The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

(thing) by Dhericean Tue May 09 2000 at 10:07:33
This electronic book, published by Megadodo publications of Ursa Minor, has supplanted the Encyclopedia Galactica in many places as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom. Although it has many omissions, contains much that is apocryphal, or at least widely inaccurate, it scores over the older more pedestrian work in two important ways.
  • 1. It is slightly cheaper
  • 2. It has the words "Don't Panic" inscribed in large friendly letters on the cover.
The entry for Earth is originally "Harmless" but was extended by Ford (after editorial intervention) to "Mostly Harmless" which gives an idea of the scale of the Galaxy. This was also shown by the Total Perspective Vortex and its effect upon the a normal mind.

Originally a 6-part Radio series on BBC Radio 4 in March and April 1978 later extended to 12 with a Christmas special and a further 5-part second season. It was created by Douglas Adams. This has gone on to become a cult encompassing stage, book, record, television, and computer game.

The story centres around Arthur Dent (an Earthman) and Ford Prefect (not an Earthman) and their adventures after the Earth is demolished by Vogons to make way for a hyperspace express route. They meet Ford's semi-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox (two-headed, three-armed ex-galactic president), Trillian (Tricia MacMillan, an unemployed Earth astrophysicist) and Marvin (the paranoid android). They all travel in the "Heart of Gold", a spaceship that Zaphod stole, with the shipboard computer Eddie. This ship is powered by the Infinite Improbability drive which leads to some interesting events.

Their adventures include:

This series is probably more more densly populated with quotable material than any other comparable series. In my youth my friends and I could quote entire episodes! It also gave us the Babel Fish, Vogon Poetry, and the importance of knowing where your towel is.

One of Neil Gaiman's lesser claims to fame is that he wrote a book called "Don't Panic" about the Hitch-hiker's Guide. Apparently a very good way to become totally fed up with something.

The radio episodes were named Fit the First, Fit the Second etc. in homage to "The Hunting of the Snark" by Lewis Carroll.

Legend has it that Douglas Adams came up with the idea while hitch-hiking round Europe, lying in a field in Spain staring up at the stars. However he says he has told the story so often that he cannot remember whether or not it is true any more.

A section from the original Fit the Third where Marvin hums like Pink Floyd and then "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was cut from later repeats and the commercial versions.

The theme music is "Journey of the Sorcerer" originally by The Eagles.

Thanks to TenMinJoe for grammar corrections
Thanks to baumbart for pointing out that Marvin the android is paranoid because people kept calling him an andriod (an insult not quite as extreme as Belgium). I am to spelling what Wayne Gretzky is to needlepoint.
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(idea) by Demeter Sat Sep 16 2000 at 0:27:32

Filk on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
To the tune of Rolling Down to Old Maui

It's a weary life full of stress and strife
Hitchhikers have to bear.
When we cadge a quick lift from a passing ship
We're off to God knows where.
Didn't want to go, and I told Ford so
But I can't go home you see
For the earth is no more, so I'm trav'ling far
Hitching around the galaxy.

Hitching round the galaxy, my friends
Hitching round the galaxy
To make things worse there is Vogon verse
Hitching round the galaxy

I'm sitting here with a fish in my ear
List'ning to a robot moan
Up on the bridge there's a spaced out freak
And a girl I met back home
And in this hellish nightmare world
I just can't get a cup of tea
I'm stuck, I'm told, on the Heart of Gold
Hitching round the galaxy

Hitching round the galaxy, my friends
Hitching round the galaxy
And Zaphod's prose gets right up my nose
Hitching round the galaxy

And next we veer off to Magrathea
With missiles on our tail.
Then something strange, those missiles change
To a potplant and a whale.
I don't know what that damn drive did
I'm lost without a clue
Now two lab mice want to cut me up
What's a poor Earthman to do?

Hitching round the galaxy, my friends
Hitching round the galaxy
I wish I could , find just one thing good
Hitching round the galaxy

Oh for a jar, in the public bar
Of my local pub back home
The earth I left, seems much sweeter yet
As the further off I roam
Even now I yearn for a summer breeze
Blowing off the Irish sea
I want to cry as my days go by
Hitching round the galaxy

Hitching round the galaxy, my friends
Hitching round the galaxy
I'm just a bum , sticking out my thumb
Hitching round the galaxy

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(idea) by Sylvar Fri Nov 17 2000 at 1:10:07
To give you a feel for the writing style of this so-called "trilogy", here's a parody I wrote just after Christmas in my freshman year at the University of Florida. It owes something to Douglas Adams' gag about money not being particularly unhappy. It also owes you an apology for its none-too-subtle references to the season and the final exams I had just survived.

Please believe me when I say that (1) Douglas Adams doesn't always write this way, and that (2) the real thing is considerably better than my attempt at parody.

The scene opens, as nearly as I can tell after some seven or eight years, on an editor for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the best travel guide anywhere...

Kankaffril Eight pondered slowly whether this particular entry was, in the way a peach cobbler wasn't, just a piece of paper with scribblings on it. He enjoyed pondering. And what was more, he was good at it. He had been called "Person Most Likely to Ponder" by some, which didn't mean so much when you considered what he had been called by others, especially others engaged in cutting him off in traffic at the time while pretending to be supremely offended by his taste in hanging air fresheners, but all the same he felt as if he had been made to ponder.

In fact, pondering had been made for him, if you asked the older travellers in the Galaxy, but nobody had yet asked them. Their reply was likely to be incomprehensible, since the older travellers had come from Troldanix Gamma, where incomprehensibility had been heavily subsidized as an important form of artistic expression. He pondered nevertheless.

He was pondering particularly in the direction of whether it would be fair to call anything "just a piece of paper". It certainly didn't matter to the author of the entry, since he had long since passed away while trying to get the post office to accept a package which bore a self-contradictory address. He had hired a team of lawyers to force the post office to accept it, and a new associate in the firm suggested pointing out that its mind-boggling self-contradictory nature qualified it as valid in anything having to do with the post office. He was fired. By the time the partners realized that it was, in fact, a good idea, their client was dead. A further hundred years or so passed while the subsequent generations of attorneys worked on whether their futility and irony might qualify them to receive the package themselves, but they were disappointed to find that not only did the package contain "just a piece of paper", it was not one of the many pieces of paper on their planet which were worth anything.

His idea to call the thing "just a piece of paper", however, would most certainly have appalled the piece of paper itself, for that is what it was. Pieces of paper, or Xantack Laas, as they called themselves, enjoyed only one pastime, and it is unclear whether they can rightfully be said to enjoy it, since it brings them no joy. Rather, they get a sense of contemplative resentment towards the Universe out of their pastime, which is to be appalled when other creatures pick up a Xantack Laas and scribble on it without so much as thinking what the paper's opinion of the situation is. "It's just a piece of paper," they protest. Or, rather, they would protest, since nobody has yet questioned these insensitive pink bipeds on the propriety of their actions.

It is less clear how the scribblings felt. Their intelligence has never been properly measured, since the first psychologist who attempted to do so used a multiple-choice intelligence test. The scribblings were asked to indicate their answers by marking yet another piece of paper which had been painted with a silly pattern of squares beforehand. To the average human, this would not seem like a peculiarly insensitive request, since the average human has not in fact *been* the marks in question for eons.

The scribblings, however, never allowed a psychologist near them again.

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(thing) by Metacognizant Fri Nov 17 2000 at 1:18:39
The "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is a sort of hand-held encyclopedia which includes an entry for every planet of the galaxy, or as least every one that has been reviewed. The Guide puts out new editions periodically. Ford Prefect first ended up on Earth as a reviewer for the guide. (He was stranded here for a number of years.) In one alternate universe, his entire entry on our world was reduce by editorial intervention to the words "Mostly Harmless".

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a series of books about the Hitchhiker's Guide, by the insanely funny Douglas Adams. This five book long trilogy (as it is known) was first produced as a radio show, and part of it was later made into a movie. Here are the titles of the books in the series:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe, and Everything
So Long and Thanks for all the Fish
Mostly Harmless

Again, I cannot emphasize enough how DAMN funny these books are. I want to reread them just thinking about them...
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(thing) by ursus Thu Nov 23 2000 at 15:48:03

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Metanode

A Trilogy in Four and Sometimes Five Parts


Cast, Characters


Places


Races, Flora/Fauna


The Answer and The Question


Words, words, words...


Technology


General Mish-Mash


Songs


Quotes / Excerpts


"It is pitch black."


The Man (he's just zis guy, you know?)


Movie?


I'm sure I've missed plenty of stuff, so please /msg me or add your own writeup here.
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(thing) by avalyn Tue May 21 2002 at 5:50:07

The long-awaited DVD release of the original 1981 BBC series, chronicling the first two books of the "trilogy," was released on May 2, 2002 as a 2-disc set.

    Disc 2 contains the following:
  • The Making of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Kevin Davies' hour-long documentary from 1993. Packed with unbroadcasted and archive material, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), David Dixon (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Sandra Dickinson (Tricia "Trillian" McMillan), Douglas Adams (author) and Alan J. W. Bell (director).
  • Don't Panic!: Kevin Davies revists his footage from "The Making of..." documentary, to bring together a further 20 minutes of interviews and other material that didn't make it into the final program.
  • Douglas Adams Omnibus: A profile of the late Douglas Adams - creator of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Features contributions from many of his famous callaborators and friends, such as Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, Clive Anderson and Griff Rhys Jones.
  • Introduction by Peter Jones: The first episode was screened to a selected audience at the National Film Theatre, and features a specially recorded introduction by voice-of-the-book Peter Jones - his only on-screen appearance in his "Hitchhiker's" capacity. (The "laughter-track" idea was dropped after this one episode experiment.)
  • Communicate!: As part of a BBC Education program, cameras were given access to the radio studios of "Hitchhiker's" during the production of the second series, just in time to record things going not-terribly-well with the Nutrimatic Drink Dispenser scene... share and enjoy!
  • Original Trailer: The BBC2 trailer for the first episode of "Hitchhiker's."
  • Deleted Scene: A short sequence cut from Episode Two prior to transmission.
  • Behind-the-scenes: The final minutes of studio recording for Episode Two on Saturday, November 8, 1980 were a fraught affair, with time seriously running out. A 15-minute overrun was formally agreed to but it still meant lights-out at 10:15PM, whether the scene was completed or not. Watch the timecode as it counts down towards the cut-off point of 22:15:00 and you'll begin to feel some of the tension experienced by all concerned...
  • Tomorrow's World: At the time, Zaphod Beeblebrox's second head was at the cutting edge of robot animatronics. The February 12, 1981 edition of the BBC's long-running science program took a closer look...
  • Pebble Mill at One: An appearance by animator Rob Lord and producer/director Alan J. W. Bell on the January 23, 1981 edition of the program, talking about "Hitchhiker's" with Donny McLoud. This footage is sourced from the only surviving off-air recording.
  • Out-takes
  • Photo Gallery

The aspect ratio is the same as the original broadcast (4:3), as it was never shown on a movie screen and thus, no aspect ratio modifications have ever been made on the series.

Written by Douglas Adams
Produced and Directed by Alan J. W. Bell
Starring Simon Jones, David Dixon, Sandra Dickinson and Mark Wing Davey
And Featuring the voice of Peter Jones

All of the above refers to the Region 1 DVD release, as it's all I've got access to. The individual disc infos were gathered from the inlay card and the back of the case.

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(thing) by Vimes Sun Jan 11 2004 at 0:00:35

The BBC TV series adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was first shown on BBC 2 from the 5th January - 9th February 1981 in the form of 6 thirty-minute episodes.

Credits
Simon Jones as Arthur Dent
David Dixon as Ford Prefect
Sandra Dickinson as Trillian
Mark Wing Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox
Peter Jones as The Guide

Written and produced by Douglas Adams and Alan J.W Bell
Incidental music by Roger Limb, title music by Tim Souster (a remake of The Eagles's song "Journey of the Sorceror")
Guide animations by Rod Lord

The series itself is quite faithful to the books and radio series, the plot mainly deviates just to suit the medium. Casting is a sore point with many fans of the book - most would agree that Zaphod and Arthur were cast perfectly (Douglas Adams actually wrote the character of Arthur around Simon Jones's persona for the script of the original radio series), though many people complain that Trillian is badly cast as a blonde American ditz, and that Ford is simply too spaced out.

Despite the fact that the production values for the series were relatively high, Marvin looks like a left-over Doctor Who costume, and most probably is. The ship models are terrible, as are the chroma-keyed shots - but hey, this was the early 80s. Zaphod's extra head was inexcusable however. It didn't just look bad; it looked like a dead fetus grafted on the actor's shoulder, occasionally moving slowly and speaking in a manner which is intended to comedic but turns out to be rather creepy. It's a challenge to watch it without hoping it will fall off and get kicked under a table somewhere.

In general the series was well-stylized and very original. The music is synthy, dreamy and gives off a great new-age futuristic atmosphere. Famed above all else are Rod Lord's guide animations. These were entirely hand drawn, with pieces of black card covering up letters to be revealed one-by-one in a computer terminal style. The result leads to a very futuristic looking computer interface, extremely well executed and impressive even by today's standards.

In total the series covers roughly the same material as the first two books (that is from Arthur and Ford first escaping Earth up until the cavemen spelling words on a Scrabble board).

An episode guide follows. Please ignore if you don't want any spoilers!

Episode 1

(First screened Monday 5th January 1981 on BBC 2)

Additional roles: Joe Melia (Foreman)
Martin Benson (Vogon Captain)
Micheal Cule (Vogon Guard)

Guide sequences: Ford's Bio/Galactic map showing Betelgeuse, explaining Ford Prefect's choice of Earth name
Pan Galactic Gargleblaster/Zaphod Beeblebrox teaser
Vogon Constructor Fleet/Getting a lift from a Vogon Babel fish (this was Rod Lord's pilot animation, and perhaps the most famed of all. He was given quite a few awards for this short piece)

Synopsis: Arthur Dent wakes up to find a man and his nasty yellow bulldozer trying to knock down his house. Ford arrives and they strike a deal with the demolition men so that they can nip off to the pub where Ford explains to Arthur about his alien heritage and the fact that the world is about to end. Arthur's disbelief is interrupted by the sound of his house being smashed to pieces. While Arthur directs a torrent of abuse towards the demolition men, a Vogon craft appears and announces the destruction of Earth. They follow through.
Arthur and Ford are `safely' beamed aboard the Vogon ship, courtesy of the Dentrassi cooks working on board. After putting the translating Babel fish in his ear, Arthur hears a Vogon announcement warning that he and Ford are not at all welcome on the craft. After a short trip into hyperspace the pair are captured by a Vogon guard who has come to throw them into space - or if they're unlucky, the Vogon Captain will want to read them some of his poetry first...

Trivia: Ford strikes the deal between the demolition foreman and Arthur rather than Arthur himself, unlike the original radio script.
The scenes at Arthur's house were filmed at Edmonds Farm in Surrey.
Douglas Adams appears in the background of the bar scene. The tower from where some of the London aerial views were shot was later renamed to "Tower 42".
The Vogon mask was crafted by a costume designer who often worked on Doctor Who.

Quote: "Barman: Do you really think the world's about to end?
Ford: Yes, in just over 3 minutes and 5 seconds.
Barman: Well, isn't there anything we can do?
Ford: No. Nothing.
Barman: I thought we were supposed to lie down, put a paper bag over our head or something...?
Ford: Yes, if you like.
Barman: Will that help?
Ford: No. Excuse me, I've got to go.
Barman: Ah, well. Last orders please."

Episode 2

(First screened Monday 12th January 1981 on BBC 2)

Additional roles: Martin Benson (Vogon Captain)
Micheal Cule (Vogon Guard)
Rayner Bourton (Newscaster)
Gil Morris (Gag Halfrunt)
David Learner (Marvin)
Stephen Moore (Voice of Marvin)
David Tate (Voice of Eddie)

Guide sequences: Ford Prefect Bio (revised)
Worst poetry in the Universe
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book introduction/foreword Space: Survival Of
Sirius Cybernetics Corp
Various star charts appearing on the Heart of Gold screens

Synopsis: ...unfortunately, the Vogon Captain does want to read them some of his poetry. Ford and Arthur suffer through it, but despite their attempts to offer up a flattering critique, the Vogon Captain to throw them into space.
Arthur and Ford find their selves in a dream world generated by the Infinite Improbability Drive, where Trillian announces that they are returning to normality. They learn about the power of the drive in the rec. room of the Heart of Gold as they awake, and are subsequently greeted by Marvin the Paranoid Android. Ford learns that an old acquaintance Zaphod Beeblebrox is aboard the ship, and also that he has stolen the ship from the government. As they meet, Arthur realizes that he has also met Zaphod before; and Trillian too. Is this sort of thing going to happen every time they use the Infinite Improbability Drive? Probably.

Trivia: Doug Burd, who created the opening credits and piloted the aircraft in this episode was killed in a flying accident a few months later in April.
Douglas Adams appears in a full guest role as the unhappy businessman who strips naked, throws his money on to the beach, and walks back into the sea representing primordial soup.
Fenchurch is shown in a shot of a café just before Earth's destruction, although the script doesn't actually reference her by name.
The trippy improbability drive sequence with Arthur and Ford on Southend Beach was mainly composed of matte paintings and digital effects.
Marvin is played by David Learner in the costume, and Stephen Moore as his voice.

Quote: "Arthur: Ford, you're turning into a penguin! Stop it!"

Episode 3

(First screened Monday 19th January 1981 on BBC 2)

Additional roles: Richard Vernon(Slartibartfast)
John Daire (Rich Merchant)
David Learner (Marvin)
Stephen Moore (Voice of Marvin)
David Tate (Voice of Eddie)

Guide sequences: Intergalactic Empire
Custom planet building
Stress reduction information (petunias, whales, bruise on mystery person's arm)
Death of the bowl of petunias
Man as the 3rd most intelligent life form on Earth (So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish)

Synopsis: The Heart of Gold turns out to be orbiting Magrathea, a legendary planet and home of the incredibly rich custom planet builders. Slartibartfast hails the crew members and warns them about the nuclear warheads being aimed at their ship. Whilst the crew flail around wildly as the missiles threaten to destroy them, Arthur has the bright idea of activating the Infinite Improbability Drive. This has the fortunate effect of turning the missiles into a bowl of petunias and a sperm whale (unfortunate for the whale and bowl of petunias, however). One crew member however, has bruised his arm. In order to convey a sense of intrigue and mystery, the unlucky recipient of the injury will not be named until the end of this synopsis*. Safe again, the ship is landed on the surface of Magrathea. They find an opening and enter the interior of the planet, sans Arthur and Marvin who are left to `guard' on the surface. Inside of the planet the rest of the team are knocked unconscious.
Slartibartfast meets Arthur on the surface and invites him inside of Magrathea to be reunited with the rest of the crew. They learn that the Magratheans made the Earth as part of a biological supercomputer used to compute the question belonging to the ultimate answer, "42". An experiment conducted by... mice?

*Arthur has bruised his arm.

Trivia: Eddie was originally going to be a jukebox, but instead a full prop was commissioned. It looks uncannily like a Playstation 2.
Douglas Adams performed Eddie's voice for the benefit of the actors, and the real voice was dubbed on later.
The revolving platform on the Heart of Gold's bridge was borrowed from the game show "Blankety Blank".
The whale is voiced by Stephen Moore, the voice of Marvin.
The BBC received letters of complaint about the whale's death.
The planet surface of Magrathea was filmed at a clay pit in Cornwall.
Douglas Adams wanted Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" to be playing as they landed on Magrathea, but the copyright clearance was too expensive.
Richard Vernon (Slartibartfast) fell down a hole in the clay pit.

Quote: "Slartibartfast: It may disturb you... scares the willies out of me."

Episode 4

(First screened Monday 26th January 1981 on BBC 2)

Additional roles: Richard Vernon (Slartibartfast)
David Learner (Marvin)
Stephen Moore (Voice of Marvin)
Antony Carrick (Lunkwill)
Timothy Davies (Fook)
Devid Leland (Majikthise)
Charles McKeown (Vroomfondel)
Matt Zimmerman (Shooty)
Marc Smith (Bang Bang)
Valentine Dyall (Deep Thought)

Guide sequences: Arthur/Ford/Zaphod/Trillian history
Deep Thought
Scene cuts (Seven and a half million years later...)
Space Invaders-style alien war

Synopsis: Slartibartfast shows Arthur the history of Earth, telling of the computer Deep Thought which was built to compute the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything and which later commissioned the building of the supercomputer Earth. The entire crew then meet for a large feast, hosted by the mice. They proceed to sack Slartibartfast and explain that they need to buy Arthur's brain to retrieve the ultimate question from it (no matter, they offer to replace the brain. A simple one will do). The arrival of galactic police enable the crew to make their escape, only to be cornered in a large bay of the planet. The trigger-happy cops demand to take custody of Zaphod for stealing the Heart of Gold, but lose track when a nearby computer blows up.

Trivia: As before with Eddie, Douglas Adams originally voiced Deep Thought before it was dubbed.
An animation was originally intended to be projected on to Deep Thought's wall of smoke. This proved unsuccessful, but traces of the attempt can still be seen in the finished footage.
The warring aliens are both played by "Doctor Who" alien actors.
The aliens each score 1900 points each in the war computer-game sequence.
The mice share voice actors with Eddie and Marvin.

Quote: "Arthur: Now? To meet mice? You want me to meet mice now?"

Episode 5

(First screened Monday 2nd February 1981 on BBC 2)

Additional roles: Jack May (Garkbit Head Waiter)
Colin Jeavons (Max Quordlespleen)
Barry Frank Warren (Hotblack Desiato)
Dave Prowse (Bodyguard)
Colin Bennet (Zarquon)
Marvin (David Learner)
Voice of Marvin (Stephen Moore)

Guide sequences: Milliways (note how the letter tones fit the tune wonderfully)
Disaster Area

Synopsis: The team awake to find their selves in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Milliways. Ford meets a brain-dead (literally) friend Hotblack Desiato, and gets his arse royally kicked by the rock star's bodyguard. The gang sit down for a spot of dinner and a short conversation with the main course. A phone call from Marvin leads them to meet him in the parking lot, and then to steal Hotblack Desiato's ship. As they launch it they realize that it's stuck on auto-pilot and heading straight for the sun...

Trivia: The ancient manuscripts about Deep Thought and the ultimate answer were drawn by Douglas Adams. The binary value for 42 appears amongst the graffiti.
The snooty waiter was played by the actor who voiced Igor in "Count Duckula".
Hotblack Desiato's bodyguard is the man who played Darth Vader, David Prowse (also seen in "A Clockwork Orange").
Some of the audio of the audience applauding was recorded from the set of the talk show "Parkinson".

Quote: "Guide: If you're done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways?"

Episode 6

(First screened Monday 9th February 1981 on BBC 2)

Additional roles: Rayner Bourton (Newscaster)
Aubrey Morris (Captain)
Matthew Scurfield (Number One)
David Neville (Number Two)
Geoffrey Beevers (Number Three)