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LISTEN: Trailer arrives for BBC Radio 4’s Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase

November 5th, 2017 by Marc Comments

We’ve been reporting for a while on the new BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s And Another Thing, the sixth book in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy series.

The book was based on notes Douglas Adams had made before his untimely death for his new instalment in the series and, for the most part, was a pretty solid entry in the series.

Now, to mark the 40th anniversary of the original book, the original crew and cast are all back and we can’t wait!

Check out the full trailer for the series below and don’t forget your towel…

In 1978 the worlds of science fiction and comedy were united when BBC Radio broadcast The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, followed by four further series between 1980 and 2005. Now, for the 40th anniversary of Hitchhiker’s radio debut, the original radio cast will star in a sixth instalment titled The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase.

The series will be produced by long-time collaborator Dirk Maggs, who was chosen by the late Douglas Adams to bring ‘HG2G’ back to Radio 4 for the Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases.

The new series will be adapted from Eoin Colfer’s book And Another Thing…, which was commissioned by the Douglas Adams Estate in 2009 to mark the 30th anniversary of the first novel. The episodes will also include unpublished Hitchhiker’s material by Douglas Adams, sourced from notebooks and writings preserved in the library at St. John’s College in Cambridge.

Across six new episodes, Simon Jones will reprise his role as the main protagonist, the quintessentially English Arthur Dent, as he continues to travel through space and time following the destruction of Earth.

Starring alongside Jones will be members of the classic radio, television and stage casts, including  Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox and Sandra Dickinson as Trillian, as well as special guest stars including Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch.

Following in the footsteps of the late Peter Jones and William Franklyn, Douglas Adams’ friend, co-author and former flatmate John Lloyd will step in to become the voice of ‘The Book’.

Simon Jones says: “It seems extraordinary that it’s been forty years since we recorded the first pilot episode for BBC Radio; how modest were our expectations then, and how amazing a world-wide phenomenon it became, and continues to be. I never expected to still be searching for a decent cup of tea and some kind of answer to Life, the Universe and Everything almost a lifetime later. Still, the dressing-gown and towel may be a little threadbare, like my hair, but my voice, much to my surprise, hasn’t changed a decibel, and despite years in America, I can still talk Arthur’s ‘indignant-posh’.

“This may be the wittiest and most epic adventure yet, and I’m especially pleased we’re in the talented hands of Dirk Maggs who is better qualified than anyone to script and produce us. It’s always a joy to be reunited with Geoff McGivern, as my partner in space and time, Ford Prefect. Over the years, we’ve lost some great friends, and we still miss them, but we’ve also gained other valued colleagues, and for this trip across the Galaxy we have a tip-top team all ready to do justice to Douglas’ unique and quixotic vision.”

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….