If you thought the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy had been released in every conceivable medium, you were wrong!
Happy Towel Day, you hoopy froods! To celebrate, BBC Studios has announced a limited edition vinyl release of the Primary Phase of Douglas Adams’ lauded radio series.
The first radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – where the story originated in 1978 before being adapted into books, a TV series and regrettably a feature film – will hit shelves on 24th August 2018.
Digital Watches
Along with the heavyweight red vinyl record, the release will also come with a sleeve note penned by author Neil Gaiman. Writer of ‘American Gods’ and ‘Neverwhere’, Gaiman cites Douglas Adams as one of his inspirations. An exclusive Amazon edition will also come with artwork prints signed by Gaiman, limited to 500 copies. The Primary Phase will come with a brand new ‘Making Of’ feature produced by Adams biographer Jem Roberts. Subsequent volumes of the radio series (not including this year’s sixth or Hexagonal Phase) are due to be released over the next year. Each featuring an essay by Roberts and a sleeve note by a different author influenced by the works of Douglas Adams.
“It makes me strangely happy that the original radio show is going to be available on vinyl,” said Gaiman.
Galactic Stars
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Primary Phase stars Peter Jones as The Book (the eponymous guide), Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Susan Sheridan as Trillian & Stephen Moore as Marvin.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Primary Phase can be preordered at the links below:
If you’ve never heard the radio series before…or you’ve never read the books or seen the TV series. Or, worse yet, you have seen the 2005 film starring Martin Freeman! Ahem…this is a really good place to start. Doctor Who fans will be familiar with Douglas Adams from his time as script editor and writer in the late ’70s. It should come as no surprise that his work on Hitchhiker’s developed in parallel with his experience on Who. Adams even used some rejected ideas for Doctor Who in his later books. Recently, writer James Goss adapted some of these into a Doctor Who novel.
