An Introduction
Recently, I was looking for something fun, entertaining and clever to watch and review – something uplifting in these somewhat challenging times and away from the sometimes vitriolic world of Doctor Who fandom. I had been listening to the radio series of ‘Last Chance to See’ with Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine travelling the world back in 1989 to tell the stories of endangered species. And, well as I was thinking about Douglas, it struck me that I was due a re-watch of my old favourite the 1981 BBC TV adaptation of ’The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’
The TV version was my own personal introduction to the world of Hitchhiker’s. I’d seen the book on the shelves of Sci-Fi section of bookshops when looking for ‘Doctor Who’ books in the late 70’s/early 80’s, but hadn’t really known anything about it. I know for some people that the radio version is the definitive version of the story, but I only heard that years later. I didn’t know that Douglas had been the script editor of ‘Doctor Who’ recently at that point or that he’d written ‘Pirate Planet’ or ‘City of Death’ or that he’d been an unofficial Python. I’d simply seen the adverts for a new TV show and though it looked interesting and funny and gave it a go. I was at that age when I was soaking up new things like a sponge – high concept drama and TV comedy especially – things likew ‘Not the Nine of Clock News’ and so this fitted in perfectly between that and my love for ‘Doctor Who’.
Elsewhere, I previously posted my own tribute to Douglas Adams, written when reviewing the animated release of his lost ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘Shada’ a year or two ago. He is an important figure in my life – clever, funny, literate, with a great turn of phrase. Importantly, he was also a great advocate of wildlife conservation and for science in general. He would be the first to recognise his own limitations as a writer and in particular with the act of writing and his somewhat loose relationship with deadlines! It is though, his startlingly original imagination, combined with an extraordinary gift with words that he will be remembered for. ‘Pirate Planet’ and ‘City of Death’ might have been my unwitting introduction to his world, but this version of ‘Hitchhiker’s’ was really the thing that made me understand who he was and what he was about. He is still much missed, as much for his world view, his advocacy of science and reason and the work he did for the conservation of endangered species, as for his writing.
To provide some context to the series, 1981 was a pretty good year for Sc-fi on British TV. When this first aired, Doctor Who Season 18 was in full flow and the current story was ‘Warriors Gate’ – we were about to get a new Master and a new Doctor. And also a series of a repeats, including the very first story in ‘The Five Faces of Doctor Who’ which would air in November. Late the previous year, BBC’s Play for Today strand had shown the excellent ‘Flipside of Dominick Hide’. Later in 1981, we would get the equally excellent BBC version of ‘Day of the Triffids’, Holmes and Camfield’s adaptation of ‘The Nightmare Man’, season 4 of ‘Blake’s 7’ and of course not forgetting that classic of the genre ‘K9 & Company’! It was a formative period for me, marking my transition to a fully blown fan, stretching my young imagination and providing the foundation of a lifelong love. Douglas and his work were a pivotal part of that, for which I will always be grateful.
Next up: Episode one. Arthurs’ home(s) get demolished, but ‘Don’t Panic’ help is at hand from his friend Ford and a certain book.
A Journal of Impossible Things 