British Comedy Guide
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Arthur Dent (Simon Jones)
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Two
  • 1981
  • 6 episodes (1 series)

Television adaptation of the highly successful sci-fi radio sitcom and comic novel, created by Douglas Adams. Also features Simon Jones, David Dixon, Sandra Dickinson, Mark Wing-Davey, David Learner and more.

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Episode menu

Series 1, Episode 6 - Fit The Sixth

Marvin reveals that he knows the ultimate question to life, the universe and everything, but can tell that no ones really interested as the crew discover the purpose of the hijacked ship and hurriedly make plans of escape. After escaping, Ford and Arthur materialise in a very cold room full of dead telephone sanitisers, hairdressers and marketing executives and are promptly discovered and taken prisoner. A conversation with the captain reveals that the ship they have materialised on will soon be crashing into a small, prehistoric blue-green planet and a quick spot of adventuring leads Ford and Arthur to discover one of the biggest cock-ups in galactic history...

Further details

Everyone worries about what is going on in the ship they have stolen. They learn from Marvin that the ship, owned by rock band Disaster Area, is going to crash into a sun as part of their act. With no other course for them, Arthur, Ford, Zaphod and Trillian flee via an escape pod, leaving Marvin to survive on his own.

Arthur and Ford land on another spaceship, seperating from Zaphod and Trillian. This ship belongs to the Golgafrinchams. Meeting the captain in his bath, they claim the ship is one of three 'Arcs' sent to leave their doomed planet. Their arc contains all the 'middle men', whereas the others contain the workers and the rulers. In reality, the Golgafrinchams just wanted to get rid of a useless bunch of middle men. However, the plan backfired when the rest of the Golgafrinchams died of an illness caused by a dirty telephone.

The ship crash lands on their new home planet, which turns out to be Earth... two million years in the past. The Golgafrinchams arrival results in the experiment being carried out by the mice being voided. Arthur and Ford then attempt to find the Ultimate Question by drawing letters from a Scrabble bag. They come up with, "What do you get if you multiply six by nine."

Broadcast details

Date
Monday 9th February 1981
Time
9pm
Channel
BBC Two
Length
30 minutes

Cast & crew

Cast
Simon Jones Arthur Dent
David Dixon Ford Prefect
Sandra Dickinson Trillian
Mark Wing-Davey Zaphod Beeblebrox
David Learner Marvin
Stephen Moore Marvin (Voice)
Peter Jones The Book (Voice)
Guest cast
Rayner Bourton Newscaster
Aubrey Morris Captain
Matthew Scurfield Number One
David Neville Number Two
Geoffrey Beevers Number Three
Beth Porter Marketing Girl
David Rowlands Hairdresser
Jon Glover Management Consultant
Writing team
Douglas Adams Writer
Production team
Alan J. W. Bell Director
Alan J. W. Bell Producer
John Lloyd Associate Producer
Ian Williams Editor
Glenn Hyde Editor
Andrew Howe-Davies Production Designer
Dee Robson Costume Designer
Bernie Leadon Composer
Paddy Kingsland Composer
Tom Yardley-Jones Production Designer

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