dapplez The essence of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that it is a stiletto sharp political and social satire. If you read the original "Gulliver's Travels," by Jonathan Swift, you will see a remarkably similar approach.This TV series retains the essence of that satire found in the original radio series and subsequent book. While I enjoyed the original radio series immensely, when I listened to it again more recently, I found it a bit rushed, and liked the pacing in the television version better.The extras disk with the DVD version provides an explanation of how the "computer graphics" were done in that 1981 pre-CGI age: by artists. What they accomplished was amazing and highly aesthetic.The preceding review by In descending order... makes some good points about the order of the Douglas Adams opuses. I assume, being British, he has more first hand knowledge than I. But I think he may be a bit off. I think what he considers a subsequent radio series was, to my understanding, a dramatized audio book, and one with additional material beyond any of the books, from what I can recall. But perhaps it was broadcast in Britain.And I think the original three books were revised when they were printed together as an anthology.So it is a bit of a mess to say which is the definitive version. Short of reading the book, I would say this BBC TV production is my favorite. It really holds up well to repeated viewing. But you should still read the trilogy; it is a masterpiece that deserves a place in a college 20th century literature curriculum.But one thing can be said definitively: The 2005 movie version is an abomination that bears no semblance to the artistic concept of the author.As Paul Newman used to say, "Why settle for hamburger when you can have steak?"

Canvoodoo Unlike the recent Movie, this mini-series is mostly good, and does an excellent job of capturing the quirky spirit of the radio original.Probably the biggest reason why this adaptation works well is that the marvelous dialogue of the radio version has not been messed up. There are changes (as there have been in every medium the guide has been adapted into), but unlike the film version, the best and most memorable parts haven't been tampered with – See the memorable quotes section for examples of this. The biggest difference between this version and the film may be that Douglas Adams was directly involved with the production of the Television version, but sadly was not around to oversee the film version, for which the loss is evident.The special effects aren't great (think Doctor Who, circa 1980), but the performances are enough fun that it doesn't matter all that much. Many of the cast members are the originals from the radio series, and even those that aren't originals mostly do a good job with their characters. The one exception is Sandra Dickinson, who just isn't convincing as Trillian – She's supposed to a very bright astrophysicist, but comes across as a bimbo/airhead. Still, the rest of the casting is excellent, so this one lapse can be forgiven.The best part of the whole series is the visuals for the actual Guide. These are extraordinarily detailed animations, buttressing Peter Jones' voice-over from the radio original with lots of extra visual jokes and humor. One of the best parts about being able to watch this on DVD is the ability to freeze-frame some of the more interesting bits to be able to better appreciate all of the funny stuff contained within. These visuals were actually accomplished using a painstaking manual animation technique to simulate the computer displays, as 1980-era computers just weren't up to the job of doing things like this. Ironically, the simulated computer animations are a lot funnier than the actual computer animations (with 25 years worth of improved technology) in the film version.In sum, given the choice between this and the film version, I would take this any time. The DVD version also includes lots of extra material – production notes, making-of documentaries, and a tribute to the late Douglas Adams.

madman42q-1 This series is based on the books and radio scripts written by the late and great Douglas Adams. It covers the first two books, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe". Although Adams has said it wasn't one of the best, it is still one of the best visual interpretations of the story of a book and how it came to affect a certain Earth man.Arthur Dent (Simon Jones), a six feet tall ape descendant, is awoken one morning to find that his home is being demolished. Not long after, the entire Earth is destroyed. Dent survives when his best friend, Ford Prefect (David Dixon), hitches a ride on a Vogon Constructor Ship and takes the Earth man with him. He is given a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a wholly remarkable book, and they soon embark on a string of froody adventures throughout the galaxy and all the way to the end of Time itself.

uhforja Well, what can I say? After going to watch the utterly disappointing Hollywood version, this is the one screen adaptation, so far at least. I was lucky enough to buy the BBC series in DVD before and despite the cheap production, everything is more than made up for the witty script and the characters' depth. Douglas himself appears in one of the books' entries on episode 2. Things are not perfect, of course, specially on the effects department and in the questionable casting of Trillian, but overall this is much better than the Disney-influenced movie, whose Trillian itself is much worse. And Zaphod has actually two heads here, and the tea-induced computer jam. In words of Marvin, the film's "first half an hour was the worst, and the second as well, but from there everything went downhill". But the TV series is definitely worth watching.