The 1981 TV adaption of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is to be re-released on the 1st October 2018 on DVD and Blu-ray, remastered and up- scaled and with a wealth of new bonus content for fans to enjoy.
The release, from BBC Studios, comes in two formats, the first a Special Edition in both Blu-ray and DVD, and the second a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray that comes in retro VHS-style packaging and includes a collector’s art card as well as a 24-page behind-the-scenes booklet written by producer Kevin Jon Davies. Both formats contain a wealth of new bonus content listed below.
In 1978, Douglas Adams united the worlds of science fiction and comedy when BBC Radio broadcast The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Three years later BBC Two aired the television adaption which starred some of the original radio cast, including Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod), Stephen Moore (Marvin) and Peter Jones (The Book).
BFI Southbank will host a special fan screening of this title on Saturday 22nd September. Tickets and further information can be found here.
Brand new ‘Special Features’ exclusive to this set include:
Mostly Hand-Drawn (HD animation feature)
Life, the Universe and Clapperboards (HD Live action)
Animator Rod Lord’s BAFTA award-winning graphic sequences from the TV series are presented in HD for the first time, allowing a more detailed appreciation of Babel Fish guts, Deep Thought’s equations and Vogon sex.
Unique behind-the-scenes footage from the rehearsal rooms and the studio floor, showing the cast and crew grappling with the scenery, the props and the text of the Hitchhiker TV series.
The earliest known filmed interview with Douglas Adams, talking about his awkward childhood.
Douglas Adams talks about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Game on BBC2's Micro Live. Originally broadcast on 8th March 1985.
BBC Breakfast welcomed Arthur Dent (Simon Jones) to their sofa on Towel Day 2012 to plug the theatrical summer tour of The Hitchhiker’s Guide Radio Show Live.
Ten Short Films From the personal archives of producer, Kevin Davies, featuring Douglas Adams and imagery from the TV series and elsewhere. Includes two exclusive reports on the movie from the World premiere in Leicester Square.
Online trailer for Radio 4 - the latest (and possibly final series ever) of Hitchhiker in its original medium, is based on the 2009 novel by Eoin Colfer with snippets of unpublished material from Douglas Adams’ archives. The surviving members of the original cast plus guests such as Lenny Henry and Ed Byrne, gathered in October 2017 to record the series which premiered in March 2018 on Radio 4.
The Radio Times magazine announced their first and only Hitchhiker cover article in this televised trailer for the second radio series, featuring a super-intelligent shade of the colour blue, plus unique narration by Peter Jones.
The first public glimpse of the new TV series was during this Nationwide clip when presenter Sue Cook interviewed Douglas Adams.
The Paranoid Android launched his 1981 bid for pop stardom on the Children’s TV favourite Blue Peter and then told the presenters how he didn’t even want to talk about it.
A quaint book programme where host Robert Kee makes plain directly to Douglas Adams’ face, his obvious disregard for the author’s second novel.
BBC Engineering film - The proto-digital world of audio production is examined here in a technical explanation of the BBC’s latest SYPHER dubbing suite, featuring the BAFTA-winning sound supervisor Mike McCarthy at work on Hitchhiker.
Douglas Adams explains to Minnette Marin his ideas for interactive CD-Rom audio drama, while in Birmingham, the fans gather for a Hitchhiker-themed games convention.
The surviving members of the radio cast re-assembled in 2003 for the long overdue radio adaptation of the third Hitchhiker book, Life, The Universe And Everything.
The inimitable original voice of Marvin was brought back to life by Stephen Moore for the Tertiary Phase in 2003, when he shared swamp duties with a mattress called Zem.
A star-studded trailer for the Quandary and Quintessential Phases radio series based on the fourth and fifth Hitchhiker novels. The audio for the box set includes original mono, 1981 Stereo, 2018 Stereo and 5.1
Order here.
