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A Disappointing Continuation

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

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.Douglas Adams's The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and its sequels - The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, Life The Universe and Everything, So Long And Thanks For All The Fish and Mostly Harmless - are, for me, the most innovative, wildly creative and funny books ever written. The plots and science contained in them are often absurd but are so convincingly written that they seem incredibly plausible. Add in Adams's fantastic sense of humour and ability to describe the simplest thing in a very funny way and you have some of the greatest books ever written.Because of the book's reliance on Adams's wonderful narrative and descriptions, I was sceptical of how this could be turned into something visual. The 2005 movie was fine but not brilliant, due to being unable to capture that sharp writing. (Another comparison is Catch 22 - the book was brilliant due to the wonderfully descriptive writing and the movie didn't do that justice). However, I need not have worried - this 1981 series comes very close to capturing the essence of the book.The narration is the master-stroke, as this enables the producers to use Adams's own words verbatim, plus add in charts and diagrams to illustrate the science and other items. Even without that the series is great, reminding me strongly of Monty Python - the dry, understated, absurdist English humour. I kept expecting Eric Idle, Graham Chapman or John Cleese to appear. A fantastic series. Just a pity that there weren't more seasons, as the one and only season (6 episodes of it) covers the first two books. It would have been great if some of the subsequent books were covered too (and I realise that this is only in hindsight, as Adams only wrote So Long three years and Mostly Harmless 11 years after this TV series).

One can claim that this was so good for it's time, or otherwise make excuses for it, but as a piece of entertainment this show is pretty weak. I'm not one to gripe about weak special effects, so I won't. That could be overlooked given budgets and production pressures. Quality entertainment doesn't require it.Something that is required in great comedy is a surprise. If you've read the book there's absolutely nothing surprising about the show.At least nothing surprising in a good way. Some say it's "campy" or "corny". I don't think it even rises to that level. A funny face, a gesture, even a raised eyebrow could have made the transition to tape worth the trouble; instead we got mailed in performances. They spoke the lines, they stood in the right spot, but that's about it. Arthur was flat, Trillian played as an airhead, but Ford was the worst. In this series he comes off as a rather affable, friendly fellow, not the deeply misanthropic (or should I say mis-pan-sentient) Ford Prefect that we love from the book. The properly two-headed Zaphod at least gave it a shot, and Marvin had potential.If you're taking a class on the history of low budget television production, this is a good vehicle. If you're looking for an evening or two of entertainment, you'll be better off with, dare I say it, the movie. It at least gave me a reason to keep my eyes open, if only to see where they mangled the original story.

Considering the budget, actually ignoring the budget, this is far better than the sorry 21st century makeover movie. It just seems to sum up perfectly the HHGttG Universe. Simon Jones does make an absolutely memorable Arthur, and Peter Jones as the narrator captures the spirit of the book, although to be fair Stephen Fry doesn't do that bad a job in the film. This is one of those very few occaisons when the episodic format does not detract from the enjoyment and pleasure of watching the whole entity. I remember watching a TV programme on making HHGttG, (QED I think it was), and being amazed at how simply the special effects were done. Nowadays the quality could easily be surpassed on the average home computer. That shows how much technology has progressed, but also reinforces my sentiment contained within the first 42 words. Watch & Enjoy

the hitchikers guide to the galaxy is the ultimate British comedy. I am obsessed with it,the most interesting thing about it (aside from Douglas Adams genius) is that through all the different media, a slightly different story is told, so you can listen to the original audio recordings, and then read the book, recognising the bits that you love, but still getting new laughs. The TV series was another opportunity to evolve the story, though i would say it was the least changed overall. Arthur dent is exactly the way he should be, and i thought that nobody else would suitably replace him in the new film, but actually hes good in that too. I found ford to be slightly less... something than i expected, though i didn't like him in the film either, and i can't really put my finger o why in either case, but it did not interrupt my enjoyment, and distract me the whole time, like it does in other things.the special effects, and costumes etc. are primitive, and obviously done on a budget, but i find this great fun, the restaurant at the end of the universe set was carried off perfectly.overall, basically i love the hitchikers guide to the galaxy, and am thankful for any opportunity to get a new light on the story, anyone who hasn't known ANY of the versions is sorely missing out.