Category: Radio Series

Arthur’s teleport signal has been diverted to an unknown location, where a horrific creature called Agrajag seems to be intent on killing him. It claims Arthur has killed it in all of its incarnations, and it wants revenge – but all it succeeds in doing is killing itself. In the process, Arthur quite accidentally discovers the art of flying, and ends up flying right into the wild airborne party that Ford and Slartibartfast are attending, ostensibly to save the universe. But the arrival of Krikkit robots interrupts Slartibartfast’s universe-saving plans, and another vital piece of the key that will free the rest of their army falls into the wrong hands.

written by Douglas Adams
adapted by Dirk Maggs from the novel “Life, The Universe And Everything”
directed by Dirk Maggs
music by Paul “Wix” Wickens

Cast: William Franklyn (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Dominic Hawksley (Thor the Thunder God), Richard Griffiths (Slartibartfast), Douglas Adams (Agrajag), Bob Golding (Award Winner), Joanna Lumley (The Woman with the Sydney Opera House Head)

Notes: The vocal performance of Agrajag originated from a book-on-tape reading by Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy author Douglas Adams, who died of a heart attack on May 11th, 2001. Not one to let mere death stand in his way, Adams had already suggested to director Dirk Maggs that he could play the role, and to prove his point even played Maggs the very same book-on-tape from which his performance would eventually be drawn.

The Krikkit army awaits its freedom from the slo-time envelope that has kept their entire world from being a threat – and even the seemingly peaceful people of Krikkit have fallen victim to a perverse paranoia in their isolation, preparing a doomsday weapon called the Supernova Bomb. Arthur and Ford try to hold the Krikkiters at bay while Trillian tries to negotiate reasonably with them. The Infinite Improbability Drive is recovered and returned to the Heart of Gold, and despite Zaphod offering everyone a means of escape, they’re as surprised as he is when they turn him down and opt to save the universe instead. At the core of Krikkit’s central battle computer, a massive artificial intelligence is counting down to the universal doomsday it has set in motion. And also connected to Krikkit’s main computer is another massive intelligence – a very, very depressed one – throwing a spanner into the works.

written by Douglas Adams
adapted by Dirk Maggs from the novel “Life, The Universe And Everything”
directed by Dirk Maggs
music by Paul “Wix” Wickens

Cast: William Franklyn (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Stephen Moore (Marvin), Dominic Hawksley (Krikkit Commander), Richard Griffiths (Slartibartfast), Roger Gregg (Eddie), Bob Golding (Dispatcher), Mike Fenton Stevens (Krikkiter), Philip Pope (Krikkiter)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Arthur begins to settle back into his normal, Earthly life, but is preoccupied with finding the woman named “Fenny.” To his surprise, he manages to find her, learns her real name is Fenchurch, and even more surprisingly, she doesn’t think he’s completely mad when he insists on getting to know her better. Arthur is, however, driven to the brink of insanity when he manages to lose her telephone number. In deep space, trying to reach the miraculously restored Earth, Ford finds himself aboard a ship that’s plunging into an interstellar battle, something that may just interfere with his plans to find how and why the Earth has been miraculously restored.

written by Douglas Adams
adapted by Dirk Maggs from the novel “So Long And Thanks For All The Fish”
directed by Dirk Maggs
music by Paul “Wix” Wickens

Cast: William Franklyn (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Bill Paterson (Rob McKenna), Jane Horrocks (Fenchurch), June Whitfield (Raffle Woman), David Dixon (Ecological Man), Ann Bryson (BT Operator), Simon Greenall (Jim), Bryan Cobby (Speaking Clock), Geoffrey Perkins (Arthur’s BBC Boss)

Notes: Cast members David Dixon and Sandra Dickinson have appeared in another incarnation of the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy; in the short-lived TV series, they played the roles of, respectively, Ford and Trillian. Geoffrey Perkins’ cameo as the BBC Head of Light Entertainment isn’t too far removed from reality; one of the highlights of Perkins’ early career was producing the original radio episodes of Hitchhiker’s Guide with Douglas Adams.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

As Arthur and Fenchurch grow closer, each also realizes that the other is somehow the only person who can understand what really happened to the Earth. Still puzzled by the disappearance of the dolphins, and the appearance of a glass fishbowl bearing the legend “So long and thanks for all the fish” – of which Fenchurch has an identical copy – Arthur decides to consult the only person who even claims to know where the dolphins went. This person, too, has such a fishbowl – and a unique outlook on the world.

written by Douglas Adams
adapted by Dirk Maggs from the novel “So Long And Thanks For All The Fish”
directed by Dirk Maggs
music by Paul “Wix” Wickens

Cast: William Franklyn (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Jane Horrocks (Fenchurch), Stephen Fry (Murray Bost Hanson), Jackie Mason (East River Creature), Dominic Hawksley (Vogon Councillor), Simon Greenall (Steward), Margaret Robertson (Mrs. Kapelson), Michael Cule (Vogon Clerk), Toby Longworth (Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz), Christian Slater (Wonko the Sane)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

On the planet Nowwhat, despair once again becomes the order of the day for Arthur Dent. Attempting to hitch a ride back to Earth, Arthur has found that apparently Nowwhat occupies Earth’s coordinates in space-time – and he still hasn’t found Fenchurch, who vanished without a trace when their ship jumped into hyperspace. What Arthur doesn’t realize is that it is he who has vanished – he’s jumped into a slightly parallel dimension where Trillian is a blonde, American news reporter, Zaphod Beeblebrox is delivering pizza, and Ford Prefect is having to break into the corporate offices of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But the corporate culture at the Guide has changed – and for anyone trying to break in, it’s changed fatally.

written by Douglas Adams
adapted by Dirk Maggs from the novel “Mostly Harmless”
directed by Dirk Maggs
music by Paul “Wix” Wickens

Cast: William Franklyn (The Voice of the Book), Rula Lenska (The Voice of the Bird), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Sandra Dickinson (Tricia McMillan), Jonathan Pryce (Zarniwoop), Roger Gregg (Eddie), Andy Taylor (Grebulon), Mike Fenton-Stevens (Grebulon), John Challis (The Prophet), Mitch Benn (Information Creature), Lorelei King (Gail Andrews), Andrew Secombe (Colin the Robot)

Note: SF fans may also know Andrew Secombe as the voice of Watto, the trader who owned young Anakin Skywalker and his mother as slaves, in Episode I and II of the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Ford discovers that the publishers of the Hitchhiker’s Guide have not only changed their name, but they’ve been bought out – and a chance encounter with Zaphod reveals that anyone who’s working for Guide is now, whether they realize it or not, working for the Vogons. Frustrated by the reappearance of the alternate Earth, the Vogons are now setting out to destroy that planet in every probability and every dimension, and using the Guide’s knowledge – and a portable version of the deadly Total Perspective Vortex – to achieve that goal. Arthur, resigned to his existence in this dimension, is feeling fatalistic enough to work at trying to consciously avoid Stavromula Beta, a place where he has been told he will meet his own death. And a television reporter named Tricia McMillan has the story of a lifetime land in her lap as aliens visit her home.

written by Douglas Adams
adapted by Dirk Maggs from the novel “Mostly Harmless”
directed by Dirk Maggs
music by Paul “Wix” Wickens

Cast: William Franklyn (The Voice of the Book), Rula Lenska (The Voice of the Bird), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Jonathan Pryce (Zarniwoop), Saeed Jaffrey (Old Man on the Pole), Miriam Margolyes (Smelly Photocopier Woman), Sandra Dickinson (Tricia McMillan), Lorelei King (Stewardess), Andrew Secombe (Colin the Robot), Roger Gregg (Doctor), Philip Pope (Grebulon Underling), Michael Fenton-Stevens (Grebulon Lieutenant)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Having given up on his fruitless search for Fenchurch, who seems to have vanished into an alternate reality, Arthur settles on the peaceful planet of Lamuella and takes up the uneventful life of a sandwich maker – a revered position in their simple society. This idyllic existence, normally punctuated only by seasonal communal hunts for the Perfectly Normal Beast, is shattered by the arrival of a spaceship. That’s the sort of thing that Arthur’s almost accustomed to, but even he is surprised when the ship’s occupant appears to be Trillian – the Trillian he knows, and not the one from an alternate reality – and she has a teenage girl in tow who she claims is her and Arthur’s daughter. While Arthur comes to terms with having an instant family, Ford and an all-too-friendly robot are getting their first glimpse of a terrifying sign of things to come: the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, version 2.0.

written by Douglas Adams
adapted by Dirk Maggs from the novel “Mostly Harmless”
directed by Dirk Maggs
music by Paul “Wix” Wickens

Cast: William Franklyn (The Voice of the Book), Rula Lenska (The Voice of the Bird), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Sandra Dickinson (Tricia McMillan), Samantha Bèart (Random), Griff Rhys Jones (Old Thrashbarg), Roger Gregg (Strinda), Eddie Taylor (Grebulon Leader), Lorelei King (Patient), Michael Fenton-Stevens (Grebulon Lieutenant), Andrew Secombe (Colin the Robot), Toby Longworth (Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz), Brian Cobby (The Speaking Clock)

LogBook entry by Earl Green