star care for endangered creatures in his last ever television documentary

Paul O’Grady fans were left emotional as they watched the first episode of the late star’s latest documentary on Sunday.

It was announced that Paul had died ‘unexpectedly but peacefully’ at home from sudden cardiac arrhythmia on March 28 last year, along with his partner Andre Portasio.

His last TV project was Paul O’Grady’s Great Elephant Adventure, which he completed work on just days before he died.

The documentary was filmed in Thailand and Laos in December 2022, with Paul’s voiceover work completed in the weeks leading up to his death.

The two-part series, which will be shown on ITV at Easter, follows Paul as he helps out at centers by caring for endangered species.

On social media during the episode, someone wrote: “Elephants and Paul O’Grady in one place on my TV is not good for my emotional stability.”

Someone else posted: ‘So nice to see Paul O’Grady again. He was such a genuine guy who got along with every animal he encountered. Very emotional to see him with the elephants tonight. He was truly one of a kind.”

While another person shared: ‘Awww this world without Paul O’Grady is a sadder place. I miss him and his special soul. So beautiful to see him on our screens, it feels like he never left us.’

‘The world is a much poorer place without Paul O’Grady. That man was a gem of all people,” another viewer commented.

While someone else posted: ‘What a national treasure Paul O’Grady is. So greatly missed, but the legacy we leave behind is so remarkable.”

Another fan wrote: ‘Paul O’Grady is truly a national treasure. We lost so much a year ago.”

And someone else said: ‘Now we’re watching Paul O’Grady’s #GreatElephantAdventure. A sweet, caring, sensitive man. You will be greatly missed #POG.”

According to the show’s producer and Paul’s long-time friend, Claire Barton, while at one of the centres, despite being covered in mud and almost falling over, Paul declared that he was ‘in heaven’.

A teaser clip for the series shows Paul getting punched by an elephant named Lotus as he turned around to apologize to her for not paying her enough attention.

Paul laughs and jokes: ‘I don’t stand a chance, do I!’

The show’s producer and Paul’s old friend. Claire Barton said: ‘Paul wanted to raise awareness of the plight of elephants, which fascinated him all his life.

‘We didn’t know this would be the last TV series Paul would film before his death last year.’

The series focuses on the efforts of workers at the conversation centers to rescue and rehabilitate wild elephants.

Although filming was completed in late 2022, it was only edited and completed in the days before Paul’s sudden death.

In February 2023, Claire revealed how she met Paul for meetings before he recorded voiceovers for the show.

She admitted that if they had worked at Paul’s usual pace the job might never have been completed, but she wrote in the letter Radio times he wanted to move on.

She wrote: ‘But Paul flew through the commentary. For the first time in 18 years of working together, Paul suggested we go ahead and record the voice-over. That afternoon we finished the films with Paul’s voice. The date was March 15, 2023. It would be the last time I ever saw Paul.”

Claire also heartbreakingly revealed that she had Paul had great plans for more TV shows together, which will now never be made.

The duo had been working together on various shows for twenty years and were already in the early process of kicking around new ideas.

According to Claire, these ideas included a series about the African elephant and a series about wild dogs and wolves in Canada, which would be filmed the same year.

The series is a nod to Paul’s lifelong love of animals, having spent much of his later life filming his show For The Love Of Dogs at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

The series concludes with a tribute to Paul, which reads: ‘In loving memory of Paul O’Grady MBE 1955-2023.’