Series synopsis
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a British comedy sci-fi & fantasy television series that premiered on BBC Two on January 5, 1981. It ended on February 9, 1981. It was created by Douglas Adams. It stars Simon Jones, David Dixon, Peter Jones and David Learner.
Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman whose life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Earth is destroyed. His friend tells him about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guide with anything you ever needed, and wanted to know. They travel across the galaxy, meeting friendly, and not so friendly characters in order to find the great question (the answer being 42).
Premise
Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman whose life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Earth is destroyed. His friend tells him about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guide with anything you ever needed, and wanted to know. They travel across the galaxy, meeting friendly, and not so friendly characters in order to find the great question (the answer being 42).
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Simon Jones as Arthur Dent
- David Dixon as Ford Prefect
- Peter Jones as The Book
- David Learner as Marvin
Guest cast
- Stephen Moore as Marvin (voice)
- Richard Vernon as Slartibartfast
- Martin Benson as Vogon Captain
- Cleo Rocos as Alien
- David Prowse as Bodyguard
- Jon Glover as Management Consultant
- Beth Porter as Marketing Girl
- Valentine Dyall as Deep Thought
- Peter Davison as Dish of the Day
- Aubrey Morris as Captain
- Antony Carrick as Lunkwill
- Jack May as Garkbit (Head Waiter)
Episodes
This series spans 2 seasons with 38 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 32 | January 1, 1993 | February 2, 2018 |
| Season 1 | 6 | January 5, 1981 | February 9, 1981 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Making of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Kevin Davies' hour-long documentary from 1993. Packed with unbroadcast and archive material, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Simon Jones, David Dixon, Mark Wing Davey, Sandra Dickinson, Douglas Adams and Alan J. W. Bell. |
January 1, 1993 |
| 2 |
Don't Panic! Kevin Davies revisits his footage from "The Making of..." documentary, to bring together a further 20 minutes of interviews and other material that didn't make it into the final program. |
April 30, 2002 |
| 3 |
Douglas Adams Omnibus A profile of the late Douglas Adams - creator of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Features contributions from many of hsi famous collaborators and friends, such as Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, Clive Anderson and Griff Rhys Jones. |
August 4, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 Arthur Dent, a perfectly ordinary Earthman, is surprised to wake up one day to find bulldozers outside his house with orders to knock it down to build a by-pass. He is even more surprised later on in the pub when his best friend Ford Prefect reveals himself to be from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. The two are forced to hitch a lift on one of the advancing Vogon spacecraft which proceed to blow up the Earth to make way for an interspace bypass. Our two heroes find themselves trapped in a storage room in hyperspace, with only a menacing Vogon guard for company. |
January 5, 1981 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 Arthur and Ford have been discovered. Vogon Captain Jeltz tortures them by reading his poetry. He then has Arthur and Ford thrown off his ship, to what must be certain death - except for one improbable miracle. At the last second, an infinite-improbability prototype ship (which can pass through every point in the Universe) rescues them. What is rather surprising is that Zaphod Beeblebrox, the hip cat who stole the spaceship, is vaguely familiar to Arthur. And so is Zaphod's companion, Trillian. |
January 12, 1981 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 The starship Heart of Gold is headed for the planet Magrathea, a planet which it is generally agreed does not exist. In trying to land on Magrathea's surface, the crew faces an ancient nuclear missile defence system, escaping only when Arthur turns on the Infinite Improbability Drive. This helpfully replaces the missiles with a bowl of petunias and a very surprised sperm whale, who learns about the ground before he hits it. Later on, deep in the core of the planet, an unknown enemy attacks Trillian, Zaphod and Ford while Arthur meets Slartibartfast, an old man who designs planets for a living. Slartibartfast takes Arthur on a tour of the factory floor, showing off his latest project - Planet Earth, Mark Two. |
January 19, 1981 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | BBC Two |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 5, 1981 |
| Last aired | February 9, 1981 |
| Runtime | 33 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Monday |