The Infinite Improbability Drive is a. This concept was developed by Douglas Adams in the Hitchhiker's Guide. The book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

• Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Books

Secret Scribbler: ‘To read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is to step into the garden shed of a maverick genius while he’s out’. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book summary & chapter. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The Vogons don't like hitchhikers.

Opening titles designed by Doug Burd Created by Based on by Douglas Adams Starring Narrated by Theme music composer Opening theme ' by Country of origin United Kingdom Original language(s) English No. Of series 1 No. Of episodes 6 Production Producer(s) Running time 33 mins Release Original network Picture format Audio format Monaural Original release 5 January – 9 February 1981 Chronology Related shows External links The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a BBC television adaptation of 's which was broadcast in January and February 1981 on UK television station. The adaptation follows the original in 1978 and 1980, the first novel and double LP, in 1979, and the, in 1979 and 1980, making it the fifth iteration of the guide. The series stars as, as, as, as and as the voice of.

The voice of the guide is. Simon Jones, Peter Jones, Stephen Moore and Mark Wing-Davey had already provided the voices for their characters in the original radio series in 1978/80. In addition, the series features a number of notable cameo roles, including Adams himself on several occasions.

Although initially thought by BBC executives to be unfilmable, the series was successfully produced and directed by and went on to win a as Most Original Programme of 1981, as well as several for its graphics and editing. Contents. Development and production After the success of the first seven episodes of the, all broadcast in 1978, and while the second radio series was being recorded, was commissioned to deliver a pilot script for a television adaptation on 29 May 1979, to be delivered by 1 August. A fully animated version was briefly discussed in the autumn of 1978, but it was eventually decided to make most of the series feature 'live action' and only animate The Guide's entries., who had worked with Adams on the first radio series, is credited with starting the process of adapting the series for television, after the receipt of the pilot script, with a memo to the head of light entertainment in September 1979. Adams was still working on scripts for the second radio series of Hitchhiker's and working as script editor for, and thus the BBC extended the deadline for the pilot script of the television adaptation to the end of November. The script for the pilot was delivered in December 1979, and terms for the five remaining scripts were agreed upon in January 1980.

While there was some resistance to a project considered 'unfilmable,' was given the duties to produce and direct the TV adaptation. John Lloyd was signed as associate producer. As, watching his home being demolished in the first television episode. In early 1980, production on the pilot episode began on several fronts. Rod Lord of directed a 50-second pilot, hand-animated, giving a 'computer graphic' feel to the speech of the first episode. And Alan J.W.

Bell were both pleased with the animation, and Lord was given the go-ahead to do all of the animation for Episode 1, and subsequently the complete TV series. Narration for the first episode was recorded by in March 1980. The filming of two green-skinned aliens reacting to was done on 8 May 1980. Further filming of crowd reactions to the, location filming of Arthur's house and a scene in a pub were done between 11 and 16 May 1980. Scenes aboard the Vogon ship were recorded on 7 June 1980, in the BBC's studio. The final edit of the pilot episode was completed on 2 July 1980, and it was premiered for a test audience three days later (5 July 1980). Further test screenings were held in August 1980.

Based on successful test screenings, the cast was reassembled to complete the six episodes of the series in September 1980. Production continued through the autumn, with filming and recording occurring out of order. Recording and production of the final episode continued into January 1981. The gap in production made for some continuity problems between the pilot episode and the remainder. Notably, Simon Jones's hair was cut short for another role and he wears a noticeable hairpiece in later episodes.

Conversely, David Dixon's hair appears longer. One major change first appeared in the stage show and LP adaptations, and made its way into the novels and TV adaptation.

Nearly all of the sequences from Fit the Fifth and Fit the Sixth in the first radio series that were originally co-written with John Lloyd were completely cut. Thus the character and make appearances in TV Episode 5, and, and are all randomly teleported off of Disaster Area's stunt ship in TV Episode 6. Lloyd does receive a co-writer's credit on Episode 5, for the material on the statistics about the universe. The complexities of adapting the material for television meant that some episodes became as long as 35 minutes; as a result, material that had appeared in the radio series (e.g.: the seance involving Zaphod's ancestors) had to be cut. The programme is particularly notable for its mock computer animation sequences, actually produced on film using traditional cel animation techniques. There have been several different edits of the series: Some, but not all, American stations recut the series into seven 30-minute episodes when they began transmitting the episodes nearly two years later, in December 1982. Other PBS stations re-edited the programme into TV movies, broadcasting more than one episode at a time without interruption.

The UK videotape release was on two cassettes, each consisting of three episodes edited to run together and also adding some previously unseen material. The soundtrack was remixed into stereo. The North American VHS tape release by CBS-Fox Home Video included this material on a single video cassette.

The DVD edition claims to be the final and definitive version of the six TV episodes. As with animatronic second head and third arm. Another production problem was that, being a visual adaptation, a solution had to be found to display Zaphod's three arms and two heads, a joke originally written for radio. In a previous stage adaptation, a version of a was used, where two actors filled one costume, providing three arms and two heads between them. For this TV series, a radio-controlled head was designed and built, incorporating 12 servo motors and two receivers. However, the head was notoriously unreliable and in many scenes merely sits there, inanimate. For the third arm, most of the time it was seen tucked into Zaphod's jacket.

But when called for, Mike Kelt, who had designed the extra head (with Joan Stribling; BBC Make-up, Hair, Prosthetics Designer) would hide behind and slip his arm into the appropriate sleeve. Other elements to the production were done by a variety of BBC designers. The and B Ark models were built.

The small, furry creature from Alpha Centauri in Episode 3 was a puppet designed and controlled by, who also built the Magrathean bubble car (also seen in Episode 3), and was the stunt double for in the scene in which the bubble car was seen to fly. Matte paintings throughout the series were created.

Music and sound effects were by, with the exception of the theme music; the familiar theme by was used again, in the arrangement by that had previously been used for the Hitchhiker's LP. Video effects using the Quantel system were done. Other puppets, including insects seen in Episode 5, were designed. Some of the actual puppeteering was done by Stuart Murdoch, including operating parts of the Dish of the Day animal. Two important cast changes were made for the TV version. Replaced as Ford, and replaced as Trillian. The changes were made because McGivern did not suit the role visually, and Sheridan was unavailable at the time.

Another new cast member was, who appears as the Vogon Guard in Episode 2. Cule had first appeared in one of the Hitchhiker's stage adaptations, performing no fewer than twelve roles. He reprised the Vogon Guard part in the 1992 Making of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy TV documentary, voiced the Babel fish, appeared in the 1994 photo illustrated edition of the book (as ), and returned a third time as a Vogon Guard for the Quandary Phase. Because of the sheer number of models used in episodes 2 to 6, a single day of filming just the model sequences was set aside at the BBC's Television Centre on 28 October 1980.

This has been described as 'a luxury few other shows could afford.' To provide proper timing of spoken lines on-set, himself spoke the lines of Eddie the Computer and Deep Thought, until they were redubbed by and respectively.

Douglas Adams has several cameo appearances in the TV series:. Episode 1: One of the drinkers in the background of the pub. Episode 2: The man who walks naked into the ocean. The original actor for the part called in sick. Episode 2: The Guide entry on 'The Worst Poetry' also used Adams's likeness as the basis for the illustration of. Episode 2: In the future, Douglas makes a cameo appearance as one of the Sirius Cybernetic Marketing Division members.

Episode 3: An image in a guide entry on 'an important and popular fact', along with animator Rod Lord, who provided a self-portrait. The hand animated 'computer graphics' of The Hitchhiker's Guide itself won a, a Design and Art Direction Silver award, and a London Film Fest award. The spaceman, suspended from a wire, in the titles sequence was Alan Harris. Locations for filming included a clay pit and the former Par—Fowey railway tunnel in Cornwall, the Edmonds Farm and Red Lion pub in Haywards Heath, Sussex, the Budgemoor Golf & Country Club near Henley-on-Thames, and at Dovestones in the Peak District National Park. Episode 3 was originally scripted to have a 'pre-credits sequence' where Trillian announces their arrival at 'the most improbable planet that ever existed', Magrathea, to Zaphod. This was never filmed. The arrangement of 'Journey of the Sorcerer' by, used in the titles, was released as a single in the UK in January 1981.

The B-side featured Douglas Adams playing rhythm guitar. Many of the costumes seen in Episodes 1 to 4 can be seen again during sequences at Milliway's in Episode 5. In Episode 5 the writing at the start showing 42 crossed out several times also includes the number 101010 which is the 42nd number in the binary number base. Episode guide Episode 1 First broadcast on, 5 January 1981 Synopsis Episode 1 begins with a pre-credits sequence, the only one of the TV episodes to have one. A countdown to the end of the world is displayed through animation, and the narrator begins telling the story of the Guide and Arthur Dent's connection to it as the sun rises over the English countryside for the final time. Arthur wakes, discovers the threat to his house from a yellow bulldozer by looking out the window, and the camera pulls back to the titles.

This episode closely follows the plot and dialogue of the, cutting the speech by Lady Cynthia Fitzmelton. It ends at a slightly earlier point than the radio episode, after Ford's line 'he might want to read us some of his poetry first', and on a cliffhanger that Arthur and Ford are about to be discovered in a Vogon storeroom, but before the is actually read.

Cast (in order of appearance). The Book (narrator):.:.:.:. Workman One (uncredited):. Workman Two (uncredited):. Alien (girl):. Alien (guy):. Man at end of bar (uncredited):.

Barman:. Barfly (uncredited):.

(Vogon Captain) and Vogon Guard (uncredited for the latter):. Sandwich-board man (uncredited):.

Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Books

Irritated man hitting radio (uncredited): Episode 2 First Broadcast on BBC Two, 12 January 1981 Synopsis. Martin Benson as Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz reading poetry to Ford and Arthur The episode opens with a recap of the story, with Ford and Arthur about to be captured. After being read Vogon poetry, they are thrown out of an airlock and improbably rescued by the Starship, which has been stolen by Ford's semi-cousin, accompanied by, a young woman who Arthur once met at a party. Ford and Arthur are escorted to the bridge by and meet Zaphod and Trillian. The episode ends after they are introduced, with no cliffhanger.

In 1992, wrote and directed a documentary entitled The Making of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Davies had previously worked on the, and, while working for in 1980, had introduced to, leading to the animation for the TV series. For the documentary, Davies used many photographs and home movies he shot during the 1980 production of the series and recorded new interviews in October 1992 with the cast and crew. New footage of, and, in character, were shot at the farm in Sussex used as 's house, and incorporated into the documentary with some references to, such as Arthur finding his home intact, and placing his (animated) into a goldfish bowl.

BBC video released the sixty-minute documentary on VHS in 1993. Footage not included in the original documentary was included in the 2002 DVD release of the series.

The documentary itself has not (as of 2005) been transmitted on TV. Availability. Front cover of the first part of the UK VHS release of the series. Reveals in the first edition of his biography of, Don't Panic, that the BBC was preparing a release of the Hitchhiker's TV series in the mid-1980s, but had to cancel the project due to a legal tangle with the movie rights, although master tapes for the Laserdiscs were prepared.

The sound was specially remixed in stereo and Elektra/Asylum records agreed to license the original Eagles theme music. BBC Video eventually was able to do an initial VHS release in 1992. This was a dual cassette edition, with additional material which had originally been cut from the episodes. CBS/Fox Home Video made the six episodes available on a single tape in North America starting in 1993. They were joined by The Making of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also on VHS, that same year, as well as a Laserdisc release. The complete series on one tape and the Making of on the second tape could also be purchased in a box set edition.

Restoration of the six episodes and the Making of documentary were begun in 2001, with a Region 2+4 DVD release in the United Kingdom by BBC Video (Catalogue Number BBCDVD 1092) in January 2002. A Region 1 edition, released by Warner Home Video, followed in April 2002. Both DVD editions are two-disc sets, with the six episodes on disc 1, and bonus materials on disc 2. The North American DVD edition also has a copy of the tribute to Douglas Adams, from BBC 2, that aired on 4 August 2001, which the UK DVD edition does not. In North America, the complete series is viewable via. Awards.:.

Best Original Programme.:. Best VTR Editor: Ian Williams. Best Sound Supervisor: Michael McCarthy. Best Graphics: Rod Lord References. The spelling of Hitchhiker's Guide has varied in different editions. For consistency this article always spells it this way.

Retrieved 4 May 2007. Andrew Pixley (22 December 2004).

'One Step Beyond'. Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition: the Complete Fourth Doctor Volume Two: Page 30. Simpson, M. Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams (First U.S. Simpson, M. The Pocket Essential Hitchhiker's Guide (Second ed.). Pocket Essentials.

Pixley, 'One Step Beyond.' . Simpson, Hitchhiker. ^ Simpson, The Pocket Essential Hitchhiker's Guide. Page 96. (2003). Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.

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