Correction: as has been pointed out: the TV series was first shown in Britain 1981, not 1982. I'm getting mixed up with the first showings in Australia. I have transmitted a correction to the editor and it will be fixed in a future version of this video to be posted in 4176. He had to trim it a bit, but it's an improvement.

@ashroskell

16 күн бұрын

And how I remember the year of 1981 as such a fine vintage in my coming of age nostalgia making youth. And I didn’t even go to Cambridge or think it was a particularly good idea. I’ll send an Aussie dollar to your Patrion account for that jar now.

@ashroskell

16 күн бұрын

P.S. Thank you for this. Thank you so much.

@ashroskell

16 күн бұрын

P.P.S. Loved your banjo gag, referencing the Incredible Hulk TV show. And so many other throw away lines that made me lol, like, “Marvin. The character equivalent of an internet comment.” You’re such a good writer, you would have fitted right in with the Hitch Hiker’s crowd.

@ashroskell

16 күн бұрын

I’m in full agreement that the LP records achieved the absolute peak Hitch Hiker’s.

@securityrobot

15 күн бұрын

You also mispronounced Jean-Michel Jarre’s surname.

Dr Who, Monkey, The Goodies and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are the four pillars of my childhood.

@domm6812

21 күн бұрын

And they are strong pillars.

@fellowcitizen

21 күн бұрын

and Blake's 7!

@beatrixwickson8477

20 күн бұрын

@@fellowcitizen Weirdly enough Blake's 7 always freaked me out as a kid, so I could never watch it. I just owned a toy Liberator spaceship which I loved, even though I thought the front was the back for years lol

@alundavies1016

19 күн бұрын

I always loved the Water Margin too!

@hanniffydinn6019

19 күн бұрын

Space 1999, thunderbirds, ufo et al…. 👍👍👍👍

Looks like a fish , moves like a fish, steers like a cow.

@cameltrophy3

21 күн бұрын

I have quoted this line about cars since hearing it on the HGTTG TV show. Brilliant.

@simonllawrence

21 күн бұрын

@@cameltrophy3 its probably my favorite quote from that show

@Mirrorgirl492

15 күн бұрын

Quoted this to myself, just the other day. Any beautiful car being driven badly, brings this brilliant line to mind.

@CrystalClearNews

2 күн бұрын

I heard the radio series first. I missed the episodes they didn't use for the TV version

"It's unpleasantly like being drunk." "What's unpleasant about being drunk?" "Ask a glass of water!" Pure magic.

The TV adaption defines the series for me, At the time it blended into my memories of both Doctor Who and Blake's 7. Mind you I love them all...there really is something about BBC TV sci-fi from that era that takes me to my happy place.

@TheDukeofMadness

21 күн бұрын

With both Peter Davison's wife being prominently starring and Peter Davison himself (Pre-Who) in a cameo then you're right to have that melding.

@davidwebb4451

20 күн бұрын

Agreed. I heard the radio series earlier but the TV series has always been the best as far as I'm concerned - the only downside being that they didn't continue the story on TV.

@dogblessamerica

15 күн бұрын

Yep the TV show is the essential version for me too, a lot of visual gags that aren't in the radio or movie versions. Some of the visuals are kind of good as well, some nice matte work.

Simon Jones' facial expressions are just what made the show. He is constantly bewildered (as he should be), snarky, sarcastic and in over his head. Then there's something oddly and wonderfully off about David Dixon. He can pull off being an alien without a smidge of makeup. Simply amazing.

@stuartj5520

21 күн бұрын

He was wearing turquoise contact lenses as part of his character. Maybe that helped?

@coinopanimator

20 күн бұрын

​@@stuartj5520 He also looks a little like Adams.

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so."

@WildBluntHickok

16 күн бұрын

"Oh VERY profound. You should send that into Reader's Digest. They've a page for people like you."

I forget where I read it, but there's the idea is that Ford Prefect is The Doctor, if he were really bad at his job and Arthur is the companion.

@calebleland8390

20 күн бұрын

Strangely, this actually makes a lot of sense. Make it not make sense! 🤣🤣

Really awesome that you finally get to cover this, the 1981 miniseries was my introduction to hitchhikers guide and I’m really happy I started here 😊❤

@lesoldham1

15 күн бұрын

Oh dear.

H2G2 has hung about in my own personal zeitgeist exactly the way bricks don't.

Cleo Rocos had her first and last "Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster". Cleo Rocks!!

The TV show will always be my fave. I feel like it comes close to being the "best of all worlds" adaptation of all the previous versions. Yeah, the low-tech production value is occasionally distracting, but I don't feel like it's a major issue. Plus I think the retro analog electronic sound effects and music just fit the material well. And of course the Guide entries are basically perfect.

@6581punk

21 күн бұрын

Yep, fitted the period very well. Electronic gizmos like digital watches and computers were around. By 2005 things had moved on.

@kaitlyn__L

21 күн бұрын

Same. The TV show is a bit goofy and earnest, but doing the first two books/radio seasons instead of just the first one works a lot better narratively for me. I love about half of the film, and I don't _hate_ the other half but it does leave me feeling a bit meh by the end. Mostly it's the brand new earth part of the ending, feels cheap. (I don't have a problem with the POV gun, I think that's pretty clever). I know the later books did eventually have a brand new earth, but that was earned after all of the time stuff.

Radio cannot give me the image of Sandra Dickinson dressed like that.

1979. My first episode of Dr Who. City of Death. 8 years old. American kid abroad for the first time. My dad rented a car and started driving. We ended up at a little inn on Loch Freakin' Ness. Dark. Foggy. There was a coal fired stove in the TV room and a cat with one milky white blind eye.... and then there was the monster. I was hooked. Thank you, Mr Adams. I didn't realize how much I owed you.

As for the Film, I have mixed feelings on it. I like the new ideas and the effects, and the Dolphin's song was worth the price of admission by itself, but the tone felt off. I wasn't sure why, but I saw a review that crystalised it for me. It was made at a time where cringe comedy was in, and it seems the other writers after Douglas' death steered it in that direction. Still, I don't think any version is bad. Radio series is my fave, but I loved the books too, and the TV show is cool. Lets not forget that hard as nails text adventure either! It's a good thing they provided those peril-sensitive sunglasses.

It was said of Douglas Adams that he loved deadlines ... he used to love the whooshing sound they made as they passed. I was lucky to tape the first radio airing of HHGTTG, and for me the second series was the pinnacle.

@paulannable3734

21 күн бұрын

It was said BY Douglas Adams

I had just finished a work detail and was looking forward to five days leave - I was in the Air Force at the time. I share a two bedroom apartment with a fellow airmen who was on assignment so i had the place to myself. I'm positive this was around the summer of 1981. In America was have a channel known as PBS and it was famous for airing British shows. It's how i grew up on Monty Python and Faulty Towers. I do not know why my huge 19" TV was tuned to PBS but it was and when I turned it one what ever show that was playing was going off and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy came on as if it was waiting for me or something. I remember hearing the music and stopping what I was doing to sit and watch. And here's the thing, they played all six episode back to back. I was hooked instantly. I read the books (at that time only Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Restaurant at the End of the Universe were in print. I did not get to listen to the Radio shows until they were collected as wavs on the internet but I was aware of them. I love the TV shows, the books and the radio plays but I did not like the movie. My problem was it was just off, the love story was stupid and in too many places it felt like it expected people to already know the jokes. It one of the best thing ever and I, like so many am sorry Douglas Adams passed far too early.

The total perspective vortex, Zaphod walking out and saying ''Yeah, nice place!'' is the epitome of Adams's humour...I don't know why that joke isn't more popular.

Okay. Keep it to what I like? Well. I liked it all. Loved it, in fact. Douglas Adams was a genius, in my opinion. Some of my favorite writing came with the Third Hitchhiker's book, specifically the first couple of chapters. 23 years on and I still miss that man.

banjo The Incredible Hulk theme almost killed me. Well done, sir! ❤

"I love deadlines. I love the "whoosh" sound as they fly by" - Adams

David Dixon would have been a perfect Doctor Who during the late 70s early 80s. Love the book series for this.

Rik Mayall died after going for a run, Douglas Adams died at the gym! The lesson is clear, people: exercise kills /s

@WildBluntHickok

16 күн бұрын

Yeah much better to sit on an ATV and let the engine do all the work.

"Starship Titanic" is the VERY BEST computer game based on a throwaway joke buried somewhere in the middle of a satirical five-novel trilogy EVER released. Fight me.

I love the Tertiary Phase radio plays when they did it in the early 2000s, with the original cast back. The wicket gate and cricket robots plot is probably my favourite. And has Douglas Adams as Agrajad.

@ETR_Unicorn

5 күн бұрын

Douglas Adams, reading Agrajag in the audio book of Life, The Universe And Everything is utter perfection.

My favorite incarnation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the six part BBC television series. I thought the animated Guide entries were fantastic, and the music was great. Simon Jones as Arthur Dent was top notch, especially when his reactions indicated that it took him several seconds to realize he’d been insulted or disregarded by one of the other characters in the show. I think that due to the low budget nature of BBC productions of that time, it was very, very important to focus on the story and have the actors work as hard as they could to convey the silliness of the story, which they succeeded in doing. The first time I saw the television series was in early 1984 on Channel 12, the second PBS station in Metro Denver. They showed the entire series during a pledge drive and between breaks, and the station had people who were asking viewers for donations to PBS dressed up as characters from the show. The broadcast of the show continued well into the night. It’s one of my favorite memories I have as a teenager.

@KJ-of6lf

21 күн бұрын

I live in Denver and watched Doctor Who every Sunday morning for several hours while taking care of my infant son; and he lives the Doctor as well. Must've done something right!

The meeting of and loss of Fenchurch will always be one of the sweetest and saddest storylines I've ever read. I was glad to see her in this.

I knew the entire original series (which i had on vinyl) word for word, off by heart. A young teen who loved the book, and the radio series/original series. Just realised, i still know the series word for word, off by heart. ❤

A friend of mine gave me a copy of Hitchhiker when I was in 9th grade and I devoured it and all the subsequent books. That remains my favorite way into the worlds Douglas Adams so brilliantly created.

By fluke I caught the first radio series in 78, thanks to Adams i've been listening to radio plays and audio books ever since.

The Radio 4 series was my introduction via school - as the Head of Art would play tapes during lessons - he was also the one who introduced me properly to Viv and the Bonzos when he played 'My Brother makes the noises for the Talkies' in school assembly. Thank you 'Catweasel'

Fun fact. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy theme was taken from the Eagles song Journey of the Sorcerer, written by band member Bernie Leadon. He was paid peanuts when they used his song for the TV series and only got paid better when they released the movie version.

People seem to forget the gag that the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, for which the answer was "42," was "what do you get when you multiply six by nine."

@TheDukeofMadness

21 күн бұрын

That nothing in the world makes sense.

@carlrood4457

21 күн бұрын

"I always knew there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe."

@mangiblotarinawabag4964

20 күн бұрын

It does in base 13

@GoldenfoxxPrime

20 күн бұрын

@@mangiblotarinawabag4964 LOL. Fair. Kinda misses the point of the punchline, though, doesn't it. 😂

And just like that KZread is giving me joy. When I first saw the THHGTTG BBC series on VHS I watched it three times in a row.

I was given the radio series on tape for Christmas as a kid ...still listen to it

I’m just happy you mentioned Radio Active. :)

Loved Ford and his fast talking at the bulldozer!! Top notch double talk. (and if you want to slip off for a fast pint yourself afterwards....)

I love all versions of Hitch-hiker's which feature Stephen Moore, or are a book, or are a game. The TV Show was my first exposure to the franchise followed by the series of talking books read by Stephen Moore, borrowed mostly from the local library.

The TV series was and will always be my favorite. I remember watching them at Saturday nights on the local PBS. The PBS was also where I got to see Dr. Who and Red Dwarf too!

The TV show was shown on PBS when I was a kid. I had such a crush on Sandra Dickinson.

I got the LP version shortly after getting into the novels back in the 80s. They were one of the first things I'd bought through mail order. I suspect I saw an ad in Starlog magazine, since I'm not sure how else I'd have known they existed. (Maybe there was an ad in the back of the novels?) It was great being able to put voices to the characters in the book. I noticed discrepancies, but that sort of thing never bothers me because my memory is crap. It was late in the 80s when I finally saw the BBC TV series on the local public broadcasting channel. I was unfazed by the effects since I'd been watching Doctor Who for years by then, and it was great being able to put faces to the characters as well. It was fun having so many of the actors from the LP reprise their roles, too.

My first introduction to HHGTTG was a serialised version of the radio show on a morning show in Canada, probably in 1980/81 (I remember listening to the 5-minute clip before running to catch the school bus), then I read the book and got the LP of the radio series for Christmas. As a result I can probably still recite the whole thing by heart.

The tv series, thanks to Aunty Channel 2 ABC. And, yes, it was the first version I experienced, but not all of it due to a family holiday. When stuck in the RCH Melbourne on and off for about a term of Yr 8 I listened to the Milliways episode of, I think, the LP on cassette and it made me want to experience all of THHGTTG and so I did. And by "all", I mean reading the trilogy of four books, in a hardcover omnibus. And then buying the fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named trilogy the year after I finished school. And also being given the complete tv series on VHS for Christmas. Thanks, mum. So, yeah, the tv series.

The audiobooks did, and still do it for me. The first book read by Stephen Fry, the rest by Martin Freeman. Martin is an absolute delight. Too few people know of his work on the audiobooks. ❤ The Krikkit song was not mentioned. But it is a marvel of close harmony singing 😊

I have enjoyed every version of "The Guide" that I have encountered.

Ha! My wish came true Oh, and FIRST! I actually owned a (very) limited edition of the original radio play on multi-coloured CD's. Still the best version, the lost starship waiting for lemon-soaked paper napkins scene still haunts me to this day.

We truly are descended from the Golgafrinchan B - Ark! Keep your phone's clean folks!

Stumbling into the radio program as a teen in the 80s was doubtless a formative moment in my sense of humor at it's most impressionable, developing point. The fact I laugh my ass off at Stam Fine reviews should tell you something.

first saw the TV series in 1981, great show

Love it, great review, interestingly allegedly Douglas Adams did at one time own a vineyard in France and created his own wine which he said was the real answer to life, the universe and everything... it was called quarante-deux :)

Its good that you mentioned the changes and tinkering adams did with the story, its part of the reason why it got drawn out to five parts, he didnt know when to give up.

The badge on the captain's hat from the B Ark ended up as Rimmer's badge in Red Dwarf!

Hitchhikers guide a trilogy in 5 parts and H G Wells war of the worlds, must reads for any sci fi fan !

Yer Aphantasia makes books and radio hard to follow, which is why TV ( no matter how dead the head is ) or even fan art is important to get an idea.

I had the text adventure computer game. I would say it was my favourite, but I didn't get very far into it before I hit a brick wall. There weren't any wikis for video games back then, so I never finished it. I never heard the radio show, got to know it from the TV series, and then devoured the books because I loved it so much.

@KJ-of6lf

21 күн бұрын

Took me a week to figure out to take aspirin just to get outside.

13:50 The Lonely Man theme ... Chef's Kiss 😂

I still think it’s wild that one of the greatest sci-fi theme songs ever was written by the Eagles.

The extraordinary linguistic talent of Douglas Adams was based largely on one of his heroes, P.G. Wodehouse. Far beyond the radio series and the TV series, the books are like an exercise in both comedy and thought. And we are still catching up with it today.

I was asleep in my bedroom in January 1981 when the series was first broadcast on BBC 2, my brother and I would drive our parents nuts watching this and quoting it every time it was shown. "This is prostetnic Vogon Geltz of the galactic hyperspace planning council. As you are probably aware, the plans for the development of the outlying regions of the western spiral arm of the galaxy require the building of a hyper space express route through your star system. Regrettably your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition."

Absolutely legendary. And starting the vid with one of my favourite all time quotes 😄

I am so old I remember listening to this as a radio play on Radio 4 and then seeing it in the BBC.

I caught one episode on TV in the U.S. when I was a little kid. For years I tried to find it but not until the VHS came out years later was I able to enjoy it again. Luckily I was working at a video store at the time so I was able to buy it with my employee discount. The original package came with a copy of the book as well. I of course read and reread the entire series multiple times and to this day those are still my favorite five books of all time. Adams was a certified genius. P.S. I love that you used a clip from the Bambi episode of the Young Ones to reference Laurie, Thompson and Fry.👍

Always loved this, and the theme was brilliant. Had to wait until the internet to find out it was The Eagles “Journey of the Sorcerer”

Quality Stam Finery, right up to the gag at the very last second!

YEAH BABY!!! Oh my god Stam, you’re a legend for this one

Marvin was, in fact, "The Sandown Clown". The eyes give it away.

OMG so glad you’ve done this - can’t wait for your unique twist in the most unique of programs- thank you

I love all versions but the movie, radio series, books, tv and stage shows are the best three ways to experience them. I was fortunate enough to see the stage show in Bradford, with Graeme Garden as The Book.

My friend's car told me to have a nice day. Douglas Adams still predicting the future 40 years later

My Dad got the paperback in 80-81. I knew of it from Starlog and grabbed it. Loved it and the show which I saw on PBS. Flash forward 40+ years later, I bought one of those cheap Amazon cd boxsets. Figured I’d try the Eagles. Was BLOWN AWAY to find out that one of my favorite shows of all time had an Eagles tune as the main theme

The TV version is a wonderful comfort blanket for me - and I love all the other iterations too. But there's something about this TV version that just gives me warm feelings. And those animations of the book entries are forever brilliant. I adore it. Brilliant work as always my friend, especially with this one.

I don't think anything has had as much influence on me growing up than Douglas Adams. -- It's all his fault. I had to walk away for a minute at the banjo. Was crying from laughing.

I was that annoying person who quoted HHGTG regularly. It was the TV program, but mainly the books that got me into it. The great Douglas Adams is the author I ever queued to meet.

I remember when I was quite a young man having to get home from work in time for the TV series to find out why the Earth had been constructed for the mice. I was not disappointed.

I read the book first at primary school, then the TV show came out not long after. Seeing the Guide brought to life was amazing and remains my favourite part of the show.

"Drink up...the worlds about to end." Still one of my favourite all time lines. I absolutely adored this show right from the opening titles with that astronaut flying through the name of the show. Thrilled to find out the name of the theme tune is 'The Sorcerers Journey' after all these years. 😃

“Restaurant “ on LP was almost worn out on my turntable. Loved it. The TV series was fun, the 2005 movie a bit underwhelming.

My definitive THHGTTG is probably a mashup of good feelings and half remembered dialogue from the books, mental images of the BBC television show and my Atari 800 computer screen playing the text adventure game... With Journey of the Sorcerer playing in the background. I loved all of it. I think I still have my Don't Panic pin from the computer game swag ... It's somewhere around here...

Yep, I am old enough unfortunately now to remember the radio play, and the TV series on the ABC that came from it.... It definitely was fun when it came out! PS: I actually had a copy of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe" and it was very helpful and useful, and their observations that Austrians are very stingy when it came to giving lifts to Hitchhiker's was spot on... they were [1987].... the advice about the sign was spot on and the best place to get a lift was from a petrol station... as I got one from Hof to Berlin along the East German transit autobahn.... how life was soooooooo much better when there was a cold war on... and Berlin was a nest of spies!

Go I love Douglas Adams! I miss him dearly! Truly loved the 80s tv show as a kid! 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎👍👍👍👍👍👍

The TV show was my first exposure to THHGTTG. Loved it and then I found the radio show on cassette tape and really liked the story after we leave Ford and Arthur on a primitive Earth. I haven't listened to the third part as it came so late after the other two.Oh and I loved the fake Zaphod head. I mean, how else you gonna do it?

I miss the references to the Bird People of Brontitall and the Lintillas!

Of all, I liked the radio series the best. The voice actors were perfect. Lentilla was a good character, dropped from some of the other iterations. Novels were good as they were slightly different with some great jokes. Tele series I liked Ford and Marvin. The others didn't send me. The US movie did the best visual job with Zaphod and Trish/Trillian. I believed Zoe D. as a astrophysicist that Authur believed he had a shot woth at a party. Marvin in the movie was visually the best gag. A happy white plastic Apple product as a paranoid depressive. In 79/80 all computers were drab boxes but by Cen21 we are innundated by our plastic pals who are fun to be with. Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman were great voiceovers. The Zagrathea sequence was gorgeous. However the movie story was somewhat less witty and tired.

I would not have expected a review of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to include a banjo version of the Sad Hulk music. But now I can't imagine one without it.

This is the show that made me realise I was a nerd for such things. The adverts before the BBC trailed before they showed the Series sold it to me, I saw it first time round.

If anyone is interested in an American equivalent to HHG, the "John Dies at the End" novels are great successors. It's so hard to find something like Adams. John Dies is the only thing that comes close.

@mark4d148

22 күн бұрын

I know it's not science fiction but Terry Pratchett Discworld novels are of a similar quality of humour, looking at our society through satire.

@thoughtfuldevil6069

22 күн бұрын

@@mark4d148 Yeah, together they form kind of a perfect triune of genre satires: Hitchhiker's is SF, John Dies is Horror, and Discworld is Fantasy.

@KJ-of6lf

21 күн бұрын

Discworld and the collab with Neil Gaiman "Good Omens" is right there.

I'm quite partial to the song, "Marvin I Love You." I heard it, via the Dr Demento Radio Show, before reading the book or seeing the movie. I only ever saw about 5 minutes of the tv series, when our local PBS station broadcast it, for the first time (because of the Doctor Who and Monty Python connections, mostly).

The radio and TV series at the end of the 70s/ beginning of the 80s were real cultural moments at the time (well for a young teenager!) My favourite out all of them are the vinyl albums. Don't know if it was the sound quality or the better focus due to the restrictions of the medium, but they still feel 'definitive' to me.

I first encountered H2G2 as a kid around 1980 when it was broadcast in the US on NPR. I loved it from the start, even when I didn't understand some of the more British references and science-based jokes. A year later I read the first book. Over the years I watched the TV series, read the other books, listened to the LPs, read the comics and tried to play the computer game. Emphasis on on "tried"; I don't recall getting any further than the Vogon spaceship because I was impatient and stupid...well, mostly stupid. I even enjoy aspects of the nice-looking but massively flawed & misguided movie. My favorite incarnations of Hitchhikers will always be the first radio series, up to and including the Christmas special and the first novel. The subsequent novels start to run out of steam somewhere around the third book, where you can feel Adams has lost interest and is now writing each sequel more out of obligation than sincerely wanting to tell another story. Everything H2G2 has something to love/admire, though.

My favorite was the miniseries, but I didn't dislike the movie. I thought it was sweet, honestly. And had my favorite version of Zaphod and Trillian. Can't decide between Dixon and Def. I love them both.

The books are still my favorite version of HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE, but I also love this TV adaptation. Despite its limitations, I find it so charming!

"This must be Thursday. I never could get the hand of Thursdays." Missed a great opportunity!

Felt that I had to comment. The first and second radio series are still safely on cassette here, as are copies. So are the books, and DVDs. This one got his nickname from when the series was first broadcast, as I was said to be the coolest dude at college. My wife referred to me as Zap or Zaphod, too.

Wow. I've often regretted not reading certain books at a younger age, the notion that waiting until I was more mature to get more out of them never really occurred to me.

Outstanding!

So long, and thanks for all the fish! Thanks, I'll be singing that all day now 😂

The Infocom text-based adventure was *evil*. Also tremendously fun. EDIT: The inclusion of the banjo version of "The Incredible Hulk" theme at 13:51 was *chef's kiss*.

Unlike most Americans I know my first introduction was the radio series--everyone else I talk to started with the books or the TV series, but maybe that's why I find at least some aspect of every version enjoyable. The radio series lets the imagination do a lot of work, as do the books, while the TV series and movie have some brilliant visual gags and some wonderful casting.

I caught the original broadcast because of a friend of mine. The cassette tape version is also slightly different from the vinyl versions. Still have my red limited edition HHGTTG towel and singles

Brilliant research and review as always, thank you. 😃