The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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Mostly Harmless . . . - Rated
. . . but is that what we really want from our H2G2?

The Zarniwoop/Bird sequences are maddeningly ill-executed and suffer from chasms in logic and continuity, which throws the rest of the series into shadow. The ending is a nice tying together of loose ends, and would seem to satisfy Adams' plans to continue the H2G2 metaplot, but is a bit too sentimental and perfect. Radio H2G2's strength is (or was) its lack of sentimentality and fluff, which have since permeated the last three series to saturation point. Furthermore, the new abilities attributed to the babel fish become unbelievable, even for H2G2.

"Mostly Harmless" was an interesting book; as a radio series it is too slow. Adams was a good writer; Dirk Maggs isn't Douglas Adams and never will be. That, it would seem, is his greatest failing, but he also fails to grasp the true essence of the H2G2 multiverse. Fans will be disappointed. However, if you plan to read the book, this may be a faster alternative.

Excellent Stuff - Rated
When I originally listened to the HHGTTG in the 80s, I listened to it countless times, each time picking up on a new thread of the story, discovering more jokes and catch lines. This, as with the 3rd and 4rd phases, is in the same vein. You need to listen to it several times to really appreciate it.
Brilliant stuff, and about time.

That's it. No more! - Rated
It's quite an undertaking to draw to a close a cult sage that spans four decades, but the BBC manages to pull it off in fine style.

Part of the attraction of listening to this is not just the assured performances of the 'original' cast, (Geoffery McGivern and Simon Jones are completely at home as Ford and Arthur) but recognising the other less central characters and the familiar voices behind them.

The last phase not only manages to neatly tie up all loose ends from all other series, but also be a less downbeat finale than the book was. To get the benefit of this, though, you have to listen to the Hollywood happy ending which is unexpected to those familiar with the book. It works, but takes a leap of faith to hope that it is as the author would want it.

Nice to hear Douglas Adams one more time, too.

Over all, a joy to behold.

Quintessential not essential - Rated
While the universe apparently has no boundaries, the same cannot be said of the shelf-life of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I wanted to like this as much as I've liked all the other Hitchhiker radio plays, books and TV series...all of which I proudly own and contentedly devour. But, there is a point from beyond which there is no return. In fact, listening to this, I finally realized why it is a good thing that the Beatles never reunited. Sometimes, you need to Let it Be.

The play starts out well. In fact, the beginning (including the description and story of the Grebulons) had me laughing out loud. Very, very funny stuff. Ford's return to the Hitchhiker building...very funny. But then, the play tried to do something it shouldn't have done...it tried to be clever and plot-driven...at the expense of being just plain funny and lighthearted.

It was a string of marvelous, lustrous pearls...without the string. The last time a plot was this thick and complex, Peter Jackson directed it into more than 10 delightful hours of The Lord of the Rings. With only two hours at their disposal, the writer/director threw in everything he possibly could to, evidently, employ as many actors as humanly possible in as short a space of time as possible.

Trillian, as Ford once said, is a girl "full of hidden shallows." To expand her into two characters and a major role is spreading the butter a bit thin on the bread. And it's not butter, it's margarine. Zarniwoop deadened the plot just as it was getting started, which seems to be his function. The Vogons who, according to the Guide, are "not actually evil" are now actually evil. Subtlety: gone. Nuance: gone. Different word for subtlety or nuance: gone. This is what happens when thoughts are replaced with afterthoughts.

I'm glad the cast had the chance to say goodbye. But a simple, etched fishbowl would have done the job. I've kept my receipt, in case reverse temporal engineering ever becomes a reality. My opinion in a nutshell: 41.

The BBC have done a terrific job........ - Rated
.....with adapting the spoken word audiobooks into "new" HHGTHG episodes, and its wonderful to hear Mark Wing-Davey and the gang again.