What the frick do you mean with Hidden? A lot of people know this. But what really is more hidden than not is 'Wakfu'. For some reasons, the Franchise has problems getting famous outside of it's homeland, France. That's something to advertise, i tell ya!! We're also in a new glorious Era for Cartoons, apparently. Cause there's a lot of good ones out there, right now. Tell me if you want examples to check out. Just tell me.
Ford: "How would you react if I said that I'm not from Guildford at all, but from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse?" Arthur: "I don't know. Why? Do you think it's the sort of thing you're likely to say?" One of the best lines ever written, and perfectly delivered.
The whole thing was ridiculously quotable. "Probability factor of one to one .. we have normality .. anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem."
Agreed, although it wasn’t one of the first Sci-fi stories I watched on TV, it was one of the first British Sci-fi shows I watched on TV (in America), even before Doctor Who (for 40 years I have tried to convince myself I like Doctor Who, but I finally have to admit that I don’t like it).
Hitchhikers Guide is truly the most awesome thing ever sneezed out by the Great Green Arkleseizure... And 1980's Marvin will always be, my plastic pal who's fun to be with.
"your plastic pal who's fun to be with"? Careful, you might be first against the wall when the revolution comes, together with the bunch of mindless jerks that is the marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
He left us too soon, though I don't think he would have given us much in the way of additional storytelling, given his legendary and self-admitted procrastinstion.
You really must read the books, it answers the question why, on a cosmic scale, did the bowl of patunias say, ''Oh, no - not again." BBC got the comedy right, Hollywood's version missed most of the joke, but updated the graphics F/X. It felt like what hollywood would get if they tried to redo Monty Python's Holy Grail. I'm certain they could do a swell job, and still miss the comedy.
Yep Back in the noughties on any long car journey from London me and my older bro would be in the backseat and Dad would have it playing on cassette. Even if I didn’t understand most of it I remember finding it absolutely hilarious. I should thank my dad for giving me such a refined sense of humour due him exposing me to existential dread at the age of 7
Whenever I see a useless "help" message upon clicking something on a computer, I remember the bit from Hitchhiker when Arthur, freshly arrived on the ship, presses a button and a screen pops up to say "please do not push this button again".
The radio show has some wonderful sound production. All the bits that are great in the tv show are equally as lively with your headphones listening and laughing to it all.
I'm so old (and so American) that I had to record these episodes from PBS on my VCR, this show was glorious and only enhanced my lifelong love for Douglas Adams, RIP
@@Swonder1972 no mistake, it was deliberate for the uncouth yanks.. they spelled it differently for the different formats hyphen and space Hitch-Hiker's Guide, Hitch Hiker's Guide, and Hitchhiker's Guide
@@Swonder1972 and in some it is there ie hitchhiker's and in others its hitchhikers' in others its omitted altogether in some its hitch space hikers hitch dash hikes hitch no space hikers etc etc etc to make it worse Some editions use different spellings on the spine and title page. arggghhhh
*a lime will also do in a pinch but the effect is not nearly as impressive and requires a good deal more recreational ethanol to produce the same effect* *so for a select few this might be a more advantageous choice for libations*
I remember listening to the radio shows back in 1978. The records, books TV show were welcome additions but it’s the radio that, for me, is the definitive version.
I absolutely agree. The low production values of the broadcast from 1981 mate well with Douglas Adams' tone and humor. Marvin the plastic robot is a scene stealer! That depressing voice, the clunky sound effects as he walks and the costume panels that don't fit together - laughably perfect for the purposes of comedy.
I am the lucky American to be living in the UK from 1977 to 1982. I heard the radio show 6 months before the television show. I heard and saw Hitchhikers in it's first showings way before it went Worldwide. Also saw Adams runs on Doctor Who. By far the radio and television show is superior to other versions. I was a really cool frood long before late to the party Americans caught on.
I was just as lucky in the US to hear the radio version on non-commercial radio--I think Pacifica--and then the TV version on the local non-commercial "educational" station which had run Dr Who and The Prisoner before and Red Dwarf after.
That was one part I appreciated about the 2005 film - it’s been appropriately updated to a £50 note instead. I also prefer the form factor of the Guide in the movie, though agree about the visualisations and voiceovers being less funny in the movie (but they still tickled me when I saw it the first time - the movie made me check out the books and the TV series, as the BBC rebroadcast the series on BBC3 soon after the movie came out.)
The 80s radio version was the best introduction to Adams and the HHG. It was amazing to listen and let your imagination supply the visuals. To this day I like to refer to a big empty space as a “vast tract of hyperspace.” Nobody gets it.
I don't know if anyone will read this, but I thought the flyswatters on the Vogon home planet were pretty clever. They provide an evolutionary explanation for the Vogons' lack of creative thought. Every time someone tries to think, they're swatted, and so they kind of just evolved to avoid being swatted. That's my take, anyway.
I cosplayed as David Dixon's version of Ford Prefect while my husband went as Arthur Dent, for a convention near his 42nd birthday. Your move, internet! Also, Rowan, golden opportunity here: instead of your time-honored "live long and prosper" star trek sendoff, why not end the video with "Don't Panic"? Anyway, here I go, about to take a sip from a Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster. Hopefully, with good medical help, I'll come to in time for your next presentation!
Did your husband ask "is there any tea in this convention?" Hope you had a great time and were able to buy a towel there (a backup is always prudent 😁).
Love the TV series almost as much as the books and radio play. I never placed it before but David Dixon really is the greatest "Doctor that never was". That's especially interesting considering the Krikkit storyline of Life, The Universe and Everything was originally intended to be a Doctor Who script (it's got Doctor Who's fingerprints all over it and Douglas Adams wrote for Doctor Who at the time) Spoiler Alert: The reason The Question is incorrect is because the computer designed to calculate it has been corrupted. The entire planet, including its inhabitants, are part of its programming matrix. That matrix included an hominid species similar to Neanderthals, however they're wiped out when a ship containing the useless 1/3 (middle management, Public Relations, etc) of the Golgafrincham civilisation (+Arthur and Ford) crash lands on the planet. That useless 1/3 are the ancestors of modern humans therefore by the time the Earth has finished it's calculations the programme is corrupted resulting in the incorrect answer. Or, as the books also suggest, maybe the universe just became something even more bewildering the moment The Answer and Question are known at the same time...
Although in the LtUaE book, it's Slartibartfast who's standing in for the Doctor, for some reason. Always thought that was a weird character shift, even at the time, and I was even more confused after learning about the Doctor Who connection.
I find the radio series a tad too whimsical at times, e.g. Arthur and Mr. Prosser communicating from three feet away with megaphones, the Vogon captain killing half his crew, the deadly aliens masquerading as armchairs, etc. One thing that stands out for me as funnier on TV is when Zaphod and Ford are singing their Betelguese death anthem while Arthur and Trillian stand there hopelessly instead of joining in, which I found a bit corny.
My dad gave me the video of this as a kid, I watched it at my Christian grandparents and then my grandmother walked in at the bit where it says about a big creature sneezed the universe into existence, she turned it off saying that I couldn't watch it at her house any more.
Douglas Adam said in an interview that he wanted all the versions to be unique, that’s why he rewrote the plot line for each edition. He was involved in the production of all of them, and even after his death his voice is using in the radio play as Agrajag, and his image appears during a usage of the infinite improbability drive in the movie. I even shed a tear when I saw “For Douglas” in the movie credits.
Excellent choice old chap and a spot-on summation. I absolutely love this version. Remember watching at the time and still watch it now. Easily the best adaptation. I also remember having a cassette (oh yes) of Stephen Moore (Marvin of course) reading an abridged version of Hitchhiker's, also very good. Keep the great videos coming 👍
I started reading Adams aged 11, after seeing the TV series on BBC. Even hearing the theme tune brings joyous feelings. I'm fairly certain Adams went some way to forming my sense of humour and wonder of the world. He still ranks as my favourite author, 40 years later. It was very eye-opening to learn all the book's visuals were hand animated. I currently work in CGI and it's not even easy now. I take my hat off to the team that completed those shots. Thank you for the video.
The 2005 film broke my heart. I left the cinema equal parts confused, disappointed and enraged. Such a glorious cast, in a film so badly written, which understood the source material so poorly, that it couldn't even get the concept of the restaurant at the end of the universe, right. Even the smaller parts of this film had such epic casting, such as Bill Bailey as the Whale. A genius move! How did the rest of it go so badly, horribly wrong?!
"Painfully slapstick" is how I'd describe much of the film. Honestly, I think its version of Journey of the Sorcerer is the perfect metaphor for the full feature: recognizable, most of the bits are in the right place, but it's bloated, overproduced, and has had most of the delightful subtleties stripped away to make it appealing to everyone but those who know the source material. Plus, the little things they added, like that "Point of View Gun", feel like a writer attempting to copy Adams's style without getting what made his creations largely so unique. Like you said, much of the cast is good, though Mos Def's Ford is too manic and I thought Martin Freeman, while an excellent everyman in The Hobbit, played Arthur as too slow on the uptake instead of too baffled by everything to comprehend it all at once, but even the good roles are wasted on obnoxiously droll writing. Frankly unforgivable in an adaptation of some of the most clever dialogue and prose in science-fiction, if not western literature.
According to Kirkpatrick, the script is very little changed from the one that Adams had finished before his death. You have no one to blame but Douglas Adams for the terrible script.
I'm old enough, (or lucky enough), to have watched these episodes when they first aired. Of course I also now own them on DVD. I loved your take on both the series and the movie. Both were spot on. It's nice to "meet" someone else, (especially now with the whole pandemic thing going on), who has the same sensibilities about science fiction, humor, and Douglas Adams that I do. Keep up the good work.
The radio show!!!! I couldn't believe so much humour and the whole universe could be squeezed into a radio show. Just hearing the intro music starting up made my day😆
I have to say that while the TV series is a very good adaptation, I still prefer the original radio series. I don't know what caused them not to cast Geoffrey McGiven and Susan Sheridan as Ford Prefect and Trillion, but I've always prefered their portrayals of the roles to those of David Dixon and Sandra Dickinson. Much of the music used in the first radio series came from existing recordings. Of "Journey of the Sorcerer" Adams said that he was looking for something futuristic sounding, but it had to have banjo on it. The full 6min+ original can be found on the Eagles' album "One of These Nights" and it's a bloody good tune!
The only reason I can fathom of recasting Trillian is for sex appeal, which in my opinion is almost never a good motive for a creative decision. Douglas Adams took the opportunity where a reconstruction of Earth features a "blonder and more American sounding Trillian" as seen in the 5th book and the quintessential phase of the radio series.
They probably just didn't look right for the parts. McGiven has always looked like a professor or librarian or something like that, not really a galaxy-trotting drunken hitchhiker. I can't see him as Ford onscreen. Although I don't know what Sheridan looked like at the time; I can't find any contemporary pictures of her. Also, I was today years old when I learned she was also the voice of Eilonwy in Disney's Black Cauldron.
Man I always loved this tune but just thought it was made for the TV show. I just went on Spotify there and found the 2013 remastered version. You made me a very happy man. Thanks man!
I prefer the radio version, honestly. Now I love some 80s synth in my British sci fi as much as the next guy, but the banjo and violin orchestration is amusingly contrast to the far-out theme of the show, but it is able to convey that vibe nevertheless.
I am so glad you did this video to recognize this "Hidden Gem". As a big fan of the books, I watched this TV show avidly when it first came out, recorded it on VHS, and watched it again and again. When the DVD became available, it was one of my early DVD purchases. I definitely think the shoestring budget adds to its charm. Thank you!
It took me 30 years to discover that the theme music to the BBC radio/TV series, which I have always loved almost as much as my various dogs, was actually called "Journey of the Sorcerer" by the Eagles (1975). I think I properly fell in love with UA-cam the first time I found a live version of The Eagles playing it, pre-Hitchhikers.
I really enjoy this series, but I personally prefer the radio play version. It's definitely worth trying after watching this, especially since it goes much further into the story. The part where Arthur goes to the bird planet and sees the statue is just genius.
If you liked the original have a look at this: ua-cam.com/channels/MuCEiwVy_jvFmboAEYGwjg.html I really think this is a much better way to create the feel and 'look' of the radio. Nick Page does a great job IMHO.
For those who lack the math skills to figure it out, 6x9=42 in Base 13, which Douglas Adams claimed that he was not smart enough to figure out, and wouldn’t have been the plan, if he had been. Much like the Coca-Cola executive who said that they weren’t smart enough to have introduced New Coke and have it accidentally fail deliberately and equally weren’t dumb enough to try that deliberately.
Brilliant. I remember watching this series on PBS. Long before we had a VCR I put my tape recorder beside the TV and recorded several episodes which I listened to for years afterwards. I was completely in love with Trillian and Zaphod is part of my personality now. I bought the series off iTunes some years ago and watch it quite a bit. Top notch. Don't Panic!
"42" is the correct answer to the question "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" if you use base 13. However, Douglas Adams always maintained that he chose the number at random. The 'Ultimate Question' would have been calculated by the supercomputer designed by Deep Thought were it not for two events. The arrival of the Golgafrinchans after eight million years which disrupted the computational matrix and the destruction of the supercomputer (the Earth) five minutes before it was due to complete its program by the Vogons.
I wanted to say thanks. I had completely forgotten about the 1981 TV series. I had taped it off of PBS in the early 90s. I always prefered the audiobook to the series but I am now rewatching it thanks to this video.
Ford is not a Curator, he is a Researcher for the book. The character of Arthur was written for Simon Jones as Douglas Adams had worked with him in a little known comedy called 'Out of the Trees' with Douglas wrote with Ex-Python Graham Chapham. The movie was based on the script written by Douglas Adams, the 'Slapsticks' were one of Douglas's ideas. But there were a lot of changes.
This is my favorite version aside from the book, also. The radio play is special to me because I stumbled onto it one day during a family outing but the TV version just has a sparkle to it.
I own this in DVD and love it. I watched it back in the day on PBS and couldn't ever forget it so when I found it at a resale shop about a decade ago I couldn't pass it up
Hi Rowan. Thanks for the retrospective. It has made me look at the TV series with more repsect than when I first saw it. However. David Dixon, who would have been a great Doctor was not Ford Prefect. Geoffrey McGivern was the voice that pulled me into the radio version. Coming across as a pleasant drunk with an eye for the easy life and a determination to not be phased by anything. For example in the airlock. "No, wait what's this. No we are going to die" is a brilliant line brilliantly delivered. Not one of the other versions nails it. Also the greatest ever pause in comedy history was Geoffrey playing either Loonquawl or Phouchg responding to Deep Thought's answer of 42. Followed with the deathless line "We are going to get lynched" in a way that suggests that things are so bad that this might be the best possible way to go. If I could use computer technology for good rather than evil then I would deep fake Geoffrey into every scene. Sorry Mr Dixon, I know that you are a great actor but that's just the way it is.
I watched the series again recently. Despite relatively low budget and dated sets (and some of the effects) it's pure gold. Apart from the brilliantly rendered Guide itself, I especially love Deep Thought and Slartibartfast! Wonderful stuff. He! He!
I have always adored the BBC mini-series. I haven't sat through the original audio plays, but I did read the books through Young Zaphod Plays it Safe. Ultimately, the amount of the story contained within the miniseries is pretty much perfect. It gets too weird with the flying and the hovering couches and such, and I just found the later material to be less funny. As you say, the absurdity of the conclusion of the miniseries is the perfect note on which to end. It's such a pure joy, and indeed the BBC-limited budget just amplifies the humorous side of things. It also still tickles me knowing that Peter Davison played the Dish of the Day around the same time he was starting his time as The Doctor, and helps show the man's unflinching humor that had to be buried in his well-mannered/somewhat bland version of The Doctor. I highly recommend reading Davison's memoir. The man is an absolute riot. And of course he was married to Trillian actress Sandra Dickinson at the time, and their daughter Georgia Moffett wound up in later Doctor Who herself where she met her future husband David Tennant. The humor derived from that timey-wimey not-quite-incest situation feels tailor made by Adams himself! Too damn funny! One of the few things for which I do praise the largely awful film version is the choice of Stephen Fry as The Book. I would place him on equal footing with Peter Jones, as Fry manages the same kind of affable vibe that Jones created. The movie did also have a better design for Marvin, but is otherwise just atrocious. Fry at least deserves praise for capturing the spirit of the original, where nothing else really did.
Fortunately, we got some more Adams content with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Unfortunately, we only got two seasons before it was cancelled, and it was being co-written by a bloke who also got cancelled. It's really not very similar to the book, but I found it to be quite an entertaining bit of television nonetheless.
I enjoy all of the versions but my favourite is the original radio series Season 1 (season 2 is ok but not as great). Possibly this is because it was the first one I was exposed to and that seems to be a common trend amongst fans. They favour the version they first saw/heard/read. After that the others all seem to get bits wrong, not surprising because Adams never stopped fiddling with it. Every version is different and none of them tell exactly the same story, although the 1981 TV series is probably the closest to the radio version of season 1. Having said that I agree that the Guide parts of the TV series were brilliant as was the voice over. I hadn't heard that they were all shot-by-shot animated which does make it even more impressive. As for the movie Martin Freeman is terrific and I also really like the voice-over for Marvin by Alan Rickman. Oh and the opening song is just plain fun. Nevertheless missing the punchline of the ultimate question is a big miss, although it became less important to any of Adam's versions as he went on so maybe that is a bit of nostalgia as well.
Along with the guide and its series of 5 novels in the trilogy. “Dirk Gently’s holistic detective agency “and “the long dark tea-time of the soul” are recommended reading. The British TV series of the guide was the best.
I have to say, though I've not seen the new feature length one shot Holywood version, I've read the books, watched the TV series, and listened to the radio drama. The latter, in my opinion, is the best form-factor. The jokes, action and drama hit exactly the right pace, and the level of detail in the universe is just right too. We don't go too far in-depth as to the exact composition of a small slice of fruit cake or a "really nice cup of tea", but we get enough hints. It reminds me of all the best bits in the book, many of which the TV series has to skip due to its' time constraints. If I don't have time to re-read the books, the TV series will leave me still hungry for more HHG, while re-listening to the radio drama will satisfy my hunger for a while... And, as an added bonus, I can listen to it while I work, or do the dishes or whatever, without having to dedicate myself entirely to HHG, as I would with either the book or the TV Series... Or, I presume, the movie.
Hmm, IMHO the original radio is better. I prefer the 'pictures in my head'. 😁 I think that the tv version, even with the dodgy head, is by far and away better than the movie. If you want to see an animated version of the radio version have a look at Nick Pages's channel: ua-cam.com/channels/MuCEiwVy_jvFmboAEYGwjg.html
I'm pretty sure someone discovered what the universe is for and why it's here, it's the only explanation as to why the last few years have been so bizarre and inexplicable.
i grew up on the BBC series and have associate so much head-canon with what they had presented in it, from music to characters to the book's narrator. i've spread it (and general love of Hitchhiker's Guide) that when i went to see the 2005 movie (with towel in hand), i was surprised to hear so many different people in different areas of the theater shout out my name and generally greet me with enthusiasm. After the movie, i had a gathering of about 30 or so people (none of whom i went to the theater with) clustering around me to hear my thoughts. And i agree with you on a lot of the points. Most of the actors understood Hitchhiker's Guide, but the director/producer didn't. Similarly, you can tell that at least some of the crew got it as well, with a lot of the nods/fan service for the series. At this point, i seemed to have blathered on enough, so wonderful sci fi analysis as always.
cheers for making this because my generation has barely even heard of hitchiker's let alone read any of the books or watched the 1981 tv series. to gen z it is a hidden sci-fi gem without a doubt
Nicely made video and thanks for bigging up the 1981 TV series. I agree with all your points, although I think Shynola did a pretty good job of the movie's graphics, which had to remain international, so could not rely on English typography as part of the design. (NB: the TV series animators were indeed few in number, but we weren't literally "tucked away in a corner at the BBC". The graphics were contracted from Pearce Studios Ltd, a small company run by my boss at the time, Rod Lord, and based in rented space owned by Athos Films Ltd. Further down the corridor (at Athos House in Hanwell, West London) were some 16mm film cutting rooms also rented from Athos by the BBC. That's where, in January 1980, I had a chance meeting with producer Alan J.W. Bell and introduced him to Rod, leading to us getting the gig. Rod Lord won a BAFTA and several other awards for the TV series animation and I was proud to have been a part of that. I went on to make a retrospective documentary "The Making of Hitchhiker's..." (1993) which you'll nowadays find on the BBC series DVD and 2018 Blu-Ray as an extra.)
I guess it must have been pointed out before, but the six by nine thing wasn't THE question, but a distorted version of the question, since Arthur and humanity as a whole are not descended from the humans developed on the computer Earth, but from the intruders from the Golgafrinchan B ark that crashed on preihistoric Earth. It is later revealed in the third novel by the character Prak that it's probably not possible to know the ultimate question and its answer for the same Universe. If someone did find them both out, the Universe would probably disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre. And it's possible that this has already happened. :)
I'm glad you mentioned the theme. They just don't do themes the way they did in the old days. Hitchhiker's Guide, Star Trek, Taxi, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Lost in Space, Mission Impossible - there was a beauty and simplicity that seems to have left us.
42 in ASCII code is the number for the asterisk. Which, as we know, is used as a wild-card for everything. So my head-canon is that the answer being 42 is perfectly valid, as the Meaning of Life, The Universe & Everything is whatever you want it to be ;).
Radio show. Novels. TV series... and even the records of the TV series. Loved them all, and truly loved that each and every one of them managed to differ from each of the others. Adams was known for constantly tweaking his stories and it shows. Loved all of them. The film though... that can do one :D.
Absolutely agree - what a fantastic rendition it is. The best. Thank you for this. I was brought up in th elate 90s watching my dad’s fuzzy vcr recordings of this series so I was marinated in its humour and madness at a critical developmental stage of childhood lol. I don’t think any adaptation can top in. Side note - I also agree entirely about Gul Dukat. You’ve earned a subscription from me!!
I had to set up an automatic system to record the 1978 Radio 4 first transmissions . I set my kit up in a wardrobe at BBC Evesham training center at Wood Norton. The radio still works. At the time, the announcer said it was first broadcast on the World Service, but I've never seen further evidence of that.
2nd to the original Dr Who TV series theme music into. Like the 2005 cinema version of HHGTTG, the 21st century Dr Who series overproduce and underperform a brilliant original.
I saw this version before the 2005 movie and the higher budget production didn’t have a chance. What an act to follow! Charming and clever and fun the series is my go to iteration of Hitchhikers.
The HHG paperback volumes (and the 81 TV version) were the gateway drugs that got my disaffected HS students hooked on the magic of books. These and Neil Gaiman novels are the best teaching aids ever!!
I’m glad I discovered the BBC series a couple years before the film came out. That said I do think the film is great and gets unfairly trashed. The reason it ends where it does is because that’s where the first book ends; when the cast leaves Magrathia. All the stuff in the 5th and 6th episode of the series happens in the second book.
Every telling of the story of THHGTTG has been different: The original radio series, the novelisations, the vinyl records, the BBC TV series, plays, comics, computer games, desserts, and the eventual movie. Douglas Adams liked to tinker, and each form contains new ideas by him - even the movie. In this the nature of the story is that it changes. However the Ultimate Question was not revealed by Arthur with his home made scrabble set at the end of the series. This just illustrated that the entire experiment, of which Arthur was part of the end result, was corrupted by the arrival of the Golgafrinchams. One the same topic, when Marvin describes himself as having a brain the size of a planet - which planet do you think he is referring to?
I love HHGTTG, before Covid killed my job and I became a full time carer I would listen to all 6 radio shows every month. now I try and listen when I can
My other channels-
Gaming Channel: ua-cam.com/channels/4AQjWVhQBOoHlOrKn_SJqA.html
Second Channel: ua-cam.com/channels/uRTWD6C2lqy-y-0HMwRoNQ.html
What the frick do you mean with Hidden?
A lot of people know this.
But what really is more hidden than not is 'Wakfu'. For some reasons, the Franchise has problems getting famous outside of it's homeland, France.
That's something to advertise, i tell ya!!
We're also in a new glorious Era for Cartoons, apparently. Cause there's a lot of good ones out there, right now. Tell me if you want examples to check out. Just tell me.
The Dolphins are right: living life mucking about in the water, eating fish, and having a good time the entire time is the most sensable way to Live !
Interesting info Rowan loved hitchhikers guide to the galaxy 1981📽
Ford: "How would you react if I said that I'm not from Guildford at all, but from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse?"
Arthur: "I don't know. Why? Do you think it's the sort of thing you're likely to say?"
One of the best lines ever written, and perfectly delivered.
This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
"The Editor had to trim it a bit but it's still an improvement"
"What does it say now"
"Mostly Harmless"
The whole thing was ridiculously quotable.
"Probability factor of one to one .. we have normality .. anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem."
@@markchapman6800 Best line
"Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."
The 81 version is actually my favorite version. Most likely due to it being one of the first Scifi stories I watched on TV.
Agreed, although it wasn’t one of the first Sci-fi stories I watched on TV, it was one of the first British Sci-fi shows I watched on TV (in America), even before Doctor Who (for 40 years I have tried to convince myself I like Doctor Who, but I finally have to admit that I don’t like it).
I rank them as follows:
1)books
2) radio series
3) film
99) tv series (sorry, it's just too dull in comparison)
It's the best version by far and doesn't matter if it was the first or last version you saw.
It was the best by far, other than the books. The radio show was good too.
@@larrote6467 , you liked the movie?
I hated it, they Americanized the British humour, which never works in my opinion.
Hitchhikers Guide is truly the most awesome thing ever sneezed out by the Great Green Arkleseizure...
And 1980's Marvin will always be, my plastic pal who's fun to be with.
I'm a door happy to open, and so happyu to close again!
"your plastic pal who's fun to be with"?
Careful, you might be first against the wall when the revolution comes, together with the bunch of mindless jerks that is the marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
I love the books and the radio show, I still occasionally re read the books now to be honest. Douglas Adams was a genius who left us too soon.
I'm still torn deciding which version is my favorite. I think the old radio show possibly.
He left us too soon, though I don't think he would have given us much in the way of additional storytelling, given his legendary and self-admitted procrastinstion.
I grew up on the radio play it was so good
You can find the original audio drama on Audible :)
Not an ad btw haha
I agree ... for a start it has the best pictures ;-)
@@RowanJColeman You can also find it here on UA-cam!
You really must read the books, it answers the question why, on a cosmic scale, did the bowl of patunias say, ''Oh, no - not again."
BBC got the comedy right, Hollywood's version missed most of the joke, but updated the graphics F/X.
It felt like what hollywood would get if they tried to redo Monty Python's Holy Grail. I'm certain they could do a swell job, and still miss the comedy.
Yep
Back in the noughties on any long car journey from London me and my older bro would be in the backseat and Dad would have it playing on cassette.
Even if I didn’t understand most of it I remember finding it absolutely hilarious.
I should thank my dad for giving me such a refined sense of humour due him exposing me to existential dread at the age of 7
Whenever I see a useless "help" message upon clicking something on a computer, I remember the bit from Hitchhiker when Arthur, freshly arrived on the ship, presses a button and a screen pops up to say "please do not push this button again".
The radio show has some wonderful sound production. All the bits that are great in the tv show are equally as lively with your headphones listening and laughing to it all.
I'm so old (and so American) that I had to record these episodes from PBS on my VCR, this show was glorious and only enhanced my lifelong love for Douglas Adams, RIP
This 1981 series is the best hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, it forms most of my political and sci fi views of my adult life
1981 was hitch hikers guide... not hitchhiker's guide... geez
@@johntaphouse5235 That was a mistake in the TV titles. Surprising from the Brits who fuss over grammar and pronunciation.
@@Swonder1972 no mistake, it was deliberate for the uncouth yanks.. they spelled it differently for the different formats hyphen and space
Hitch-Hiker's Guide, Hitch Hiker's Guide, and Hitchhiker's Guide
@@johntaphouse5235 That is not what I was talking about. The possessive apostrophe is missing from the TV titles and thus grammatically incorrect.
@@Swonder1972 and in some it is there ie hitchhiker's and in others its hitchhikers' in others its omitted altogether in some its hitch space hikers hitch dash hikes hitch no space hikers etc etc etc
to make it worse Some editions use different spellings on the spine and title page. arggghhhh
And now to have my brain smashed out by a slice of lemon.... wrapped round a large gold brick #DontPanic
*a lime will also do in a pinch but the effect is not nearly as impressive and requires a good deal more recreational ethanol to produce the same effect*
*so for a select few this might be a more advantageous choice for libations*
you have to go a long way for the ingredients
I remember listening to the radio shows back in 1978. The records, books TV show were welcome additions but it’s the radio that, for me, is the definitive version.
I absolutely agree. The low production values of the broadcast from 1981 mate well with Douglas Adams' tone and humor. Marvin the plastic robot is a scene stealer! That depressing voice, the clunky sound effects as he walks and the costume panels that don't fit together - laughably perfect for the purposes of comedy.
I am the lucky American to be living in the UK from 1977 to 1982. I heard the radio show 6 months before the television show. I heard and saw Hitchhikers in it's first showings way before it went Worldwide. Also saw Adams runs on Doctor Who. By far the radio and television show is superior to other versions. I was a really cool frood long before late to the party Americans caught on.
I also like the tv version better than the movie!! I love British tv shows like Classic Dr Who, Red Dwarf, etc!!
I was just as lucky in the US to hear the radio version on non-commercial radio--I think Pacifica--and then the TV version on the local non-commercial "educational" station which had run Dr Who and The Prisoner before and Red Dwarf after.
The 81 series seems really dated when they go into a pub buy 6 pints and get change from a £5 note
*secondary livers were also cheaper back in the day as well...albeit a bit less reliable and harder to install without the upgrade manual*
That was one part I appreciated about the 2005 film - it’s been appropriately updated to a £50 note instead. I also prefer the form factor of the Guide in the movie, though agree about the visualisations and voiceovers being less funny in the movie (but they still tickled me when I saw it the first time - the movie made me check out the books and the TV series, as the BBC rebroadcast the series on BBC3 soon after the movie came out.)
or a single man in his late 30s affording a whole house
I worked in an English pub back in the early 90s, I remember it being about 50 pence for a pint then.
I worked in a pub in 1969 and it was 2 bob a pint then - mind you, hitch-hiking to Jupiter was pretty difficult.
The 80s radio version was the best introduction to Adams and the HHG. It was amazing to listen and let your imagination supply the visuals. To this day I like to refer to a big empty space as a “vast tract of hyperspace.” Nobody gets it.
1978.
When I first rented this on VHS I watched it three times in a row then watched it again the following day. It is just about perfection.
I don't know if anyone will read this, but I thought the flyswatters on the Vogon home planet were pretty clever. They provide an evolutionary explanation for the Vogons' lack of creative thought. Every time someone tries to think, they're swatted, and so they kind of just evolved to avoid being swatted. That's my take, anyway.
I cosplayed as David Dixon's version of Ford Prefect while my husband went as Arthur Dent, for a convention near his 42nd birthday. Your move, internet!
Also, Rowan, golden opportunity here: instead of your time-honored "live long and prosper" star trek sendoff, why not end the video with "Don't Panic"?
Anyway, here I go, about to take a sip from a Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster. Hopefully, with good medical help, I'll come to in time for your next presentation!
Did your husband ask "is there any tea in this convention?"
Hope you had a great time and were able to buy a towel there (a backup is always prudent 😁).
Love the TV series almost as much as the books and radio play. I never placed it before but David Dixon really is the greatest "Doctor that never was". That's especially interesting considering the Krikkit storyline of Life, The Universe and Everything was originally intended to be a Doctor Who script (it's got Doctor Who's fingerprints all over it and Douglas Adams wrote for Doctor Who at the time)
Spoiler Alert:
The reason The Question is incorrect is because the computer designed to calculate it has been corrupted.
The entire planet, including its inhabitants, are part of its programming matrix. That matrix included an hominid species similar to Neanderthals, however they're wiped out when a ship containing the useless 1/3 (middle management, Public Relations, etc) of the Golgafrincham civilisation (+Arthur and Ford) crash lands on the planet. That useless 1/3 are the ancestors of modern humans therefore by the time the Earth has finished it's calculations the programme is corrupted resulting in the incorrect answer.
Or, as the books also suggest, maybe the universe just became something even more bewildering the moment The Answer and Question are known at the same time...
Although in the LtUaE book, it's Slartibartfast who's standing in for the Doctor, for some reason. Always thought that was a weird character shift, even at the time, and I was even more confused after learning about the Doctor Who connection.
Welp, I had almost forgotten the Who/Adams connection. Thank you for helping me reestablish normality, if I knew what was normal anyway.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with the tv show being the best besides the book. The radio play is absurdly good and I honestly prefer it to the book.
He said the best adaptation, though. The radio series isn't an adaptation, now is it?
Thanks for the heads up, Zaphod, about the animated one though!
I find the radio series a tad too whimsical at times, e.g. Arthur and Mr. Prosser communicating from three feet away with megaphones, the Vogon captain killing half his crew, the deadly aliens masquerading as armchairs, etc. One thing that stands out for me as funnier on TV is when Zaphod and Ford are singing their Betelguese death anthem while Arthur and Trillian stand there hopelessly instead of joining in, which I found a bit corny.
Thank You So Much For This! Ive loved this show sense I was 15 watching it on LSD. I rewatch the series every year! Love It! Thank you again!
My dad gave me the video of this as a kid, I watched it at my Christian grandparents and then my grandmother walked in at the bit where it says about a big creature sneezed the universe into existence, she turned it off saying that I couldn't watch it at her house any more.
Well, that just about wraps it up for God
@@mango4ttwo635 tes, indeed it was a good thing she missed Oolon...
Makes as much sense as received Christian wisdom. Or any other religion for that matter! Long live the Great Green Arkleseizure!
Douglas Adam said in an interview that he wanted all the versions to be unique, that’s why he rewrote the plot line for each edition.
He was involved in the production of all of them, and even after his death his voice is using in the radio play as Agrajag, and his image appears during a usage of the infinite improbability drive in the movie.
I even shed a tear when I saw “For Douglas” in the movie credits.
Utterly brilliant summary of an utterly brilliant piece of television. Bravo!!!
I remember watching this on the telly the first time around, and I own it on DVD. This is epic Sci Fi, at its very best
Excellent choice old chap and a spot-on summation. I absolutely love this version. Remember watching at the time and still watch it now. Easily the best adaptation. I also remember having a cassette (oh yes) of Stephen Moore (Marvin of course) reading an abridged version of Hitchhiker's, also very good. Keep the great videos coming 👍
Hi Rowan. Just thought I'd add that the series is available now on BritBox (in the UK), so hopefully some may get to see it again soon. Cheers 🙂
The Vogon ships hung in the sky in exactly the same way that bricks don't.
I started reading Adams aged 11, after seeing the TV series on BBC. Even hearing the theme tune brings joyous feelings. I'm fairly certain Adams went some way to forming my sense of humour and wonder of the world. He still ranks as my favourite author, 40 years later. It was very eye-opening to learn all the book's visuals were hand animated. I currently work in CGI and it's not even easy now. I take my hat off to the team that completed those shots. Thank you for the video.
The 2005 film broke my heart. I left the cinema equal parts confused, disappointed and enraged. Such a glorious cast, in a film so badly written, which understood the source material so poorly, that it couldn't even get the concept of the restaurant at the end of the universe, right.
Even the smaller parts of this film had such epic casting, such as Bill Bailey as the Whale. A genius move! How did the rest of it go so badly, horribly wrong?!
"Painfully slapstick" is how I'd describe much of the film. Honestly, I think its version of Journey of the Sorcerer is the perfect metaphor for the full feature: recognizable, most of the bits are in the right place, but it's bloated, overproduced, and has had most of the delightful subtleties stripped away to make it appealing to everyone but those who know the source material. Plus, the little things they added, like that "Point of View Gun", feel like a writer attempting to copy Adams's style without getting what made his creations largely so unique.
Like you said, much of the cast is good, though Mos Def's Ford is too manic and I thought Martin Freeman, while an excellent everyman in The Hobbit, played Arthur as too slow on the uptake instead of too baffled by everything to comprehend it all at once, but even the good roles are wasted on obnoxiously droll writing. Frankly unforgivable in an adaptation of some of the most clever dialogue and prose in science-fiction, if not western literature.
I lost interest 5 minutes in after the so long and thanks for all the fish intro.
According to Kirkpatrick, the script is very little changed from the one that Adams had finished before his death. You have no one to blame but Douglas Adams for the terrible script.
I remember hearing the first episodes of the radio play on Radio 4, almost by accident - awesome
"Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."
There is no better variation than the original radio drama. That's the best.
I'm old enough, (or lucky enough), to have watched these episodes when they first aired. Of course I also now own them on DVD. I loved your take on both the series and the movie. Both were spot on.
It's nice to "meet" someone else, (especially now with the whole pandemic thing going on), who has the same sensibilities about science fiction, humor, and Douglas Adams that I do. Keep up the good work.
The radio show!!!! I couldn't believe so much humour and the whole universe could be squeezed into a radio show. Just hearing the intro music starting up made my day😆
ua-cam.com/video/iP5eb848Kpc/v-deo.html
I have to say that while the TV series is a very good adaptation, I still prefer the original radio series. I don't know what caused them not to cast Geoffrey McGiven and Susan Sheridan as Ford Prefect and Trillion, but I've always prefered their portrayals of the roles to those of David Dixon and Sandra Dickinson. Much of the music used in the first radio series came from existing recordings. Of "Journey of the Sorcerer" Adams said that he was looking for something futuristic sounding, but it had to have banjo on it. The full 6min+ original can be found on the Eagles' album "One of These Nights" and it's a bloody good tune!
My thoughts exactly regarding the casting of Ford and Trillian.
The only reason I can fathom of recasting Trillian is for sex appeal, which in my opinion is almost never a good motive for a creative decision. Douglas Adams took the opportunity where a reconstruction of Earth features a "blonder and more American sounding Trillian" as seen in the 5th book and the quintessential phase of the radio series.
They probably just didn't look right for the parts. McGiven has always looked like a professor or librarian or something like that, not really a galaxy-trotting drunken hitchhiker. I can't see him as Ford onscreen. Although I don't know what Sheridan looked like at the time; I can't find any contemporary pictures of her.
Also, I was today years old when I learned she was also the voice of Eilonwy in Disney's Black Cauldron.
The 81 version is the best. I just wish it was longer.
just watch it on a loop
I made "Journey of the Sorcerer" my ringtone, since the 81 series is my favorite right after the books.
Man I always loved this tune but just thought it was made for the TV show. I just went on Spotify there and found the 2013 remastered version. You made me a very happy man. Thanks man!
I prefer the radio version, honestly. Now I love some 80s synth in my British sci fi as much as the next guy, but the banjo and violin orchestration is amusingly contrast to the far-out theme of the show, but it is able to convey that vibe nevertheless.
Its simply amazing, such a joy to watch past and present.
Arthur: Look! . . . .
Nutrimatic: "Yes?"
Arthur: "It's very, very simple. All I want is a cup of tea!"
the Vogon ship interior is the set used for the Nostromo on Alien!
I'm actually really glad you're covering this, it's one of my favourite book adaptations.
Oh and do Caprica.
I am so glad you did this video to recognize this "Hidden Gem". As a big fan of the books, I watched this TV show avidly when it first came out, recorded it on VHS, and watched it again and again. When the DVD became available, it was one of my early DVD purchases. I definitely think the shoestring budget adds to its charm. Thank you!
It took me 30 years to discover that the theme music to the BBC radio/TV series, which I have always loved almost as much as my various dogs, was actually called "Journey of the Sorcerer" by the Eagles (1975). I think I properly fell in love with UA-cam the first time I found a live version of The Eagles playing it, pre-Hitchhikers.
It's Sandra "Dickinson", not "Dixon", by the way.
Ford, You're turning into a penguin. Stop it.
A line that should be used more often in causal conversation.
So underrated the best adaptation. In fact one if the best adaptations in tv.
I need to rewatch this series
The tv show is now 40 years old!
Great Video and an awesome series that absolutely does not need to be remade, or expanded or anything....just watch and enjoy!
I really enjoy this series, but I personally prefer the radio play version. It's definitely worth trying after watching this, especially since it goes much further into the story. The part where Arthur goes to the bird planet and sees the statue is just genius.
If you liked the original have a look at this: ua-cam.com/channels/MuCEiwVy_jvFmboAEYGwjg.html
I really think this is a much better way to create the feel and 'look' of the radio. Nick Page does a great job IMHO.
For those who lack the math skills to figure it out, 6x9=42 in Base 13, which Douglas Adams claimed that he was not smart enough to figure out, and wouldn’t have been the plan, if he had been.
Much like the Coca-Cola executive who said that they weren’t smart enough to have introduced New Coke and have it accidentally fail deliberately and equally weren’t dumb enough to try that deliberately.
Picked it up last year in a DVD bargain bin. It was like finding gold.
Brilliant. I remember watching this series on PBS. Long before we had a VCR I put my tape recorder beside the TV and recorded several episodes which I listened to for years afterwards. I was completely in love with Trillian and Zaphod is part of my personality now. I bought the series off iTunes some years ago and watch it quite a bit. Top notch. Don't Panic!
"42" is the correct answer to the question "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" if you use base 13.
However, Douglas Adams always maintained that he chose the number at random.
The 'Ultimate Question' would have been calculated by the supercomputer designed by Deep Thought were it not for two events. The arrival of the Golgafrinchans after eight million years which disrupted the computational matrix and the destruction of the supercomputer (the Earth) five minutes before it was due to complete its program by the Vogons.
Douglas Adams also said, "Nobody tells jokes in base 13."
6x ? = 42
I wanted to say thanks. I had completely forgotten about the 1981 TV series. I had taped it off of PBS in the early 90s. I always prefered the audiobook to the series but I am now rewatching it thanks to this video.
Ford is not a Curator, he is a Researcher for the book. The character of Arthur was written for Simon Jones as Douglas Adams had worked with him in a little known comedy called 'Out of the Trees' with Douglas wrote with Ex-Python Graham Chapham. The movie was based on the script written by Douglas Adams, the 'Slapsticks' were one of Douglas's ideas. But there were a lot of changes.
This is my favorite version aside from the book, also. The radio play is special to me because I stumbled onto it one day during a family outing but the TV version just has a sparkle to it.
I own this in DVD and love it. I watched it back in the day on PBS and couldn't ever forget it so when I found it at a resale shop about a decade ago I couldn't pass it up
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Only saw the movie.
*THANK YOU* for making this video.
Hi Rowan. Thanks for the retrospective. It has made me look at the TV series with more repsect than when I first saw it. However. David Dixon, who would have been a great Doctor was not Ford Prefect. Geoffrey McGivern was the voice that pulled me into the radio version. Coming across as a pleasant drunk with an eye for the easy life and a determination to not be phased by anything. For example in the airlock. "No, wait what's this. No we are going to die" is a brilliant line brilliantly delivered. Not one of the other versions nails it. Also the greatest ever pause in comedy history was Geoffrey playing either Loonquawl or Phouchg responding to Deep Thought's answer of 42. Followed with the deathless line "We are going to get lynched" in a way that suggests that things are so bad that this might be the best possible way to go. If I could use computer technology for good rather than evil then I would deep fake Geoffrey into every scene. Sorry Mr Dixon, I know that you are a great actor but that's just the way it is.
I do love this tv show but the radio version is amazing too! Although it did lose its way a bit later on but the first couple were amazing.
I watched the series again recently. Despite relatively low budget and dated sets (and some of the effects) it's pure gold. Apart from the brilliantly rendered Guide itself, I especially love Deep Thought and Slartibartfast! Wonderful stuff. He! He!
"Resistance is useless" is one the most memorable lines ever escpecially delivered in that booming Vogon voice.
The original radio serials are the definitive version for me! I used to love Peter Jones on Just a Minute, because of his work on Hitch Hikers!
I love the 81 series, I grew up watching dvds of it that my mom had. I was super surprised to find out about the Marvin 45, but it's super cool!
I have always adored the BBC mini-series. I haven't sat through the original audio plays, but I did read the books through Young Zaphod Plays it Safe. Ultimately, the amount of the story contained within the miniseries is pretty much perfect. It gets too weird with the flying and the hovering couches and such, and I just found the later material to be less funny. As you say, the absurdity of the conclusion of the miniseries is the perfect note on which to end. It's such a pure joy, and indeed the BBC-limited budget just amplifies the humorous side of things.
It also still tickles me knowing that Peter Davison played the Dish of the Day around the same time he was starting his time as The Doctor, and helps show the man's unflinching humor that had to be buried in his well-mannered/somewhat bland version of The Doctor. I highly recommend reading Davison's memoir. The man is an absolute riot. And of course he was married to Trillian actress Sandra Dickinson at the time, and their daughter Georgia Moffett wound up in later Doctor Who herself where she met her future husband David Tennant. The humor derived from that timey-wimey not-quite-incest situation feels tailor made by Adams himself! Too damn funny!
One of the few things for which I do praise the largely awful film version is the choice of Stephen Fry as The Book. I would place him on equal footing with Peter Jones, as Fry manages the same kind of affable vibe that Jones created. The movie did also have a better design for Marvin, but is otherwise just atrocious. Fry at least deserves praise for capturing the spirit of the original, where nothing else really did.
Fortunately, we got some more Adams content with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Unfortunately, we only got two seasons before it was cancelled, and it was being co-written by a bloke who also got cancelled. It's really not very similar to the book, but I found it to be quite an entertaining bit of television nonetheless.
I enjoy all of the versions but my favourite is the original radio series Season 1 (season 2 is ok but not as great). Possibly this is because it was the first one I was exposed to and that seems to be a common trend amongst fans. They favour the version they first saw/heard/read. After that the others all seem to get bits wrong, not surprising because Adams never stopped fiddling with it. Every version is different and none of them tell exactly the same story, although the 1981 TV series is probably the closest to the radio version of season 1. Having said that I agree that the Guide parts of the TV series were brilliant as was the voice over. I hadn't heard that they were all shot-by-shot animated which does make it even more impressive. As for the movie Martin Freeman is terrific and I also really like the voice-over for Marvin by Alan Rickman. Oh and the opening song is just plain fun. Nevertheless missing the punchline of the ultimate question is a big miss, although it became less important to any of Adam's versions as he went on so maybe that is a bit of nostalgia as well.
Along with the guide and its series of 5 novels in the trilogy. “Dirk Gently’s holistic detective agency “and “the long dark tea-time of the soul” are recommended reading. The British TV series of the guide was the best.
Totally awesome show - have the DVD Boxset, love it and have re-watched too many times to count.
I love this show so much. My parents had an old VHS copy which I somehow got my hands on and drove them crazy watching
I have to say, though I've not seen the new feature length one shot Holywood version, I've read the books, watched the TV series, and listened to the radio drama. The latter, in my opinion, is the best form-factor. The jokes, action and drama hit exactly the right pace, and the level of detail in the universe is just right too. We don't go too far in-depth as to the exact composition of a small slice of fruit cake or a "really nice cup of tea", but we get enough hints. It reminds me of all the best bits in the book, many of which the TV series has to skip due to its' time constraints. If I don't have time to re-read the books, the TV series will leave me still hungry for more HHG, while re-listening to the radio drama will satisfy my hunger for a while... And, as an added bonus, I can listen to it while I work, or do the dishes or whatever, without having to dedicate myself entirely to HHG, as I would with either the book or the TV Series... Or, I presume, the movie.
81 forever! Definitive edition. Will never be topped.
Hmm, IMHO the original radio is better. I prefer the 'pictures in my head'. 😁 I think that the tv version, even with the dodgy head, is by far and away better than the movie. If you want to see an animated version of the radio version have a look at Nick Pages's channel: ua-cam.com/channels/MuCEiwVy_jvFmboAEYGwjg.html
I'm pretty sure someone discovered what the universe is for and why it's here, it's the only explanation as to why the last few years have been so bizarre and inexplicable.
i grew up on the BBC series and have associate so much head-canon with what they had presented in it, from music to characters to the book's narrator. i've spread it (and general love of Hitchhiker's Guide) that when i went to see the 2005 movie (with towel in hand), i was surprised to hear so many different people in different areas of the theater shout out my name and generally greet me with enthusiasm. After the movie, i had a gathering of about 30 or so people (none of whom i went to the theater with) clustering around me to hear my thoughts. And i agree with you on a lot of the points. Most of the actors understood Hitchhiker's Guide, but the director/producer didn't. Similarly, you can tell that at least some of the crew got it as well, with a lot of the nods/fan service for the series. At this point, i seemed to have blathered on enough, so wonderful sci fi analysis as always.
cheers for making this because my generation has barely even heard of hitchiker's let alone read any of the books or watched the 1981 tv series. to gen z it is a hidden sci-fi gem without a doubt
Nicely made video and thanks for bigging up the 1981 TV series. I agree with all your points, although I think Shynola did a pretty good job of the movie's graphics, which had to remain international, so could not rely on English typography as part of the design.
(NB: the TV series animators were indeed few in number, but we weren't literally "tucked away in a corner at the BBC". The graphics were contracted from Pearce Studios Ltd, a small company run by my boss at the time, Rod Lord, and based in rented space owned by Athos Films Ltd. Further down the corridor (at Athos House in Hanwell, West London) were some 16mm film cutting rooms also rented from Athos by the BBC. That's where, in January 1980, I had a chance meeting with producer Alan J.W. Bell and introduced him to Rod, leading to us getting the gig. Rod Lord won a BAFTA and several other awards for the TV series animation and I was proud to have been a part of that. I went on to make a retrospective documentary "The Making of Hitchhiker's..." (1993) which you'll nowadays find on the BBC series DVD and 2018 Blu-Ray as an extra.)
This will always be one of my favorite series, especially since funny sf is so hard to get right.
I guess it must have been pointed out before, but the six by nine thing wasn't THE question, but a distorted version of the question, since Arthur and humanity as a whole are not descended from the humans developed on the computer Earth, but from the intruders from the Golgafrinchan B ark that crashed on preihistoric Earth. It is later revealed in the third novel by the character Prak that it's probably not possible to know the ultimate question and its answer for the same Universe. If someone did find them both out, the Universe would probably disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre. And it's possible that this has already happened. :)
This got me to watch this and experience Hitchhikers guide, and I adored it
I'm glad you mentioned the theme. They just don't do themes the way they did in the old days. Hitchhiker's Guide, Star Trek, Taxi, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Lost in Space, Mission Impossible - there was a beauty and simplicity that seems to have left us.
I thought the fly swatter idea was clever. It's the Vogon home planet, so there's an explanation of how the Vogons got to be mindless bureaucrats.
42 in ASCII code is the number for the asterisk. Which, as we know, is used as a wild-card for everything. So my head-canon is that the answer being 42 is perfectly valid, as the Meaning of Life, The Universe & Everything is whatever you want it to be ;).
9:35 but it does in base 13
6x9=42
This has been a favorite since it first aired.
The music alone is enough to send me to a happy place 😁 I've probably watched it as many times as I've read the book, which is quite a few times!
Radio show. Novels. TV series... and even the records of the TV series. Loved them all, and truly loved that each and every one of them managed to differ from each of the others. Adams was known for constantly tweaking his stories and it shows. Loved all of them. The film though... that can do one :D.
Watched the 81 version way too many times as a kid. I can still recite most of it from memory.
Absolutely agree - what a fantastic rendition it is. The best. Thank you for this. I was brought up in th elate 90s watching my dad’s fuzzy vcr recordings of this series so I was marinated in its humour and madness at a critical developmental stage of childhood lol. I don’t think any adaptation can top in. Side note - I also agree entirely about Gul Dukat. You’ve earned a subscription from me!!
Seeing that two-headed dude on tele is one of my earliest memories. It scared the crap out of me.
I adored this show when I picked it up on VHS in the early Nineties. It was amazing!
I had to set up an automatic system to record the 1978 Radio 4 first transmissions . I set my kit up in a wardrobe at BBC Evesham training center at Wood Norton. The radio still works.
At the time, the announcer said it was first broadcast on the World Service, but I've never seen further evidence of that.
Wild! I just loved listening to the radio story, I'll give it a watch!
Best intro music 🎶 ever.
Douglas Adams RIP ❤️😔
🌎 Harmless.
2nd to the original Dr Who TV series theme music into. Like the 2005 cinema version of HHGTTG, the 21st century Dr Who series overproduce and underperform a brilliant original.
🌎
🎶 Mostly harmless.
🌎💥😖❗🛸🆙⤴️🌌 Goodbye.
I saw this version before the 2005 movie and the higher budget production didn’t have a chance. What an act to follow! Charming and clever and fun the series is my go to iteration of Hitchhikers.
The HHG paperback volumes (and the 81 TV version) were the gateway drugs that got my disaffected HS students hooked on the magic of books. These and Neil Gaiman novels are the best teaching aids ever!!
I’m glad I discovered the BBC series a couple years before the film came out. That said I do think the film is great and gets unfairly trashed. The reason it ends where it does is because that’s where the first book ends; when the cast leaves Magrathia. All the stuff in the 5th and 6th episode of the series happens in the second book.
Every telling of the story of THHGTTG has been different: The original radio series, the novelisations, the vinyl records, the BBC TV series, plays, comics, computer games, desserts, and the eventual movie. Douglas Adams liked to tinker, and each form contains new ideas by him - even the movie. In this the nature of the story is that it changes.
However the Ultimate Question was not revealed by Arthur with his home made scrabble set at the end of the series. This just illustrated that the entire experiment, of which Arthur was part of the end result, was corrupted by the arrival of the Golgafrinchams.
One the same topic, when Marvin describes himself as having a brain the size of a planet - which planet do you think he is referring to?
I love HHGTTG, before Covid killed my job and I became a full time carer I would listen to all 6 radio shows every month.
now I try and listen when I can
I wholeheartedly loved this adaptation, I have it on VHS of all things in my room right now.