Author Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy spawned a global audience
LISTENERS tuning in to a radio series about the story of a book 40 years ago were treated to something that was so much more.
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IT purported to be the “story of a book” but listeners tuning in to a BBC radio show 40 years ago today got so much more. Most were probably drawn by the quirky title — The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy — but they were soon hooked by the humour. This strange homage to science fiction, written by Douglas Adams, followed the adventures of Arthur Dent a “a six-foot tall ape-descendant” who, at the insistence of his friend Ford Prefect who never knew he was an alien, escapes Earth aboard a space ship just before the planet is destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Arthur can only make some sense of the world he is suddenly thrust into with the help of the book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, which Ford writes for and is a galactic bestseller primarily because it has the words “Don’t Panic inscribed in large, friendly letters on the cover”.
The six-episode radio series became immensely popular, spawning a second radio series, two TV series, a novel adaptation followed by several sequels, a Hollywood film, a computer game and even stage productions. It made Adams famous, and while he would write other books before his untimely death of a heart attack in 2001, it remains the work for which he is best known.
Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952; his father a teacher and mother a nurse. His family later moved to East London before his parents split. Adams became an awkward teen, who was 180cm (6’) by the age of 12 before reaching a full height of 196cm (6’5”).
At Brentwood Preparatory School, Adams was a bright student and overcame his awkwardness by shining as a writer. Apart from essays he wrote for class he also wrote satirical works for school publications. Although he was a fan of science fiction, he had no desire to write it at the time; his flair was for making things funny.
In 1971 he went to Cambridge to study English literature with the hope of becoming part of Cambridge’s Footlights comedy troupe. To prove his mettle he formed his own comedy act with two other students and, on the strength of that, was invited to join Footlights.
But while backpacking around Europe as a student, he thought of the title The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, inspired by the plethora of such travel guides available at the time. It was filed away in his head for future reference.
After earning his BA in 1973 he looked for work writing for radio and TV. His Footlights connections got him noticed by Graham Chapman, a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He wrote briefly for the Pythons’ TV series but when the show ended in 1974, he struggled for a couple of years and he was forced to do a range of jobs including working as a bodyguard.
In 1976 writing opportunities picked up, as he began contributing jokes, sketches and scripts for TV and radio programs. In February 1977 he was asked by BBC radio producer Simon Brett to pitch an idea for a radio sitcom. When he came up with a “bedsit” comedy, Brett asked if he could make it science fiction.
Instead Adams conceived a comedy plot in which the world ended, calling it The Ends Of The Earth. While he was writing the first episode he thought it would be better if an alien knew the end was coming and alerted his very ordinary English friend. He remembered the title he had dreamt up while backpacking and the comedy plot became The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.
The cast included Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, for whom Adams had written the role. For the narrator (the “voice of the book”) he wanted someone like veteran actor Peter Jones and instead of a sound-a-like he eventually cast the real Peter.
A pilot was made and then a full series was commissioned in August 1977. The show premiered on March 8, 1978. It was an immediate success and public demand saw the series repeated within weeks of the last episode going to air.
Adams, who had since gone to work as a script editor on BBC series Dr Who, was asked by publishers to adapt it to a novel, which was published in October 1979. It was so successful that on the release of the book he couldn’t make it to a book signing because of the huge crowds lining up. Critics lauded the work for its literary blend of philosophy, sci-fi and humour.
A second series aired in 1980 and Adams published follow-up novel The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe the same year. The radio show was adapted to a TV series in 1981.
Adams wrote three more books featuring the adventures of Arthur Dent and along the way also wrote other works including two featuring a “holistic detective” named Dirk Gently, but none were as popular or as influential as Hitchhikers. Although he worked on attempts to adapt the work to film he never lived to see the 2005 movie starring Martin Freeman.
When Elon Musk recently sent a car into space on the dashboard was a sign saying “Don’t Panic”.
Originally published as Author Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy spawned a global audience
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