Dick Turpin Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 (edited) Has anyone heard the first episode of the new radio series on Radio 4 yet? I caught episode 1 last Thursday, and think it's well worth a listen, with most of the original cast, and Stephen Hawking, no less, and contain some additional material from Douglas Adams which never made it into his original works. I put it on when we were having tea, and the family really liked it - a lot of the subject matter really appeals to secondary school age children! There were laugh out moments of the kind that you only get with the Hitch Hikers, which really pleased me so will be trying to catch it again next week. Edited March 10, 2018 by Dick Turpin 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted March 10, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 10, 2018 I caught it and will be listening in again next time. With Douglas Adams stuff I'm always a bit concerned when it's carried on by others. The Dirk Gently TV programmes really didn't work for me as they didn't catch the essence of the books. Regarding HHGTTG:Hex, I've not read Eoin Colfer's book so don't know what it's like and hence won't be able to tell which bits are Colfer's and which are Adams's, but it did seem to be sufficiently Adams-like for me to want to continue listening in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 So far so good, especially as some of the writing is from Douglas Adams! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Davis Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I recorded it but haven't listened yet as when I saw they were broadcasting a new series I decided to listen to all the old recordings (radio& TV) first. Not going to watch the film again, ever, hated it. Awful, absolutely awful! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Turpin Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 Not going to watch the film again, ever, hated it. Awful, absolutely awful! I can't recall having seen the film, so I'll take your advice and avoid it. The TV series, which at the time I caught by accident, became one of those seminal moments in my life, which is why I enjoyed this new radio episode so much. It was good to hear the theme tune and familiar characters' voices again. I also thought the familiar electronic intonations of Stephen Hawking's voice suited it particularly well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted March 10, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 10, 2018 (edited) I wonder if David Dixon (The TV Ford Prefect) might get a chance to reprise his Prefect role in some way, like Sandra Dickinson has with Trillion... Edited March 10, 2018 by Ian J. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted March 10, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 10, 2018 (edited) I can't recall having seen the film, so I'll take your advice and avoid it. The TV series, which at the time I caught by accident, became one of those seminal moments in my life, which is why I enjoyed this new radio episode so much. It was good to hear the theme tune and familiar characters' voices again. I also thought the familiar electronic intonations of Stephen Hawking's voice suited it particularly well. DON'T watch the film (or the TV versions) - use your imagination for the visuals and download all the BBC audio series - its FAR, FAR better. As for the new series, it sounds promising - though the first episode was mostly a recap / character introduction for those who haven't listened to the previous radio productions. Hopefully the next episode will get into the story proper as it were... Edited March 10, 2018 by phil-b259 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I enjoyed it on the drive home. I also think Prof. Stephen Hawking should have been in the original series from the word "go"; it seems made for him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedders Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I caught it almost by accident in the car and I've got now got a six year old asking to hear it again. I've never seen the tv series or the film, as I couldn't see how they could capture the books or radio series Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanders Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I've not read Eoin Colfer's book Don't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I listened to it on Thursday and although it didn't quite take me back 40 years to hearing it first time round, I shall continue to listen with interest. However, I won't be setting my cassette deck for each episode like I did then. No need, now we have most of the technology Adams foresaw... Only seen snatches of both film and TV series and am not in a hurry to try. Not read the Colfer book either. steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I quite liked the film... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DIW Posted March 10, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 10, 2018 I quite liked the film... Aha, you've broken cover!!!! and I claim my five Altairian dollars. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted March 10, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 10, 2018 (edited) Don't. Is it [Colfer's book] that bad...? Edited March 11, 2018 by Ian J. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanders Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Is it that bad...? Imagine someone took your favourite author, completely missed the humour, character development, or point, and then tried to write a book about it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 The Colfer book doesn't quite fit with the others. I did kind of enjoy it for what it was, but it's clearly not Adams, and it's not as good as the others in the "trilogy". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
letterspider Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Is it that bad...? Hard to say when comparing against the TV series. When you watch these things as a kid you are comparing it against something like Coronation Street - so your perceptions are skewed. You were also drip fed over several weeks, so your anticipation was high. In the movie the producers are desperate to ram everything into 2 hours - so there is nothing especially new or inventive compared to the books or TV series. The budget cannot afford astounding special effects and the actors didn't have any chemistry between them. Little cameos of original actors and costumes might leave you feeling the script writers had lost the will to live after one too many pan-galactic gargle blasters. I don't even remember there being a book in the film - although it must have been there and I imagine it had better graphics etc. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 (edited) DON'T watch the film (or the TV versions) - use your imagination for the visuals and download all the BBC audio series - its FAR, FAR better. I quite liked the film... There were parts of the film that that were not irredeemable. Alan Rickman was quite wonderful as Marvin and Martin Freeman as Arthur was good casting as well. But yes, the film does not work for fans of the book or radio play. I have to believe that Douglas Adams' very untimely death in 2001 had an adverse impact on the final film production (released in 2005). While he did co-write the screenplay I wonder how much, in particular the ending, was not a product of his writing. Personally I enjoyed the original TV series, even with the cheap production values in the live filming (particularly Zaphod's second head, which I don't think the movie handled very well either). Imagination (reading or listening) is very helpful in this case. For the time, the computer graphics in the original TV series were quite well done. Outside the UK, the ability to listen to any version of a radio show is (and indeed was) very limited. I'm sure in these internet connected times there is *some* way to stream download or purchase them. (I do have the original double LP on cassette.) Edited March 11, 2018 by Ozexpatriate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Oh Belgium. Missed it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 I recorded it but haven't listened yet as when I saw they were broadcasting a new series I decided to listen to all the old recordings (radio& TV) first. Not going to watch the film again, ever, hated it. Awful, absolutely awful! I loved the original radio series - though I've never managed to hear every episode- and even more the TV version but I also enjoyed the film and I've seen it a couple of times. I guess that means that for me that you can have several adaptations of something that are quite different but all valid. Funnily enough for me the least succesful adaptations of the radio series (the original version of HHGG) were Douglas Adams' own novelisations. I quite enjoyed the first in the new radio series so will certainly listen to all of them. It's a shame that we can't hear Peter Jones as the book any more but I thought John Lloyd made a good fist of it. Whether it'll appeal to those who were not already fans may be another matter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 (edited) Oh Belgium. Missed it. There's no need to swear Titan and anyway you haven't. It's still available on BBC iPlayer Radio https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03v379k/episodes/player Edited March 11, 2018 by Pacific231G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 There's no need to swear Titan and anyway you haven't. It's still available on BBC iPlayer Radio https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03v379k/episodes/player Thank you. loved it! Favourite line, "Ford, focus!" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted March 11, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 11, 2018 Looking forward to listening to it on the drive to work tomorrow... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Reorte Posted March 12, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 12, 2018 Heard most of it, my drive home from work starting a little too early to catch the whole thing. Seemed OK and in general keeping with the original, although there was rather a lot of recapping and scene-setting going on. I didn't mind the film, but it was a bit watch it and forget. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahame Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Aha, you've broken cover!!!! and I claim my five Altairian dollars. Will you accept Ningys? G 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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