The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Seventeen and a half million years ago, a race of hyper-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings set out to solve the meaning of existence and find the answer to life, the universe and everything. To this end they constructed a giant super computer which took seven and a half million years to come up with the answer that was not quite what was expected. But what has this got to do with Arthur? And why are a pair of mice so interested in his brain? The crew attempt to make it back to the Heart of Gold but are obstructed by two "sensitive new-age" policemen and thus find themselves next to a very inconveniently placed explosion...

Slartibartfast takes Arthur to his study and shows him a film which explains the story behind the quest to find 'The Ultimate Question'.

The story begins with a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings creating a super-computer called 'Deep Thought' to calculate the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe and Everything. After 7.5 million years, it announces the answer - 42.

Deep Thought then explained that in order to find the Ultimate Question, that would explain the Ultimate Answer, an even larger computer needed to be built. 'Deep Thought' called this 'The Earth'... and it turns out The Vogons demolished this 'computer' just five minutes before the final question was due to be given.

Arthur and Slartibartfast then meet up with Ford, Zaphod and Trillian, who are unharmed after their attack. They also meet Trillian's mice, who reveal themselves to be two of the pan-dimensional beings that designed the experiment. They cannot be bothered to go through the whole experiment again and so decide not to build a second Earth.

Their discussion is interrupted by the police looking to arrest Zaphod. Arthur, Ford, Zaphod and Trillian try to confront the police, but they are shot at.