Douglas Adams
1 Life, the Universe and Everything.
Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy returns to the radio in this BBC Radio production of HHGG: The Tertiary Phase. The "Tertiary Phase" is a radio adaptation of Adams' third Hitchhiker's Guide novel Life, The Universe and Everything. Producer Dirk Maggs and his cast have put together a very good, highly entertaining production of Book Three. Many of the original cast from the first two Hitchhiker's radio series have returned, including Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Susan Sheridan as Trillian and Stephen Moore as the terminally depressed Marvin the Paranoid Android. Other cast members include Richard Griffiths, Joanna Lumley (of Absolutely Fabulous), Chris Langham as well as cricket commentators Henry Blofeld and Fred Trueman. The late Douglas Adams himself voiced the character Agrajag, a creature who has lived many lives, only to have each one ended accidentally at the hands of Arthur Dent, although Agrajag believes Arthur is deliberately murdering him each time. The storyline picks up where the previous radio series left off, as Arthur and Ford escape prehistoric Earth on a space-time eddy manifested in the form of a sofa. They arrive at Lords Cricket Ground where a group of homicidal robots who strangley resemble cricketers proceed to blow the place up. Arthur and Ford reunite with Slartibartfast and embark on a mission to save the Universe from these xenophobic murderers from the planet Krikkit. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Tertiary Phase is a hilarious adaptation of Book Three in the Hitchhiker's Guide series, and I look forward to the Quandary and Quintessential Phase radio adaptations of Books Four and Five.
2 Good follow up to the series
When I heard they were going to continue the radio series, I found myself being both extremely happy and a little puzzled. After all, Douglas Adams has been dead for a number of years.
I grew up listening to the original radio show and have gone to sleep with it playing for more nights than I can count. As far as Tertiary Phase goes, it is certainly better than all 53 things you can do in zero gravity and is more exciting than a zerbra crossing.
If your a big fan of the original two series, these are the things you need to know: The voices are different but the same! Sadly, Peter Jones died in 2000, before the series was recorded so the voice of the book is a different actor. However, despite the differences in voice the new actor does a comendable job. Despite Peter's passing, they have managed to get all the same actors back again. Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod, Simon Jones as Arthur, and even Stephen Moore for Marvin. While it's awesome that they all came back, you can tell how much they have aged. Zaphod's beech-bum style of talking sounds oddly strange coming from an "old man's" tone of voice. Despite this, all the actors bring the same great performances they did in the original.
There's also a bit score for this series which is a good addition.
Dirk Maggs, who is this series producer has managed to create Douglas' world again without making it seem like someone other than Douglas was creating it.
All in all, if you enjoyed the first two series, I am certain you will enjoy this one. And for those of you just looking at this because you saw the movie or read the book, get the Radio Show and listen to it now! (Be sure to get the other parts first).
3 Like being there - without a Babelfish!
This is probably my favorite Hitchhiker's item ever! It helps, however, to have already read Douglas Adam's "Life, The Universe and Everything" because the 3 CDs seem to cover most of that book. Although it seems to just be an audiobook, these CDs were actually part of the BBC radio series for Hitchhikers. Even a television series was made based on the radio series, which also can be found on a 2-disc DVD set - so buy it too while you're at it!
The voice acting on these CDs is fantastic! Everything is just as expressive and imaginative as the books are. You can just feel those Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters (they hurt - a lot)! My favorite part is where Douglas Adams himself plays the scary, psychotic Agrajag. The sound effects add to it all to make the mental images crystal clear. If you like the Hitchhiker's feel, then this is definitely for you! Arthur is still stumbling through space with Ford Prefect and Slartibartfast, but they'll need Zaphod and Trillian's help to save the galaxy from the murderous people of the planet Krikkit! Can Marvin the paranoid android stop sulking long enough to stop the cricket-bat-carrying, grenade-ball-wielding robots? These CDs are perfect for a long car ride, and they're even better for making that ride to work extremely hoopy (extremely wonderful and a general happy feeling)! I hope you'll enjoy them just as much - especially all you froods who know where your towel is!
