2009–2014: Return to theatre and documentaries
In February 2008, Fry began presenting podcasts entitled Stephen Fry's Podgrams, in which he recounts his life and recent experiences. In July 2008, he appeared as himself in I Love Stephen Fry, an Afternoon Play for Radio 4 written by former Fry and Laurie script editor Jon Canter. On 7 May 2008, Fry gave a speech as part of a series of BBC lectures on the future of public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, which he later recorded for a podcast. His six-part travel series Stephen Fry in America began on BBC One in October 2008 and saw him travel to each of the 50 US states. In the same year, he narrated the nature documentary Spectacled Bears: Shadow of the Forest for the BBC Natural World series. In the 2009 television series Last Chance to See, Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine sought out endangered species, some of which had been featured in Douglas Adams' and Carwardine's 1990 book and radio series of the same name.
Fry's voice has been featured in several video games, including an appearance as Reaver, an amoral supporting character in Lionhead Studios' games Fable II (2008) and Fable III (2010), and as the narrator of the LittleBigPlanet series. He also narrates a section of Bungie's Destiny 2 (2017) expansion Warmind as the "Concierge", an AI that, when interacted with at certain points, will give the player background information on Bray Exoscience. In 2008, Fry's narration for Bond's Paddington Bear story More About Paddington (1959) saw him receive the Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title from the Audio Publishers Association in the U.S.
Since August 2008, he has presented Fry's English Delight, a series on BBC Radio 4 about the English language. As of 2021, it has been running for ten series and 37 episodes. In the 2009 series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Fry was one of a trio of hosts replacing Humphrey Lyttelton (the others being Jack Dee and Rob Brydon). Fry was offered a role in Valkyrie, but was unable to participate. In May 2009, Fry unveiled The Dongle of Donald Trefusis, an audiobook series following Donald Trefusis (a fictional character from Fry's novel The Liar and from the BBC Radio 4 series Loose Ends), set over 12 episodes. After its release, it reached No. 1 on the UK Album Chart list. Ultimately, however, only three episodes were released, the rest with the note 'exact release date pending'. Fry's use of the word "luvvie" (spelled "lovie" by Fry), in The Guardian on 2 April 1988, is given by the Oxford English Dictionary as the earliest recorded use of the word as a humorous synonym for "actor". Fry was, at one time, slated to adapt A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole for the big screen. In 2009, Fry provided the voice of St Peter for Liberace, Live From Heaven by Julian Woolford at London's Leicester Square Theatre. In 2010, having learned some Irish for the role, he filmed a cameo role in Ros na Rún, an Irish-language soap opera broadcast in Ireland, Scotland, and the US.
In 2010, Fry became an investor in Pushnote, a UK tech startup. Similar to Google Sidewiki, Pushnote was a browser add-on that enabled users to leave comments on any site they visit. The following year, Fry announced the Pushnote launch to his then 2 million Twitter followers. Both Pushnote and Sidewiki were discontinued the following year. He also appeared as a shiny New Millennium Bonzo on their post-reunion album, Pour l'Amour des Chiens, on which he recited a recipe for "Salmon Proust", played a butler in "Hawkeye the Gnu", and voiced ads for the fictitious "Fiasco" stores. Following three one-man shows in Australia, Fry announced a 'sort of stand-up' performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London for September 2010.
In 2010, Fry took part in a Christmas series of short films called Little Crackers. His short was based on a story from his childhood at school.
Fry appeared as the Christian God in 2011's Holy Flying Circus. In 2011, he portrayed Professor Mildeye in the BBC adaptation of Mary Norton's 1952 novel The Borrowers. In August 2011, Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets was shown on Channel 4 as one of the 100 Greatest strand. His choice for the greatest gadget was the cigarette lighter, which he described as "fire with a flick of the fingers". In the same month, the nature documentary series Ocean Giants, narrated by Fry, premiered. In September 2011, Fry's Planet Word, a five-part documentary about language, aired on BBC HD and BBC Two. In November 2011, an episode of Living The Life featured Fry in an intimate conversation discussing his life and career with The Rolling Stones' bass player Bill Wyman.
Fry starred in the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland, as the voice of the Cheshire Cat. He played Mycroft Holmes in the 2011 film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, directed by Guy Ritchie. He portrayed the Master of Lake-town in two of Peter Jackson's three film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: the second The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and the third The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. In 2011, Fry appeared on Kate Bush's album 50 Words for Snow, featuring on the title track where he recites a list of surreal words to describe snow. In September 2012, Fry made a return to the stage at Shakespeare's Globe, appearing as Malvolio in a production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which transferred to the West End in November 2012. He received excellent reviews. The production transferred to Broadway, with Opening Night on 10 November 2013. Fry was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work in the Broadway revival. In August 2013, he lent his voice to the title role in Benjamin Britten's operetta Paul Bunyan at the Wales Millennium Centre with the Welsh National Youth Opera.
In 2012, he appeared as a guest panellist in the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show Wordaholics. In September 2012, he guest-starred as himself in the audio comedy drama We Are The BBC, produced by the Wireless Theatre Company, written by Susan Casanove. At the 2012 Pride of Britain Awards shown on ITV on 30 October, Fry, along with Michael Caine, Elton John, Richard Branson, and Simon Cowell, recited Rudyard Kipling's poem "If—" in tribute to the 2012 British Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In November 2012, Fry hosted a gadgets show called Gadget Man, exploring the usefulness of various gadgets in different daily situations to improve the livelihoods of everyone.
In October 2013, Fry presented Stephen Fry: Out There, a two-part documentary in which he explores attitudes to homosexuality and the lives of gay people in different parts of the globe. On Christmas Day 2013, Fry featured with adventurer Bear Grylls in an episode of Channel 4's Bear's Wild Weekends. Over the course of two days, in the Italian Dolomites, Fry travelled on the skids of a helicopter, climbed down a raging 500-foot waterfall, slept in a First World War trench, and abseiled down a towering cliff face. In June 2015, Fry was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His favourite piece was Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14. His book choice was T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, and his luxury item was "canvases, easels, brushes, an instruction manual". In 2013, he hosted an Intelligence Squared debate "Verdi vs. Wagner" at Royal Opera House for the composers' bicentenary.
Fry narrated the first two seasons of the English-language version of the Spanish children's animated series Pocoyo. In 2014, he began starring alongside Kiefer Sutherland and William Devane in 24: Live Another Day as British Prime Minister Alastair Davies. In July 2014, Fry appeared on stage with Monty Python on the opening night of their live show Monty Python Live (Mostly). Fry was the special guest in their "Blackmail" sketch.
