The ship that Zaphod has “borrowed” turns out to be the personal command cruiser of the admiral of a Haggunenon battlefleet. The ship, like its Haggunenon admiral, is organic and evolves rapidly, often over lunchtime. Before long, it becomes quite an inhospitable environment for Zaphod, Ford, Trillian and Arthur, and they’re forced to bail out in escape pods, though only Ford and Arthur actually escape. Thanks to Arthur punching a button, their escape pod travels millions of years backward in time, arriving aboard a Golgafrincham Space Ark. Supposedly, this ship – containing vacuum-frozen hairdressers, TV producers, salespeople and other middle-class members of Golgafrincham society – is one of three evacuation craft escaping the death of the Golgafrincham solar system. Or at least, that’s what its occupants have been told – in actuality, they’ve been sent away from their world while the rest of their planet’s population has a bit of a laugh. The Ark crashes into a primitive world, and its clueless occupants try to form a new society. Ford and Arthur investigate the planet on which they may now be marooned for the rest of their lives, only to find that they’ve been there before.
written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland
(featuring “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong)Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Stephen Moore (Marvin), Beth Porter (Marketing girl), Jonathan Cecil (Number One / Management consultant), David Jason (Captain / Caveman), Aubrey Woods (Number Two / Hairdresser)