The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Special Edition!

The television adaptation is the version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which first springs to mind. Unlike the radio play which I think is better, I have come across this version several times over the years. Thanks to its outstanding animation, it does a excellent job of transmitting the essence of the actual Guide itself. It doesn't hurt that actors from the radio play are cast in this delightful little series.

This is the form of the story with which I am most familiar, having seen it several times over the decades. I find it charming and the Doctor Who-like special effects are just what I'm used to in a vintage sci-fi outing. Zaphod's second head didn't really work back then and it doesn't really work now, but it does its best to bring the radio drama to the small screen. I'm a bit surprised how well this ages, though there are some visual gags and lines which of course are of the era. Trillian looks a little too chintzy in retrospect (though Sandra Dickinson is very sexy), but once again she was of her time. Ford is pretty good, and Arthur Dent remains ideal. 

I'm not quite sure why they felt the need to recast David Dixon as Ford Prefect, but the change is acceptable. Getting Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod and Simon Jones as Arthur. I think seeing the characters as well as getting to hear them allows for more empathy on the part of the viewer. We identify more with Arthur as his house is demolished just before his world is destroyed. Getting to see Marvin mope along as well listen to that glorious moan of his really makes the character pop, the best ever evocation of Marvin, the radio show included. The TV show also adds bits which were originally developed in the stage plays such as the animal which desires to eaten at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. (I didn't know that the critter was played by John Davison, of Doctor Who fame by the way. He was married to Dickinson.)

And then there's the actual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the book which gives us the title for the series. The animation created for the show is simply magnificent and has never aged.  Old school animation with a hip twist that was stunning when I first watched the show and still impresses me. Combined with the narration of Peter Jones it is what sets this show apart from the myriad sci-fi shows of the 80's. The feature movie (more next week) really falls down in this arena weirdly. The Guide never has looked better than on this show. 

Rip Off