The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)
BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams' work of the same name, airing on BBC2 from 5 January to 9 February 1981. It was the fifth iteration of the guide, following the original radio series, the first novel, the double LP, and stage shows. The series won a Royal Television Society Award, a Design and Art Director’s Award as Most Original Programme of 1981, and several British Academy Television Awards for its graphics and editing.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 31-36 minutes
- Creator
- Douglas Adams
- Developer
- John Lloyd
- Based on
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
- Producer
- Alan J.W. Bell; John Lloyd
- Starring
- Peter Jones
- Simon Jones
- David Dixon
- Mark Wing-Davey
- Sandra Dickinson
- David Learner
- Stephen Moore
- Narrator
- Peter Jones (as "The Book")
- Theme music
- Bernie Leadon
Facts from the source article.
Development and production
Douglas Adams was commissioned to deliver a pilot script for a television adaptation on 29 May 1979, with a deadline of 1 August. A fully animated version was briefly discussed in autumn 1978, but it was decided to use live action for most of the series and animate only The Guide's entries. John Lloyd, who had worked with Adams on the first radio series, began the adaptation process after the pilot script was received, sending a memo to the head of light entertainment in September 1979. The BBC extended the pilot script deadline to the end of November as Adams was still working on the second radio series and as script editor for Doctor Who. The pilot script was delivered in December 1979, and terms for the remaining five scripts were agreed in January 1980. Alan J. W. Bell was given duties to produce and direct, with John Lloyd as associate producer. Production on the pilot began in early 1980. Rod Lord of Pearce Animation Studios directed a 50-second hand-animated pilot giving a computer graphic feel to the Babel Fish speech; Adams and Bell approved, and Lord animated the entire series. Narration for the first episode was recorded by Peter Jones in March 1980. Filming of green-skinned aliens reacting to Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters occurred on 8 May 1980, and location filming of Arthur's house and a pub scene took place between 11 and 16 May 1980. Scenes aboard the Vogon ship were recorded on 7 June 1980 in BBC's TC1 studio. The final edit of the pilot was completed on 2 July 1980, premiered for a test audience on 5 July, with further test screenings in August. Based on successful screenings, the cast reassembled in September 1980 to complete the six episodes, with production continuing out of order through autumn and into January 1981.
Documentary
Kevin Davies wrote and directed a documentary titled The Making of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in 1992. Davies had worked on the stage show at the Rainbow Theatre and, while at Pierce Animation Studios in 1980, introduced Alan Bell to Rod Lord, leading to the television series animation. The documentary used photographs and home movies Davies shot during the 1980 production, along with new interviews recorded in October 1992. New footage of Simon Jones, David Dixon and Michael Cule in character was shot at the farm in Sussex used as Arthur Dent's house. BBC Video released the 60-minute documentary on VHS in 1993; additional footage was included in the 2002 DVD release. As of 2024, the documentary has not been transmitted on television.
Availability
Neil Gaiman's biography Don't Panic notes that the BBC prepared a Laserdisc release in the mid-1980s but cancelled it due to a legal tangle with movie rights, though master tapes were prepared with stereo sound and licensed Eagles theme music. The series was released on VHS by BBC Video in 1992 as a dual cassette edition with additional material cut from broadcast episodes. CBS/Fox Video released the six episodes on a single VHS tape in North America starting in 1993, alongside the Making of documentary on VHS and a Laserdisc release. A double tape box set collected the series and documentary. Restoration of the six episodes and the documentary began in 2001, with a Region 2 and 4 DVD release by BBC Video in January 2002 (catalogue number BBCDVD 1092), and a Region 1 edition by Warner Home Video in April 2002; both are two-disc sets. The North American DVD includes an Omnibus tribute to Douglas Adams from BBC Two aired on 4 August 2001, which the UK DVD lacks. A special edition box set on Blu-ray and DVD was released on 1 October 2018, featuring upscaled HD versions with optional stereo or 5.1 surround sound remastered by Mark Ayres. In North America, the series is viewable on Hulu, Amazon Prime and BritBox; in the UK, on BritBox, with the Special Edition on Amazon Prime Video.
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