The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*** is a comedy science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, including stage shows, novels, comic books, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 computer game, and 2005 feature film. A prominent series in British popular culture, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has become an international multi-media phenomenon; the novels are the most widely distributed, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005.

Adams claimed that the title came from a 1971 incident while he was hitchhiking around Europe as a young man with a copy of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe book: while lying drunk in a field near Innsbruck with a copy of the book and looking up at the stars, he thought it would be a good idea for someone to write a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy as well. However, he later claimed that he had told this story so many times that he had forgotten the incident itself, and only remembered himself telling the story. His friends are quoted as saying that Adams mentioned the idea of "hitch-hiking around the galaxy" to them while on holiday in Greece in 1973.

Adams's fictional Guide is an electronic guidebook to the entire universe, originally published by Megadodo Publications, one of the great publishing houses of Ursa Minor Beta. The narrative of the various versions of the story are frequently punctuated with excerpts from the Guide. The voice of the Guide also provides general narration.

The novels are described as "a trilogy in five parts", having been described as a trilogy on the release of the third book, and then a "trilogy in four parts" on the release of the fourth book. The US edition of the fifth book was originally released with the legend "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy" on the cover. Subsequent re-releases of the other novels bore the legend "The [first, second, third, fourth] book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy". In addition, the blurb on the fifth book describes it as "the book that gives a whole new meaning to the word 'trilogy'".

### Plot

The various versions follow the same basic plot but they are in many places mutually contradictory, as Adams rewrote the story substantially for each new adaptation. Throughout all versions, the series follows the adventures of Arthur Dent, a hapless Englishman, following the destruction of the Earth by the Vogons, a race of unpleasant and bureaucratic aliens, to make way for an intergalactic bypass. Dent's adventures intersect with several other characters: Ford Prefect (who named himself after the Ford Prefect car to blend in with what was assumed to be the dominant life form, automobiles), an alien from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and a researcher for the eponymous guidebook, who rescues Dent from Earth's destruction; Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's eccentric semi-cousin and the Galactic President; the depressed robot Marvin the Paranoid Android; and Trillian, formerly known as Tricia McMillan, a woman Arthur once met at a party in Islington and the only other human survivor of Earth's destruction thanks to Beeblebrox' intervention.

### Music

The theme tune used for the radio series (and all subsequent adaptations) is "Journey of the Sorcerer", an instrumental piece composed by Bernie Leadon and recorded by The Eagles on their album One of These Nights. Adams chose this song for its futuristic-sounding nature, but also for the fact that it had a banjo in it, which, as producer Geoffrey Perkins recalls, Adams said would give it an "on the road, hitch-hiking feel".

### The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)

***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*** is a science fiction comedy radio series written by Douglas Adams (with some material in the first series provided by John Lloyd). It began its first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4 at 10.30pm on March 8, 1978 and the first series ended on April 12, 1978. The series was the first radio comedy programme to be produced in stereo, and was innovative in its use of music and sound effects, winning a number of awards.

All of the episodes, including those completed after Adams's death, are referred to as "Fits" after Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark: an Agony in Eight Fits". In 1981, upon a rebroadcast of the twelve episodes of the first two series, it was decided that the Christmas episode, which previously had no episode number, would be called "Fit the Seventh" and the episodes in the second series, which had first been billed as Fit the First to Fit the Fifth (representing five parts of the second series) would become Fit the Eighth to Fit the Twelfth.

The series follows the adventures of hapless Englishman Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect, an alien who writes for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a pan-galactic encyclopedia and travel guide. After Earth is destroyed in the first episode, Arthur and Ford find themselves aboard a stolen spaceship piloted by a motley crew including Zaphod Beeblebrox (Ford's semi-cousin and Galactic President), depressed robot Marvin, and Trillian, the only other human survivor of Earth's destruction.

A "Christmas Special" was broadcast on December 24, 1978. This had nothing to do with Christmas except in an early draft which would have had Marvin the Paranoid Android as the "star" that was followed by the Three Wise Men; it was called the Christmas Episode purely because it was first broadcast on Christmas Eve.

A second series was commissioned in 1979, transmitted daily between January 21, and January 25, 1980. Episodes of the first series were re-recorded for release on LP records and audio cassettes and Adams adapted the first series into a best-selling novel in 1979. After the 1980 transmissions of the second radio series, a second novel was published and the first series was adapted for television. This was followed by three further novels, a computer game, and various other media.

#### Main Cast

* Simon Jones: Arthur Dent
* Geoffrey McGivern: Ford Prefect
* Mark Wing-Davey: Zaphod Beeblebrox
* Trillian: Susan Sheridan
* Marvin: Stephen Moore
* Slartibartfast: Richard Vernon
* The voice of the Guide: Peter Jones
* Mr Prosser/Vogon Jeltz: Bill Wallis

The first two radio series became known as the Primary and Secondary Phases.

In November 2003, two years after Adams's death and 23 years after the production on the Secondary Phase had ceased, a new radio adaptation of Adams' unadapted novel Life, the Universe and Everything was announced. This would become the third series of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on radio. Dirk Maggs, a friend of Adams, was chosen to create, direct and co-produce the adaptations. Maggs had previously consulted with Adams on potential radio adaptations for the final three books in 1993 and 1997. The project was restarted in September 2001 by Maggs, Helen Chattwell and Bruce Hyman, with help from Jane Belson and Ed Victor.

Maggs directed and co-produced the radio adaptation as well as adaptations of the remaining Hitchhiker's Guide novels So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless. These became the third, fourth and fifth radio series (Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases), transmitted in 2004 and 2005.

### The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (stage show)

There have been multiple professional and amateur stage adaptations of ***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy***. There were three early professional productions, which were staged in 1979 and 1980.

#### First Production (1979)

The first of these was performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, between May 1, and May 19, 1979, starring Chris Langham as Arthur Dent and Richard Hope as Ford Prefect. This show was adapted from the first series' scripts and was directed by Ken Campbell, who went on to perform a character in the final episode of the second radio series.

The show ran 90 minutes, but had an audience limited to eighty people per night. Actors performed on a variety of ledges and platforms, and the audience was pushed around in a hovercar, 1/2000th of an inch above the floor. This was the first time that Zaphod was represented by having two actors in one large costume. The narration of "The Book" was split between two usherettes, an adaptation that has appeared in no other version of *H2G2*. One of these usherettes, Cindy Oswin, went on to voice Trillian for the LP adaptation.

#### Second Production (1980)

The second stage show was performed throughout Wales between January 15, and February 23, 1980. This was a production of Clwyd Theatr Cymru, and was directed by Jonathan Petherbridge. The company performed adaptations of complete radio episodes, at times doing two episodes in a night, and at other times doing all six episodes of the first series in single three-hour sessions. This adaptation was performed again at the Oxford Playhouse in December 1981, the Bristol Hippodrome, Plymouth's Theatre Royal in May–June 1982, and also at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, in July 1983.

#### Third Production (1980)

The third and least successful stage show was held at the Rainbow Theatre in London, in July 1980. This was the second production directed by Ken Campbell. The Rainbow Theatre had been adapted for stagings of rock operas in the 1970s, and both reference books mentioned in footnotes indicate that this, coupled with incidental music throughout the performance, caused some reviewers to label it as a "musical". This was the first adaptation for which Adams wrote the "Dish of the Day" sequence. The production ran for over three hours, and was widely panned for this, as well as for the music, laser effects, and the acting. Despite attempts to shorten the script, and make other changes, it closed early, and lost a lot of money. Despite the bad reviews, there were at least two stand-out performances: Michael Cule and David Learner both went on from this production to appearances in the TV adaptation.

### The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel)

**The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy** is the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction "trilogy" by Douglas Adams (with the sixth written by Eoin Colfer). The novel is an adaptation of the first four parts of Adams' radio series of the same name. The novel was first published on October 12, 1979. It sold 250,000 copies in the first three months.

#### Plot Summary

The book begins with council workmen arriving at Arthur Dent's house. They wish to demolish his house in order to build a bypass.

Arthur's best friend, Ford Prefect, arrives, warning him of the end of the world. Ford is an alien who had come to Earth to research it for the titular Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an enormous work providing information about every planet and place in the universe. An alien race, known as Vogons, show up to demolish Earth in order to build a bypass for an intergalactic highway. Arthur and Ford manage to get onto the Vogon ship just before Earth is demolished, where they are forced to listen to horrible Vogon poetry as a form of torture. Arthur and Ford are ordered to say how much they like the poetry in order to avoid being thrown out of the airlock, and while Ford finds listening to be painful, Arthur believes it to be genuinely good, since human poetry is apparently even worse. Jettisoned into space Arthur and Ford are rescued by Zaphod Beeblebrox's ship, the Heart of Gold.

The characters visit the legendary planet Magrathea, home to the now-collapsed planet-building industry, and meet Slartibartfast, a planetary coastline designer who was responsible for the fjords of Norway. Through archival recordings, he relates the story of a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who built a computer named Deep Thought to calculate the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. When the answer was revealed to be 42, Deep Thought explained that the answer was incomprehensible because the beings didn't know what they were asking. It went on to predict that another computer, more powerful than itself would be made and designed by it to calculate the question for the answer. (Later on, referencing this, Adams would create the 42 Puzzle, a puzzle which could be approached in multiple ways, all yielding the answer 42.)

The computer, often mistaken for a planet (because of its size and use of biological components), was the Earth, and was destroyed by Vogons to make way for a hyperspatial express route five minutes before the conclusion of its 10-million-year program. Two members of the race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who commissioned the Earth in the first place disguise themselves as Trillian's mice, and want to dissect Arthur's brain to help reconstruct the question, since he was part of the Earth's matrix moments before it was destroyed, and so he is likely to have part of the question buried in his brain. Trillian is also human but had left Earth six months previously with Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy. The protagonists escape, setting course for "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe". The mice, in Arthur's absence, create a phony question since it is too troublesome for them to wait 10 million years again just to cash in on a lucrative deal.

### The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (novel)

***The Restaurant at the End of the Universe*** is the first sequel to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the comedy science fiction "trilogy" by Douglas Adams. First published on January 1, 1980, the book was inspired by the song "Grand Hotel" by British rock band Procol Harum. It takes its name from Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, one of the settings of the book.

#### Plot Summary

Zaphod is separated from the others and finds he is part of a conspiracy to uncover who really runs the Universe. Zaphod meets Zarniwoop, a conspirator and editor for The Guide, who knows where to find the secret ruler. Zaphod becomes briefly reunited with the others for a trip to Milliways, the restaurant of the title. Zaphod and Ford decide to steal a ship from there, which turns out to be a stunt ship pre-programmed to plunge into a star as a special effect in a stage show. Unable to change course, the main characters get Marvin to run the teleporter they find in the ship, which is working other than having no automatic control (someone must remain behind to operate it), and Marvin seemingly sacrifices himself. Zaphod and Trillian discover that the Universe is in the safe hands of a simple man living on a remote planet in a wooden shack with his cat.

Ford and Arthur, meanwhile, end up on a spacecraft full of the outcasts of the Golgafrinchan civilisation. The ship crashes on prehistoric Earth; Ford and Arthur are stranded, and it becomes clear that the inept Golgafrinchans are the ancestors of modern humans, having displaced the Earth's indigenous hominids. This has disrupted the Earth's programming so that when Ford and Arthur manage to extract the final readout from Arthur's subconscious mind by pulling lettered tiles from a Scrabble set, it is "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" Arthur then comments, "I've always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe."

### Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (LP album)

The first four radio episodes were adapted (with cuts made for reasons of timing) for a double LP, also entitled ***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy***, first by mail-order only, and later into stores. The double LP and its sequel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Part Two: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (following Fit the Fifth and Fit the Sixth episodes), were originally released by Original Records in the United Kingdom in 1979 and 1980, respectively. Both were produced by Geoffrey Perkins.

#### Main Cast

* Simon Jones: Arthur Dent
* Geoffrey McGivern: Ford Prefect
* Mark Wing-Davey: Zaphod Beeblebrox
* Trillian: Cindy Oswin
* Marvin: Stephen Moore
* Slartibartfast: Richard Vernon
* Deep Thought: Valentine Dyall
* The voice of the Guide: Peter Jones

### The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)

***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*** is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which was broadcast between January 5, and February 9, 1981 on BBC Two. The adaptation follows the original radio series in 1978 and 1980, the first novel and double LP, in 1979, and the stage shows, in 1979 and 1980, making it the fifth iteration of the guide.

Although initially thought by BBC executives to be unfilmable, the series was successfully produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell and went on to win a Royal Television Society Award as Most Original Programme of 1981, as well as several British Academy Television Awards for its graphics and editing.

#### Main Cast

* Simon Jones: Arthur Dent
* David Dixon: Ford Prefect
* Mark Wing-Davey: Zaphod Beeblebrox
* Sandra Dickinson: Trillian
* Stephen Moore: the voice of Marvin

#### Guest Cast

The series features a number of notable cameo roles, including Adams himself on several occasions.

* Mr Prosser: Joe Melia
* Slartibartfast: Richard Vernon
* Deep Thought: Valentine Dyall
* Bodyguard: David Prowse
* Dish of the Day: Peter Davison

#### Possible Second Series

A second series was planned that would have come from Adams' abandoned Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen project (instead of a TV version of the second radio series). However, Adams got into disputes with the BBC and the second series was never made. The elements of the Doctor Who and the Krikketmen project instead became the third novel, Life, the Universe and Everything.

### Life, the Universe and Everything (novel)

***Life, the Universe and Everything*** is the third book in the five-volume Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction trilogy by British writer Douglas Adams, published in August 1982. The title refers to the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

The story was originally outlined by Adams as Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen to be a Tom Baker Doctor Who television six-part story, but was rejected by the BBC. It was later considered as a plotline for the second series of the Hitchhiker's TV series, which was never commissioned.

A radio adaptation of Life, the Universe and Everything debuted on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.

#### Plot Summary

Ford and Arthur travel through the space-time continuum from prehistoric Earth to Lord's Cricket Ground. There they run into Slartibartfast, who enlists their aid in preventing galactic war. Long ago, the people of Krikkit attempted to wipe out all life in the Universe, but they were stopped and imprisoned on their home planet; now they are poised to escape. With the help of Marvin, Zaphod and Trillian, our heroes prevent the destruction of life in the Universe and go their separate ways.

#### Censorship

This book is the only one in the series to have been censored in its US edition. The word "asshole" is replaced with the word "kneebiter", and the word "shit" is replaced with "swut". Possibly the most famous example is the mention that the "Rory" is an award for "The Most Gratuitous Use of the Word 'Fuck' in a Serious Screenplay." In the US edition, this was changed to "Belgium" and the text from the original radio series described "Belgium" as the most offensive word used in the galaxy.

### The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (video game)

***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*** is an interactive fiction video game based on the comedic science fiction series of the same name. It was designed by series creator Douglas Adams and Infocom's Steve Meretzky, and was first released on September 14, 1984 for the Apple II, Macintosh, Commodore 64, CP/M, MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari 8-bit family and Atari ST. It is Infocom's fourteenth game.

As with many Infocom games, the box contained a number of "feelies" including a "Don't panic" badge, some "pocket fluff", a pair of peril-sensitive sunglasses (made of cardboard), an order for the destruction of the Earth, a small, clear plastic bag containing "a microscopic battle fleet" and an order for the destruction of Arthur Dent's house (signed by Adams and Meretzky).

### So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (novel)

***So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish*** is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 'trilogy' written by Douglas Adams, published November 9, 1984. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, as described in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The phrase has since been adopted by some science fiction fans as a humorous way to say "goodbye" and a song of the same name was featured in the 2005 film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

This was the first Hitchhiker's novel which was not an adaptation of any previously written story or script. In 2005 it was adapted for radio as the Quandary Phase of the radio series.

#### Plot Summary

Arthur returns home to Earth, rather surprisingly since it was destroyed when he left. He meets and falls in love with a girl named Fenchurch, and discovers this Earth is a replacement provided by the dolphins in their Save the Humans campaign. Eventually he rejoins Ford, who claims to have saved the Universe in the meantime, to hitch-hike one last time and see God's Final Message to His Creation. Along the way, they are joined by Marvin, the Paranoid Android, who, although 37 times older than the universe itself (what with time travel and all), has just enough power left in his failing body to read the message and feel better about it all before expiring.

### The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts

Douglas Adams and Geoffrey Perkins collaborated on ***The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts***, first published in the United Kingdom and United States in 1985. A 10th-anniversary (of the script book publication) edition was printed in 1995, and a 25th-anniversary (of the first radio series broadcast) edition was printed in 2003.

Text present in the original scripts but cut to meet time constraints are printed in italics. This book also includes explanatory footnotes, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and forewords by Adams and by series producer Geoffrey Perkins.

The 25th anniversary edition contains a new introduction by Geoffrey Perkins, and newly researched material, including a transcript of The Lost Hitchhiker Sketch. The sketch was an interview with Simon Jones in character as Arthur Dent, conducted by Sheila Steafel on her show Steafel Plus in 1982, written entirely by Adams. n the first edition a page of dialogue was omitted from Fit the Twelfth. The 25th-anniversary edition reprint corrects this.

### The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide

Two omnibus editions were created by Douglas Adams to combine the Hitchhiker series novels and to "set the record straight". The stories came in so many different formats that Adams stated that every time he told it he would contradict himself. Therefore, he stated in the introduction of The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide that "anything I put down wrong here is, as far as I'm concerned, wrong for good."

The first was ***The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide, Complete and Unabridged***, published in 1987. The 624-page leatherbound omnibus edition contains "wrong for good" versions of the first four Hitchhiker novels, and also includes one short story, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe".

### Mostly Harmless (novel)

***Mostly Harmless*** is the fifth book in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, published in 1992. It is described on the cover of the first editions as "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhikers Trilogy". It was the last Hitchhiker's book written by Adams and his final book released in his lifetime. In 2005 it was adapted for radio as the Quintessential Phase of the radio series.

The title derives from a joke early in the series, when Arthur Dent discovers that the entry for Earth in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy consists, in its entirety, of the word "Harmless". His friend Ford Prefect, a contributor to the Guide, assures him that the next edition will contain the article on Earth that Ford has spent the last 15 years researching—somewhat cut due to space restrictions, but still an improvement. The revised article, he eventually admits, will simply read "Mostly harmless".

#### Plot Summary

Vogons take over The Hitchhiker's Guide (under the name of InfiniDim Enterprises), to finish, once and for all, the task of obliterating the Earth. After abruptly losing Fenchurch and travelling around the galaxy despondently, Arthur's spaceship crashes on the planet Lamuella, where he settles in happily as the official sandwich-maker for a small village of simple, peaceful people. Meanwhile, Ford Prefect breaks into The Guide's offices, gets himself an infinite expense account from the computer system, and then meets The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Mark II, an artificially intelligent, multi-dimensional guide with vast power and a hidden purpose. After he declines this dangerously powerful machine's aid (which he receives anyway), he sends it to Arthur Dent for safety ("Oh yes, whose?"—Arthur).

Trillian uses DNA that Arthur donated for travelling money to have a daughter, and when she goes to cover a war, she leaves her daughter Random Frequent Flyer Dent with Arthur. Random, a more than typically troubled teenager, steals The Guide Mark II and uses it to get to Earth. Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and Tricia McMillan (Trillian in this alternate universe) follow her to a crowded club, where an anguished Random becomes startled by a noise and inadvertently fires her gun at Arthur. The shot misses Arthur and kills a man (the ever-unfortunate Agrajag). Immediately afterwards, The Guide Mark II causes the removal of all possible Earths from probability. All of the main characters, save Zaphod, were on Earth at the time and are apparently killed, bringing a good deal of satisfaction to the Vogons.

#### Dark Tone

Mostly Harmless received mixed reviews noting its darker tone. Nicholas Lezard in The Guardian wrote 'I doubt there is a comedy sci-fi work bleaker than Mostly Harmless.' Adams expressed dissatisfaction with the tone of this book, which he blamed on personal problems, saying "for all sorts of personal reasons I don't want to go into, I just had a thoroughly miserable year, and I was trying to write a book against that background. And, guess what, it was a rather bleak book!"

### The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

Two omnibus editions were created by Douglas Adams to combine the Hitchhiker series novels and to "set the record straight". The stories came in so many different formats that Adams stated that every time he told it he would contradict himself. Therefore, he stated in the introduction of The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide that "anything I put down wrong here is, as far as I'm concerned, wrong for good."

The second omnibus edition was The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, Complete and Unabridged, published in 1997. The 832-page leatherbound omnibus edition contains "wrong for good" versions of all five of Adams' Hitchhiker novels, and also includes one short story, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe".

Also appearing in The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, at the end of Adams's introduction, is a list of instructions on "How to Leave the Planet", providing a humorous explanation of how one might replicate Arthur and Ford's feat at the beginning of Hitchhiker's.

### And Another Thing... (novel)

Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl, was commissioned to write the sixth instalment entitled ***And Another Thing...*** with the support of Jane Belson, Adams's widow. The book was published in October 2009.