The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 

Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect escape the destruction of Earth only to face incredible trials, tribulations and adventures in space and time.

Stars:

Simon Jones, David Dixon, Peter Jones

5 wins.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Peter Jones	...	The Book 6 episodes, 1981
Simon Jones	...	Arthur Dent 6 episodes, 1981
David Dixon	...	Ford Prefect 6 episodes, 1981
Sandra Dickinson	...	Trillian 5 episodes, 1981
Mark Wing-Davey	...	Zaphod Beeblebrox 5 episodes, 1981
Stephen Moore	...	Marvin / ... 5 episodes, 1981
David Learner	...	Marvin 4 episodes, 1981
David Tate	...	Eddie / ... 3 episodes, 1981
Martin Benson	...	Vogon Captain 2 episodes, 1981
Richard Vernon	...	Slartibartfast 2 episodes, 1981
Rayner Bourton	...	Newscaster 2 episodes, 1981

Storyline

Arthur Dent is your average middle-class Briton. One day, while trying to prevent his house being destroyed to build a highway, his friend Ford Prefect whisks him away to the pub and explains that the Earth is about to be destroyed and they need to escape. Intergalactic, inter-time adventures ensue.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | cult favorite | unidentified flying object | humanoid alien | earth | 

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Taglines:

Don't panic!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (web project by Douglas Adams)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Filming Locations:

BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

32 min (6 episodes) 152 min (2 parts) 25 min (7 episodes) (original) 33 min (6 episodes) (subsequent syndication) 33 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono Stereo (video release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Douglas Adams appears in several places in the series. He appears in the pub in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Episode #1.1 (1981), in the intro to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Episode #1.2 (1981), in various animated sequences, at the restaurant, and at the committee meeting on prehistoric Earth.

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Goofs

The person operating Zaphod's third arm can be seen on multiple occasions.

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Quotes

Slartibartfast: I'd much rather be happy than right, any day.
Arthur Dent: And are you?
Slartibartfast: No. That's where it all breaks down, of course.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits for episode 3, the voice of the book returns briefly to resolve which one of the characters sustained a bruised arm -- a question that had been raised earlier in the episode, but left unanswered because it was unimportant.

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Alternate Versions

Several different versions of the series survive on video. It was originally made as a six-episode BBC TV series (based on 'Douglas Adams''s radio scripts) but for the video cut was re-edited in places. The HHG was done on two SP tapes and also on one large SLP/EP tape. The SLP/EP runs continuously (though subtitled "Part One") and is cut into a sort of "movie." The ends of episodes are sometimes hard to distinguish, except in a bad cut toward the end where Arthur says "Mice?" and the music climaxes then cuts abruptly. The SP version comes in two parts and seems to come in both the unedited episodes and the "movie." All of these differ in some ways from the original broadcasts. Scenes like the one in the Vogon Airlock were cut from some re-broadcasts; they appear here. Other scenes "previously unaired" include Arthur and Ford searching for Slartibartfast's signature on a glacier and only appear on a few versions.

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Connections

Referenced in Escape from Planet Earth (2013)

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Soundtracks

Journey of the Sorcerer
(title music)
Written by Bernie Leadon
Arranged by Tim Souster

User Reviews

A great adaptation of Douglas Adams' Novels.

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981) was a mini-series adaptation of Douglas Adams' first three novels. I saw this B.B.C. mini-series on videotape about ten years ago. I was pleased with the show. Despite a small budget, the actors and the writing was enough to make this one a winner. It was cheesy enough to please me and the film makers captured the atmosphere of the novels. Too bad they never made a follow up to the series like the novels in the series. I was a little leery about watching this but after seeing the first episode I was fairly impressed.

If you enjoyed the books then by all means watch this near perfect adaptation of Douglas Adams' Hitch Hiker's Guide series. The creator has a cameo appearance in the beginning. David Prowse (Darth Vader) has a guest spot as an enormous bar bouncer. Shot on video and 16 mm film. The ending is unforgettable.

Highly recommended.