The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981) - A Hidden Sci-Fi Gem 

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The 81 version is actually my favorite version. Most likely due to it being one of the first Scifi stories I watched on TV.

Ford: "How would you react if I said that I'm not from Guildford at all, but from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse?" Arthur: "I don't know. Why? Do you think it's the sort of thing you're likely to say?" One of the best lines ever written, and perfectly delivered.

Hitchhikers Guide is truly the most awesome thing ever sneezed out by the Great Green Arkleseizure... And 1980's Marvin will always be, my plastic pal who's fun to be with.

I love the books and the radio show, I still occasionally re read the books now to be honest. Douglas Adams was a genius who left us too soon.

This 1981 series is the best hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, it forms most of my political and sci fi views of my adult life

Whenever I see a useless "help" message upon clicking something on a computer, I remember the bit from Hitchhiker when Arthur, freshly arrived on the ship, presses a button and a screen pops up to say "please do not push this button again".

I grew up on the radio play it was so good

The 81 series seems really dated when they go into a pub buy 6 pints and get change from a £5 note

I'm so old (and so American) that I had to record these episodes from PBS on my VCR, this show was glorious and only enhanced my lifelong love for Douglas Adams, RIP

I absolutely agree. The low production values of the broadcast from 1981 mate well with Douglas Adams' tone and humor. Marvin the plastic robot is a scene stealer! That depressing voice, the clunky sound effects as he walks and the costume panels that don't fit together - laughably perfect for the purposes of comedy.

My dad gave me the video of this as a kid, I watched it at my Christian grandparents and then my grandmother walked in at the bit where it says about a big creature sneezed the universe into existence, she turned it off saying that I couldn't watch it at her house any more.

The radio show has some wonderful sound production. All the bits that are great in the tv show are equally as lively with your headphones listening and laughing to it all.

I remember listening to the radio shows back in 1978. The records, books TV show were welcome additions but it’s the radio that, for me, is the definitive version.

The 80s radio version was the best introduction to Adams and the HHG. It was amazing to listen and let your imagination supply the visuals. To this day I like to refer to a big empty space as a “vast tract of hyperspace.” Nobody gets it.

And now to have my brain smashed out by a slice of lemon.... wrapped round a large gold brick #DontPanic

I am the lucky American to be living in the UK from 1977 to 1982. I heard the radio show 6 months before the television show. I heard and saw Hitchhikers in it's first showings way before it went Worldwide. Also saw Adams runs on Doctor Who. By far the radio and television show is superior to other versions. I was a really cool frood long before late to the party Americans caught on.

When I first rented this on VHS I watched it three times in a row then watched it again the following day. It is just about perfection.

"Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."

The 2005 film broke my heart. I left the cinema equal parts confused, disappointed and enraged. Such a glorious cast, in a film so badly written, which understood the source material so poorly, that it couldn't even get the concept of the restaurant at the end of the universe, right. Even the smaller parts of this film had such epic casting, such as Bill Bailey as the Whale. A genius move! How did the rest of it go so badly, horribly wrong?!

Love the TV series almost as much as the books and radio play. I never placed it before but David Dixon really is the greatest "Doctor that never was". That's especially interesting considering the Krikkit storyline of Life, The Universe and Everything was originally intended to be a Doctor Who script (it's got Doctor Who's fingerprints all over it and Douglas Adams wrote for Doctor Who at the time) Spoiler Alert: The reason The Question is incorrect is because the computer designed to calculate it has been corrupted. The entire planet, including its inhabitants, are part of its programming matrix. That matrix included an hominid species similar to Neanderthals, however they're wiped out when a ship containing the useless 1/3 (middle management, Public Relations, etc) of the Golgafrincham civilisation (+Arthur and Ford) crash lands on the planet. That useless 1/3 are the ancestors of modern humans therefore by the time the Earth has finished it's calculations the programme is corrupted resulting in the incorrect answer. Or, as the books also suggest, maybe the universe just became something even more bewildering the moment The Answer and Question are known at the same time...

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the tv show being the best besides the book. The radio play is absurdly good and I honestly prefer it to the book.

I cosplayed as David Dixon's version of Ford Prefect while my husband went as Arthur Dent, for a convention near his 42nd birthday. Your move, internet! Also, Rowan, golden opportunity here: instead of your time-honored "live long and prosper" star trek sendoff, why not end the video with "Don't Panic"? Anyway, here I go, about to take a sip from a Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster. Hopefully, with good medical help, I'll come to in time for your next presentation!

I don't know if anyone will read this, but I thought the flyswatters on the Vogon home planet were pretty clever. They provide an evolutionary explanation for the Vogons' lack of creative thought. Every time someone tries to think, they're swatted, and so they kind of just evolved to avoid being swatted. That's my take, anyway.

Arthur: Look! . . . . Nutrimatic: "Yes?" Arthur: "It's very, very simple. All I want is a cup of tea!"

The 81 version is the best. I just wish it was longer.

I remember watching this on the telly the first time around, and I own it on DVD. This is epic Sci Fi, at its very best

There is no better variation than the original radio drama. That's the best.

Douglas Adam said in an interview that he wanted all the versions to be unique, that’s why he rewrote the plot line for each edition. He was involved in the production of all of them, and even after his death his voice is using in the radio play as Agrajag, and his image appears during a usage of the infinite improbability drive in the movie. I even shed a tear when I saw “For Douglas” in the movie credits.

I have to say that while the TV series is a very good adaptation, I still prefer the original radio series. I don't know what caused them not to cast Geoffrey McGiven and Susan Sheridan as Ford Prefect and Trillion, but I've always prefered their portrayals of the roles to those of David Dixon and Sandra Dickinson. Much of the music used in the first radio series came from existing recordings. Of "Journey of the Sorcerer" Adams said that he was looking for something futuristic sounding, but it had to have banjo on it. The full 6min+ original can be found on the Eagles' album "One of These Nights" and it's a bloody good tune!

I made "Journey of the Sorcerer" my ringtone, since the 81 series is my favorite right after the books.

Excellent choice old chap and a spot-on summation. I absolutely love this version. Remember watching at the time and still watch it now. Easily the best adaptation. I also remember having a cassette (oh yes) of Stephen Moore (Marvin of course) reading an abridged version of Hitchhiker's, also very good. Keep the great videos coming 👍

I enjoy all of the versions but my favourite is the original radio series Season 1 (season 2 is ok but not as great). Possibly this is because it was the first one I was exposed to and that seems to be a common trend amongst fans. They favour the version they first saw/heard/read. After that the others all seem to get bits wrong, not surprising because Adams never stopped fiddling with it. Every version is different and none of them tell exactly the same story, although the 1981 TV series is probably the closest to the radio version of season 1. Having said that I agree that the Guide parts of the TV series were brilliant as was the voice over. I hadn't heard that they were all shot-by-shot animated which does make it even more impressive. As for the movie Martin Freeman is terrific and I also really like the voice-over for Marvin by Alan Rickman. Oh and the opening song is just plain fun. Nevertheless missing the punchline of the ultimate question is a big miss, although it became less important to any of Adam's versions as he went on so maybe that is a bit of nostalgia as well.

"Resistance is useless" is one the most memorable lines ever escpecially delivered in that booming Vogon voice.

I remember hearing the first episodes of the radio play on Radio 4, almost by accident - awesome

The radio show!!!! I couldn't believe so much humour and the whole universe could be squeezed into a radio show. Just hearing the intro music starting up made my day😆

Picked it up last year in a DVD bargain bin. It was like finding gold.

So underrated the best adaptation. In fact one if the best adaptations in tv.

I really enjoy this series, but I personally prefer the radio play version. It's definitely worth trying after watching this, especially since it goes much further into the story. The part where Arthur goes to the bird planet and sees the statue is just genius.

Thank You So Much For This! Ive loved this show sense I was 15 watching it on LSD. I rewatch the series every year! Love It! Thank you again!

Seeing that two-headed dude on tele is one of my earliest memories. It scared the crap out of me.

Its simply amazing, such a joy to watch past and present.

I started reading Adams aged 11, after seeing the TV series on BBC. Even hearing the theme tune brings joyous feelings. I'm fairly certain Adams went some way to forming my sense of humour and wonder of the world. He still ranks as my favourite author, 40 years later. It was very eye-opening to learn all the book's visuals were hand animated. I currently work in CGI and it's not even easy now. I take my hat off to the team that completed those shots. Thank you for the video.

Utterly brilliant summary of an utterly brilliant piece of television. Bravo!!!

Ford is not a Curator, he is a Researcher for the book. The character of Arthur was written for Simon Jones as Douglas Adams had worked with him in a little known comedy called 'Out of the Trees' with Douglas wrote with Ex-Python Graham Chapham. The movie was based on the script written by Douglas Adams, the 'Slapsticks' were one of Douglas's ideas. But there were a lot of changes.

It took me 30 years to discover that the theme music to the BBC radio/TV series, which I have always loved almost as much as my various dogs, was actually called "Journey of the Sorcerer" by the Eagles (1975). I think I properly fell in love with RU-vid the first time I found a live version of The Eagles playing it, pre-Hitchhikers.

I have always adored the BBC mini-series. I haven't sat through the original audio plays, but I did read the books through Young Zaphod Plays it Safe. Ultimately, the amount of the story contained within the miniseries is pretty much perfect. It gets too weird with the flying and the hovering couches and such, and I just found the later material to be less funny. As you say, the absurdity of the conclusion of the miniseries is the perfect note on which to end. It's such a pure joy, and indeed the BBC-limited budget just amplifies the humorous side of things. It also still tickles me knowing that Peter Davison played the Dish of the Day around the same time he was starting his time as The Doctor, and helps show the man's unflinching humor that had to be buried in his well-mannered/somewhat bland version of The Doctor. I highly recommend reading Davison's memoir. The man is an absolute riot. And of course he was married to Trillian actress Sandra Dickinson at the time, and their daughter Georgia Moffett wound up in later Doctor Who herself where she met her future husband David Tennant. The humor derived from that timey-wimey not-quite-incest situation feels tailor made by Adams himself! Too damn funny! One of the few things for which I do praise the largely awful film version is the choice of Stephen Fry as The Book. I would place him on equal footing with Peter Jones, as Fry manages the same kind of affable vibe that Jones created. The movie did also have a better design for Marvin, but is otherwise just atrocious. Fry at least deserves praise for capturing the spirit of the original, where nothing else really did.

The Vogon ships hung in the sky in exactly the same way that bricks don't.

81 forever! Definitive edition. Will never be topped.

The original radio serials are the definitive version for me! I used to love Peter Jones on Just a Minute, because of his work on Hitch Hikers!

I do love this tv show but the radio version is amazing too! Although it did lose its way a bit later on but the first couple were amazing.

I'm pretty sure someone discovered what the universe is for and why it's here, it's the only explanation as to why the last few years have been so bizarre and inexplicable.

Great Video and an awesome series that absolutely does not need to be remade, or expanded or anything....just watch and enjoy!

I'm old enough, (or lucky enough), to have watched these episodes when they first aired. Of course I also now own them on DVD. I loved your take on both the series and the movie. Both were spot on. It's nice to "meet" someone else, (especially now with the whole pandemic thing going on), who has the same sensibilities about science fiction, humor, and Douglas Adams that I do. Keep up the good work.

Watched the 81 version way too many times as a kid. I can still recite most of it from memory.

I had to set up an automatic system to record the 1978 Radio 4 first transmissions . I set my kit up in a wardrobe at BBC Evesham training center at Wood Norton. The radio still works. At the time, the announcer said it was first broadcast on the World Service, but I've never seen further evidence of that.

I'm actually really glad you're covering this, it's one of my favourite book adaptations. Oh and do Caprica.

I need to rewatch this series

The tv show is now 40 years old!

What I love most about Douglas's story is that true evil behind the curtain are the shrinks.😜

I love HHGTTG, before Covid killed my job and I became a full time carer I would listen to all 6 radio shows every month. now I try and listen when I can

The HHG paperback volumes (and the 81 TV version) were the gateway drugs that got my disaffected HS students hooked on the magic of books. These and Neil Gaiman novels are the best teaching aids ever!!

Every telling of the story of THHGTTG has been different: The original radio series, the novelisations, the vinyl records, the BBC TV series, plays, comics, computer games, desserts, and the eventual movie. Douglas Adams liked to tinker, and each form contains new ideas by him - even the movie. In this the nature of the story is that it changes. However the Ultimate Question was not revealed by Arthur with his home made scrabble set at the end of the series. This just illustrated that the entire experiment, of which Arthur was part of the end result, was corrupted by the arrival of the Golgafrinchams. One the same topic, when Marvin describes himself as having a brain the size of a planet - which planet do you think he is referring to?

Both the initial broadcast and the initial video release had missing soundtrack and many of the animated sections occurred in silence making it somehow downright eerie to watch.

The 1981 TV version is "my Hitchhikers'", much like Tom Baker is "my Doctor Who" in that it's the first variation on a sprawling franchise I encountered and as such I will always have a special fondness for it despite certain elements working better elsewhere.

It's still my favourite bedtime story since I heard the radio series in 1979

I still think the radio series is the best version, though... McGivern is a better Ford, and Sheridan is a way better Trillian (who is supposed to be a brilliant astrophysicist, not the ditsy blonde that Dickinson played). The graphics in the TV show are unique and worth a look, though...

Before it was a TV show, before it was a book, it was a Radio show and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the radio presentation if you can find it. Most of the same cast as the TV show but somehow adding the benefit of having all visuals in your head along with the actors voices seems to work best.

Had a creative director who got his start in TV animation as the runner on the 1981 HHGG animation team. He had some great tales of the BBC in that period.

I need to buy copies of the books again. I remember being in pain at times, barely able to breathe, especially with "Restaurant," which is probably the funniest of the lot.

I love the 81 series, I grew up watching dvds of it that my mom had. I was super surprised to find out about the Marvin 45, but it's super cool!

I am so glad you did this video to recognize this "Hidden Gem". As a big fan of the books, I watched this TV show avidly when it first came out, recorded it on VHS, and watched it again and again. When the DVD became available, it was one of my early DVD purchases. I definitely think the shoestring budget adds to its charm. Thank you!

Nicely made video and thanks for bigging up the 1981 TV series. I agree with all your points, although I think Shynola did a pretty good job of the movie's graphics, which had to remain international, so could not rely on English typography as part of the design. (NB: the TV series animators were indeed few in number, but we weren't literally "tucked away in a corner at the BBC". The graphics were contracted from Pearce Studios Ltd, a small company run by my boss at the time, Rod Lord, and based in rented space owned by Athos Films Ltd. Further down the corridor (at Athos House in Hanwell, West London) were some 16mm film cutting rooms also rented from Athos by the BBC. That's where, in January 1980, I had a chance meeting with producer Alan J.W. Bell and introduced him to Rod, leading to us getting the gig. Rod Lord won a BAFTA and several other awards for the TV series animation and I was proud to have been a part of that. I went on to make a retrospective documentary "The Making of Hitchhiker's..." (1993) which you'll nowadays find on the BBC series DVD and 2018 Blu-Ray as an extra.)

Another bright spot in the cast: Colin Jeavons as Max Quordlepleen, the host at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. He was the villainous Tim Stamper in the original House of Cards and also appeared in The Avengers, Doctor Who and a lot of other things.

The original radio series was by far the best version.

I thought the fly swatter idea was clever. It's the Vogon home planet, so there's an explanation of how the Vogons got to be mindless bureaucrats.

Houston PBS introduced me to the ‘81 version as well as Dr. Who just after I started reading the Hitchhiker’s books; loved it all. I first went on Amazon to get a DVD of the ‘81 because that was the video I wanted to gain the most; dumped my copy of the ‘05 at Goodwill recently; it was always missing something at its core and was just filler on the shelf.

My grandad had this series on VHS when he recorded it when it shown on tv, and it was a great introduction to this universe. One of my favourite series and the film was such a disapointment

This got me to watch this and experience Hitchhikers guide, and I adored it

42 in ASCII code is the number for the asterisk. Which, as we know, is used as a wild-card for everything. So my head-canon is that the answer being 42 is perfectly valid, as the Meaning of Life, The Universe & Everything is whatever you want it to be ;).

"42" is the correct answer to the question "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" if you use base 13. However, Douglas Adams always maintained that he chose the number at random. The 'Ultimate Question' would have been calculated by the supercomputer designed by Deep Thought were it not for two events. The arrival of the Golgafrinchans after eight million years which disrupted the computational matrix and the destruction of the supercomputer (the Earth) five minutes before it was due to complete its program by the Vogons.

I'm glad you mentioned the theme. They just don't do themes the way they did in the old days. Hitchhiker's Guide, Star Trek, Taxi, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Lost in Space, Mission Impossible - there was a beauty and simplicity that seems to have left us.

I watched this great tv series earlier this week, I did watch It when It first was on tv, It Is brilliant, always was the best version.

Brilliant. I remember watching this series on PBS. Long before we had a VCR I put my tape recorder beside the TV and recorded several episodes which I listened to for years afterwards. I was completely in love with Trillian and Zaphod is part of my personality now. I bought the series off iTunes some years ago and watch it quite a bit. Top notch. Don't Panic!

Ford, You're turning into a penguin. Stop it. A line that should be used more often in causal conversation.

in this episode peter jones was the book, simon jones was arthur dent and martin benson was the vogon captain. the program was written by Douglass adams and produced by simon brett at the radio phonics workshop with the assistance of a small furry creature from the crab nebula

This has been a favorite since it first aired.

It’s a tough universe. You really need to know where your towel is...

I own this in DVD and love it. I watched it back in the day on PBS and couldn't ever forget it so when I found it at a resale shop about a decade ago I couldn't pass it up

Totally awesome show - have the DVD Boxset, love it and have re-watched too many times to count.

This is my favorite version aside from the book, also. The radio play is special to me because I stumbled onto it one day during a family outing but the TV version just has a sparkle to it.

cheers for making this because my generation has barely even heard of hitchiker's let alone read any of the books or watched the 1981 tv series. to gen z it is a hidden sci-fi gem without a doubt

Paradox, in your video you have done exactly the same thing as THGTTG. You analysed, disected, rated and berated, then asked WHY after knowing HOW + WHY. Good video

i grew up on the BBC series and have associate so much head-canon with what they had presented in it, from music to characters to the book's narrator. i've spread it (and general love of Hitchhiker's Guide) that when i went to see the 2005 movie (with towel in hand), i was surprised to hear so many different people in different areas of the theater shout out my name and generally greet me with enthusiasm. After the movie, i had a gathering of about 30 or so people (none of whom i went to the theater with) clustering around me to hear my thoughts. And i agree with you on a lot of the points. Most of the actors understood Hitchhiker's Guide, but the director/producer didn't. Similarly, you can tell that at least some of the crew got it as well, with a lot of the nods/fan service for the series. At this point, i seemed to have blathered on enough, so wonderful sci fi analysis as always.

I'd say this video was "mostly" harmless

The computer Deep Thought is the iconic representation of computers with a screen (visual display unit).

I wanted to say thanks. I had completely forgotten about the 1981 TV series. I had taped it off of PBS in the early 90s. I always prefered the audiobook to the series but I am now rewatching it thanks to this video.

Hi Rowan. Thanks for the retrospective. It has made me look at the TV series with more repsect than when I first saw it. However. David Dixon, who would have been a great Doctor was not Ford Prefect. Geoffrey McGivern was the voice that pulled me into the radio version. Coming across as a pleasant drunk with an eye for the easy life and a determination to not be phased by anything. For example in the airlock. "No, wait what's this. No we are going to die" is a brilliant line brilliantly delivered. Not one of the other versions nails it. Also the greatest ever pause in comedy history was Geoffrey playing either Loonquawl or Phouchg responding to Deep Thought's answer of 42. Followed with the deathless line "We are going to get lynched" in a way that suggests that things are so bad that this might be the best possible way to go. If I could use computer technology for good rather than evil then I would deep fake Geoffrey into every scene. Sorry Mr Dixon, I know that you are a great actor but that's just the way it is.

A nice tidbit (IMO) is that Hotblack Desiato's bodyguard is none other than Darth Vader himself, David Prowse.

Absolutely one of my favorites!