The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase

[gatchamandave]

Bloody Mitch Benn...

[idunnosomename]

God the singing bit was so bad i wanted to plunge my head into the le creuset full of boiling pasta

It's abominable. Where is the wider outrage? Even though I'm no super fan Adam's legacy deserves better than this.

[gloria]

I thought the teleportation medley was the best bit of last night's ep, as I have real affection for those daft songs in Restaurant at the End of the Universe. There's a whole album of Hitchhiker songs waiting to be recorded - The Song of the Ol' Janx Spirit, Share and Enjoy, Reg Nullify's cabaret turn, Marvin's 'Electric Sheep' song from LTU&E. Philip Pope's Krikkiters' McCartney pastiche is superb too.


I was told a few years ago that Radio 4 didn't want to touch the Colfer book with a bargepole, in terms of a full cast adaptation. Seems they changed their minds when they realised they needed something for the 40th anniversary.


All the post-Adams Hitchhiker material ramps the whimsy up to the max at the expense of the bleaker, almost Kafkaesque atmosphere that permeates Adams's own material. It's the Hitchhiker equivalent of Spamalot.

[olliebean]

Bloody hell, this is supposed to be for the 40th anniversary? That's pretty bleak in itself.

[ajsmith2]

I wonder if they're gonna work in the Hotblack Desiato/Disaster Area stuff into this series, as that's another bit that hasn't yet appeared in the radio version, so would technically be Adams material new to this medium.

[Famous Mortimer]

On the plus side, the "complete radio series" CD box set doesn't have any of this in it.

[Avril Lavigne]

Where is the wider outrage? Even though I'm no super fan Adam's legacy deserves better than this.

I've been a fan of the whole franchise since I was a kid, especially the books and TV series, but I can't be bothered to listen to this just as I couldn't be bothered to read Mostly Fanfiction so my outrage levels remain at zero.

[olliebean]

Did anyone stick with this to the end? I downloaded them all, but tbh haven't felt motivated to listen past episode 1 yet. Just wondering if it improved.

I am enjoying the subsequent re-broadcast of the previous 5 series, though, and the opportunity to grab 320kbps rips from iPlayer to replace the 128kbps versions I had before.

[gatchamandave]

Yes, I did.

No, they don't

Spoiler warning

Arthur and Ford part company. Ford simply announced he was off to rejoin the HHGttG offices and Arthur goes off in search of Fenchurch. Whom he finds again.

And that's it for the friends who kicked off the whole saga. They just say cheerio. But not ina downplayed kinda Englishmen in space way. They just walk off in different directionsi

Oh, and twenty minutes in the company of Mitch Benn as Thor. Which is twenty one minutes more than he deserved.

[timebug]

Gave up on the pathetic excuse for a book,
so I doubt I will ever hear this. It's not just
me, then?

[gloria]

Gave up on the pathetic excuse for a book,
so I doubt I will ever hear this. It's not just
me, then?

None of the post-Adams radio series capture the true spirit of Hitchhiker, for me. They think it's all about whimsical alien names and miss the satire and almost Kafkaesque bleakness of the original, both of which act as a necessary and satisfying counterbalance to the silly stuff.

[petril]

yeah it's a bit like The Terminator in a way. There were five books, two radio series, a telly series and a game. And that was it.

[Replies From View]

yeah it's a bit like The Terminator in a way. There were five books, two radio series, a telly series and a game. And that was it.

Plus James Cameron wrote three stories of late 1970s Doctor Who, one of which was left unfinished due to an industrial strike.

[magval]

yeah it's a bit like The Terminator in a way. There were five books, two radio series, a telly series and a game. And that was it.

I've never listened to any of the radio stuff. Should I just leave it at the first two series then?

[gloria]

I've never listened to any of the radio stuff. Should I just leave it at the first two series then?

The first two radio series are great. There's loads of brilliant stuff that doesn't crop up in any other versions. Series 3 onwards are non-essential but worth checking out the first ep or two to see if you like it.

[olliebean]

None of the post-Adams radio series capture the true spirit of Hitchhiker, for me. They think it's all about whimsical alien names and miss the satire and almost Kafkaesque bleakness of the original, both of which act as a necessary and satisfying counterbalance to the silly stuff.

Agreed, and the same applies to the film. They were at least based on Adams' material, though, so had some echoes of his brilliance left in them.

[St_Eddie]

Agreed, and the same applies to the film. They were at least based on Adams' material, though, so had some echoes of his brilliance left in them.

A bit like a loved one, suffering from severe dementia.  Those brief moments where their old self shines through the mire of nonsensical gibberish, scant make up for the sadness it brings to see such a pale imitation of their former majesty.

[Replies From View]

I've never listened to any of the radio stuff. Should I just leave it at the first two series then?

Certainly check out the first two if you are a Hitchhiker's fan.  The first radio series came before the books (some people think it's a dramatisation of the first book, but the radio version was first), and the second radio series is a fun continuation of the story (and not duplicated in any other medium as far as I am aware) before it all started to feel a bit tired.

[idunnosomename]

yeah it's a bit like The Terminator in a way. There were five books, two radio series, a telly series and a game. And that was it.

Does Zaphod have two anuses, and if so, is one painted on?

[magval]

Right, I'm going to buy the first series. Can some one link me to the best version to buy? Think I saw an edition with a 4th CD of Adams docs somewhere but can't see it on Amazon.

[Bad Ambassador]

That's this one (sorry, don't know how to affiliate links). Both Adams-written series, with a further two discs of documentaries. The individual series sets have been 'remastered', ie reedited by Dirk Maggs to conform with his own later series. It's more music substitutions than anything else, but he should know not to tinker for no reason.

[magval]

Thanks BA, it's only about £30 on ebay so I'll go for that one.

[Famous Mortimer]

I still have this on my shelf:



(and the computer game that came with the peril-sensitive sunglasses, the miniature space fleet in a bag, and all the other bits, but that's not strictly germane to this conversation)

[magval]

Are those cassettes? That's lovely.

[Famous Mortimer]

Are those cassettes? That's lovely.

Yes, it was a fiver from a charity shop, years ago.

[timebug]

I had that same Casette Tape set. I gave a friend
of a friend a fiver for mine too! Then I was given the
cds by a family member and I naturally have the Mp3s
that are all over t'interweb!

[Replies From View]

My Dad taped the original radio broadcast, unless they repeated them shortly afterwards and he taped that.

I copied his tapes for myself, then I got these CDs at some point:





And I gave my taped copies to a work colleague as a retirement present.  I was obsessive at that time about printing labels that matched up and contained extra information, so it was quite a neat bundle of 6 cassettes he received in a little cardboard box that I had cut to size.

[olliebean]

That's this one (sorry, don't know how to affiliate links). Both Adams-written series, with a further two discs of documentaries. The individual series sets have been 'remastered', ie reedited by Dirk Maggs to conform with his own later series. It's more music substitutions than anything else, but he should know not to tinker for no reason.

Wasn't the reason that they couldn't get the non-broadcast rights to the excerpt from Shine On You Crazy Diamond that was played in one episode? (There may possibly have been other music substitutions for the same reason, but I don't think there was any Lucas-esque vanity tinkering, was there?)

Mind you, that isn't the version I've got (I've got the CD version of the shiny tape set pictured in FM's post), so I may be talking out of my arse.

[Replies From View]

Wasn't the reason that they couldn't get the non-broadcast rights to the excerpt from Shine On You Crazy Diamond that was played in one episode? (There may possibly have been other music substitutions for the same reason, but I don't think there was any Lucas-esque vanity tinkering, was there?)

The later radio versions of Hitchhikers used an inferior version of 'Journey of the Sorcerer', and if I'm not mistaken the earlier series were then edited to include this inferior version too.

Maybe somebody could correct me but that was my understanding.

[olliebean]

The later radio versions of Hitchhikers used an inferior version of 'Journey of the Sorcerer', and if I'm not mistaken the earlier series were then edited to include this inferior version too.

Maybe somebody could correct me but that was my understanding.

If the original broadcasts used the Eagles' recording of the track, and they later switched it to a cover version, that was probably a rights issue too. Did they change it on later re-broadcasts of the first two series, or just on the non-broadcast releases?