Misplaced Pages

#243756

99-634: These radio series consisted of a total of twenty episodes, following on from the twelve episodes from the original two series ( the Primary and Secondary Phases ) which originally aired in 1978 and 1980. The producers chose not to continue the ordinal sequence established by the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary phases. If they had done so, the fourth, fifth and sixth series would have been termed quaternary, quinary and senary. Humorously, they chose "Quandary", which means "dilemma", "Quintessential", which today means "the most perfect example of something" (although

198-530: A starship . They have been picked up by the Starship Heart of Gold , which has been stolen by Ford's semi-cousin, President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox. The Heart of Gold works on a basis of infinite improbability, allowing its drive to do anything for which the improbability factor is known. Also onboard are Trillian (Tricia McMillan), also from Earth, who met Arthur once, and depressed Marvin . As

297-537: A 5.1 surround mix. The disc contains as extras: the full version of the Krikkit Song, a photogallery, the original online and radio trailers, the appearance of the series on Pick of the Week, and thirty minutes of behind the scenes video in five short segments. Since the opening of the third book starts at the same place and time (prehistoric Earth) as the opening of the second radio series, the entire Secondary Phase

396-417: A bath towel from Marks and Spencer . Ford is approximately 200 years old, as supported by the books. When, in the first novel, Zaphod steals the spaceship Heart of Gold , it is on Zaphod's two-hundredth birthday. It is later mentioned that Ford and Zaphod attended school together, even having some of the same classes, which would indicate that they are roughly the same age. He had originally planned to spend

495-400: A bit on his preparatory research," and thought that the name "Ford Prefect" would be "nicely inconspicuous." The Ford Prefect was a popular British car manufactured from 1938 to 1961, and Adams later clarified in an interview that Ford "had simply mistaken the dominant life form" of Earth. This was expanded on somewhat in the film version, where Ford is almost run over while attempting to greet

594-519: A blue Ford Prefect. He is saved by Arthur and, in the film version of events, this is how the pair meet (this meeting also prompting Ford to rescue Arthur in particular when the Vogons come to destroy Earth). The graphics in the TV series provide a similar explanation by listing a sequence of names including 'Ford', beginning with director John Ford , Arthur Ford , news reader Anna Ford , carmaker Henry Ford ,

693-541: A computer that can, and names it, "Earth". Slartibartfast explains that this computer was built by the Magratheans, and that the Vogons came and destroyed it five minutes before it was due to complete its run. The mice summon Arthur and Slartibartfast to a meeting room, where they have discussed a proposal with Zaphod, Ford and Trillian. The mice believe that as last-generation products of the computer matrix, Arthur and Trillian should be in an ideal position to find out

792-619: A cup of tea. A fourth and fifth series based on So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless respectively follow. The names for these series were chosen because they sound "less daunting, more memorable and are a bit easier to spell" than the standard terms quaternary and quinary . While these were treated as the fourth and fifth Hitchhiker's Guide radio series, they were broadcast in one eight-week stretch in May and June 2005. The tradition of "Fits" continues; these were known as Fit

891-527: A dud, because Hactar had decided that any possible consequence of making it a dud would be better than it actually being used. The Silastic Armorfiends were unimpressed with this and destroyed Hactar, and later themselves. They arrive at the asteroid, but too late to do anything but watch. The Krikkit robots place the key into the Wikkit Gate, revealing Krikkit. As the robots from the escaped Krikkit ship leave their ship, they notice that Zaphod Beeblebrox

990-465: A final, sixth series in 2018. The following article is a list of episodes from the Primary and Secondary Phases. For information on its production, see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . The first radio series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March and April 1978. It was split into episodes, known as "Fits" (an archaic term for a section of a poem revived by Lewis Carroll for The Hunting of

1089-493: A junior crew member notices that Earth has re-appeared. He is overridden by the captain, Jeltz, who declares that he saw it destroyed himself. Meanwhile, Ford is stuck in a bar with a large bill, which he avoids paying by promising to write an entry for the bar in the Guide. On the streets, he is asked by a hooker whether he is "rich", and says that he might be—being owed several years back pay for writing two words. He shows

SECTION 10

#1732786833244

1188-487: A particularly long volley of fire, the computer bank they are hiding behind explodes, and the episode ends. Music : A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley ; Moon City from In Search of Ancient Gods by Absolute Elsewhere; Mikrophonie I by Stockhausen . Cast Arthur, Ford, Trillian and Zaphod wake up in a strange place, and assume it must be the afterlife. It becomes apparent however that in fact it

1287-583: A party, to locate the Silver Bail. Ford disagrees with this objective but agrees with the concept of going to a party. They teleport from the ship. Arthur does not materialise with Ford and Slartibartfast, but elsewhere, in a gloomy room, with signs such as "DO NOT BE ALARMED. BE VERY VERY FRIGHTENED, ARTHUR DENT". The episode ends on a cliff-hanger, with the previously unintroduced character of Agrajag saying "Bet you weren't expecting to see me again." The episode includes several Guide interludes, notably

1386-933: A single week in January 1980. Trillian is entirely missing from this series. Her fate is addressed in Fit the Seventh, that she had effected an escape but had then been forcibly married to the President of the Algolian chapter of the Galactic Rotary Club. The character returns in The Tertiary Phase , where she dismisses most of the events of the Secondary Phase as having been one of Zaphod's "psychotic episodes." Cast The episode opens in

1485-484: A spaceship, hidden by a " Somebody Else's Problem field ", hidden behind a screen. The game finishes, with England winning the Ashes, and Slartibartfast joins Arthur and Ford. Slartibartfast explains that he has arrived because "something terrible is about to happen". He walks to the centre of the cricket pitch, and asks to be given the Ashes saying that they are "vitally important for the past, present and future safety of

1584-517: A strange bowl, bearing the inscription "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish". He phones his boss at the BBC to explain that he has been absent due to going mad and would return to work when hedgehogs come out of hibernation (plus a few minutes to have a shave). The Hitchhiker%27s Guide to the Galaxy Primary and Secondary Phases The terms Primary Phase and Secondary Phase describe

1683-421: A threat of attack by missiles from the planet, Arthur comes to meet planet designer Slartibartfast on Magrathea. Arthur recognizes the latter's latest project as a copy of Earth. Slartibartfast explains that the original Earth had been destroyed five minutes too early, and they are constructing a replacement. The original Earth, which Arthur and Trillian came from, had been commissioned by some mice in order to find

1782-574: A week on Earth doing research for the Guide , but wound up being stranded there for 15 years prior to helping Arthur escape the planet when the Vogons demolish it. At the end of the final novel in the series, Mostly Harmless , Ford is apparently vaporised along with all the other main characters when the Vogons once again destroy the Earth. It is hinted, however, that he and the others may have survived. In

1881-469: A whole artificial universe. Zaphod Beeblebrox is a hitch-hiker on the freighter, and as he listens to the radio, he hears a report that he has died, by being eaten by a Haggunenon. The manner of his escape is left unclear. Meanwhile, Arthur and Ford are stuck in Earth's pre-history, drunk. As they discuss their predicament, they notice a spaceship half-appearing in front of them. They celebrate their rescue, and it vanishes. Eventually they deduce that this

1980-670: Is Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, which is located in the far future at the moment that the universe ends. They dine, but are interrupted by a telephone call from Marvin. A waiter explains that the Restaurant was in fact constructed in the ruins of Magrathea. Meanwhile, Marvin has been waiting on the surface of the planet. After he whines somewhat, the four go down to the car park (where Marvin has been parking cars), and meet up with Marvin. Ford and Zaphod are transfixed by

2079-487: Is a time paradox, and they need to figure out how to signal the ship in the future so they can be rescued. Following this is the Guide's entry on the subject of towels, making its first appearance. On the ship, Zaphod explains to the crewmember that he is going to Ursa Minor Beta to find out what he's doing. He received a message from himself the previous night, telling him to see Zarniwoop in order to learn something to his disadvantage. Zaphod then explains how he escaped -

SECTION 20

#1732786833244

2178-454: Is able to take down the address, Prak dies. After this, they return to Lord's Cricket Ground, on Earth, after the Krikkit robot attack, to return the Ashes. In the destruction, Arthur is unable to find anyone to return the Ashes to. He notes that he is at Lord's, and one of his ambitions was always to bowl at Lord's. He still has the ball he caught last time he was there, he decides to bowl

2277-402: Is about to end. After Arthur and Ford return to the ruins of Arthur's house, a fleet of Vogon Constructor Ships arrives in the sky, and Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz broadcasts an announcement that they are to demolish the Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Panic ensues. Ford uses his "electronic thumb" to hitch a lift onto one of the ships, taking Arthur with him, just moments before the Earth

2376-568: Is described as being able to smile in a way that would "send hitherto sane men scampering into the trees". In his role as guide to the universe for the often bewildered everyman Arthur Dent, he serves to link the disparate elements of the story together. As well as rescuing Arthur, he introduces him to the other major characters – such as Zaphod, Trillian and Marvin the Paranoid Android – and to numerous mind-boggling concepts, from "teasers" (an explanation of UFO sightings on Earth) to

2475-540: Is destroyed. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, after the Vogon Captain tortures them by reading them some of his poetry , before ejecting them into space. Music : " Journey of the Sorcerer " from One of These Nights by The Eagles ; Lontano by György Ligeti ; A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley ; Volumina by György Ligeti . Cast Arthur and Ford Prefect are rescued after 29 seconds, by

2574-427: Is flying as well, and Ford and Slartibartfast are on a ledge around the building, not being permitted entry due to the lack of a bottle. Arthur remembers that his bag contains a bottle of Retsina , and this gets them entry. They see Trillian and Thor at the party, where Thor is chatting Trillian up. They quiz people trying to find the Silver Bail, and discover that it has been instantiated as an award (a Rory) for

2673-448: Is on a swamp on Sqornshellous Zeta, conversing with the native life-forms, mattresses. He is circling around and around on one leg, while his artificial (i.e. replacement) leg is stuck in the swamp. Arthur and Ford arrive at Lord's Cricket Ground on the sofa that they had caught in the previous episode. They have arrived in the final Test match in the Ashes , in the middle of the field. A policeman apprehends them, and they retire to

2772-560: Is once again making conversation with a mattress. A similar ship to before arrives, and white robots get out and take Marvin's one remaining leg. After a brief while, they return and decide to take all of Marvin instead. Slartibartfast shows Ford and Arthur an Informational Illusion about the Krikkit Wars and the Wikkit Gate, and that the game of cricket on Earth is a "racial memory" of the Wars. Investigating further, they discover that

2871-500: Is revealed as "WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU MULTIPLY SIX BY NINE". The episode ends as they decide to rejoin the Golgafrincham colony, and lament the inevitable eventual destruction of the Earth. The regular ending music is replaced with " What a Wonderful World " by Louis Armstrong . Music : Oxygène by Jean Michel Jarre ; Volumina by György Ligeti ; Volkstanz from Einsteig by Gruppe Between . What became "Fit

2970-502: Is still a terminal disease in some parts of the Universe). At school, he was nicknamed "Ix," which translates as "boy who is not able to satisfactorily explain what a Hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven". Despite all this, his cousin (in the film, TV series, and radio show they are said to share three of the same mothers) Zaphod Beeblebrox calls him "Ford" the first time they are reunited in all versions of

3069-625: Is still finding much of it, particularly frogs and Arthur Dent, hilarious. They ask him if he knows the Question to the Ultimate Answer of 42. He explains that knowledge of the Question and the Answer are mutually exclusive and that if both were to be known the universe would be replaced by something more bizarre and inexplicable. However, he does have the address of God's Last Message to his Creation, which he gives to them, but before Arthur

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary to Hexagonal Phases - Misplaced Pages Continue

3168-498: Is unclear what colour it should be), and a documentary about the native cave-men of the planet, who have started to die out since the arrival of the Golgafrinchams. Ford explains that they had done some research on the planet, and that it will last only two million years (but not why - because it is the pre-history of the Earth, and is thus due to be destroyed by the Vogons in two million years time). Arthur attempts to teach

3267-555: Is with them, who gets knocked out by the Krikkitmen, who then proceed to actually destroy the lock. Zaphod explains that they had brought him on their ship, but had not killed him; but not for any obvious reason. Zaphod comes with the others on Slartibartfast's ship, where Slartibartfast announces that they have no choice but to go down to the surface of Krikkit. Arthur had recovered two items—the Golden Bail, in order to allow

3366-525: The Captain (who is taking a bath in a large bathtub in the bridge, and has been for several years). He reluctantly grants permission to Number Two to interrogate Arthur and Ford, and asks him to find out what they want to drink. Conversing with the Captain, they discover that the bodies are not, as they believed, dead, but frozen. They are intending to colonise another planet, because their original planet

3465-681: The Ford Anglia , the Ford Consul with the final name Ford Prefect being selected. Adams later observed that this joke was lost on United States audiences who assumed it was a typing error for "perfect." In some versions, such as the French ( Le Guide Galactique ) and the Greek ( Γυρίστε τον Γαλαξία με Ωτοστόπ ), Ford's name was changed to "Ford Escort". In the Dutch translation, the car reference

3564-592: The Heart of Gold to work once more, and more importantly, the Ashes of the Wooden Pillar. Zaphod returns to the Heart of Gold , and asks Trillian whether she wishes to come with him—she declines. Arthur, Ford, Trillian and Slartibartfast finally land on Krikkit, where they notice that there are hundreds of floating buildings and warships above the surface. They are soon apprehended by some Krikkitmen, who ask them if they are aliens. The Krikkitmen ask them about

3663-529: The Heart of Gold , Zaphod Beeblebrox hears the noise of thousands of people saying "Wop". He intercepts them on the bridge, where he is told they want the "Golden Bail", the ship's Infinite Improbability Drive. They take it, shoot him, and leave. Back on Slartibartfast's ship, Ford and Arthur watch the Krikkit War Crimes Trial, presided over by Judiciary Pag . Pag's sentence is that Krikkit will be locked in an envelope of "Slo-Time", until

3762-454: The Heart of Gold , without Marvin. Zaphod is extremely hung over, and upset that Trillian is dismissing the events of The Secondary Phase as a "psychotic episode". Trillian wishes to do something and is getting increasingly annoyed at Zaphod. After preparing a fabulous meal, and Zaphod still refusing to come out of the bathroom, she teleports away, telling the ship to "transport me the hell out of Zaphod Beeblebrox's life." Meanwhile, Marvin

3861-547: The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything . It did, after seven and a half million years, have the answer to the Ultimate Question, a rather disappointing 42 . Deep Thought explains that this is only disappointing because they never really understood what the Question was. They ask the computer if he can find out what the Ultimate Question is. Deep Thought cannot, but promises to design

3960-654: The " Ultimate Question ". Notes : For copyright reasons, many versions of this episode remove the Pink Floyd played by Marvin and Arthur's reference to it. Music : Kotakomben from Einsteig by Gruppe Between ; Space Theme from Go by Go ; Continuum by György Ligeti ; Oxygène by Jean Michel Jarre ; That's Entertainment ; Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd *; Rock and Roll Music by The Beatles *; Wind On Water from Evening Star by Fripp and Eno ; Over Fire Island from Another Green World by Brian Eno * denotes music from

4059-439: The " balance of nature ". They express concern that the plan of universal destruction would upset the balance of nature, and also would stop them from having sporting links with the rest of the Galaxy. The leader of the group, in private, explains to Trillian they have a bomb, that can destroy everything that exists, and cries about this. Aware of the cliche, Trillian asks him to "take me to your leader", who resides "up there" in

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary to Hexagonal Phases - Misplaced Pages Continue

4158-470: The Cathedral of Hate, to which he had been diverted, by running into a passageway in the mountain. He notes that he has somehow ended up with the wrong bag—one he lost on Earth many years ago. He trips, and falls, only to discover that he is flying. He experiments with flying for a while, only to be hit in the small of the back by the party which Ford and Slartibartfast are attempting to enter. The party

4257-422: The Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass at the start of the story – is often expository, as Ford is an experienced galactic hitchhiker and explains that he is actually an alien journalist, a field researcher for the titular Guide itself, and not an out-of-work actor from Guildford as he had claimed. Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth society, he had "skimped

4356-444: The Galaxy". Another spaceship arrives. Eleven white robots, carrying bats, and wearing rocket pads on their shins (dressed like cricketers), come suddenly out, and start attacking the spectators and players with their bats, using them to hit grenade-like explosives at the humans present. They take the Ashes, say "we declare", and go back into their ship. Ford and Arthur catch a lift with Slartibartfast on his ship. Meanwhile, Marvin

4455-534: The Haggunenon turned into an escape capsule before it got the chance to eat him. Zaphod arrives at the Hitchhiker's offices, and demands to see Zarniwoop, but is given the same excuses as before. After revealing his identity, he is directed to Zarniwoop's office, and meets up with Marvin, who had also survived and coincidentally arrived at the same place. After Marvin persuades the lift to take them upwards,

4554-407: The Hitchhiker's offices on Ursa Minor Beta, with a receptionist claiming that Zarniwoop , the editor of the guide, is too busy to take a call because he is both in his office, and on an intergalactic cruise. It then moves to the bridge of a megafreighter that is due to land on Ursa Minor Beta. A crewmember denounces the Hitchhiker's Guide for being soft, and notes that he has heard they have created

4653-465: The Krikkit mainframe and is being used as its central computer, hence depressing the robots, and making them unable to kill Zaphod. Marvin shows Zaphod CCTV of Trillian talking to the Elders of Krikkit. Trillian is explaining that Krikkit's history is a sequence of contrived coincidences that was set up in order to provoke a race into wanting to destroy the universe. She points out their ultimate weapon,

4752-569: The Krikkitmen . The idea was re-proposed during Tom Baker 's tenure in the title role, and again for a potential (but unmade) second television series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . Before the final episode was broadcast, BBC Worldwide released the Tertiary Phase on CD , including additional material. A DVD of the series was released on 2 October 2006 in the UK. This marks the first commercial release of any BBC radio programme in

4851-467: The Krikkitmen, a previously peaceful people, built their first spaceship in a year, after a spaceship landed on their planet. The planet and its sun had been previously obscured in a dust cloud that left the Krikkitmen unaware of the existence or even possibility of existence of stars. It is considered remarkable that they constructed a working ship in just a year. After they saw the rest of the universe existed, they decided to annihilate it. Meanwhile, on

4950-601: The Most Gratuitous Use Of The Word Fuck In A Serious Screenplay. Before they are actually able to find it, the Krikkit robots appear, massacre the party-goers and take the Silver Bail. Arthur tricks Thor into walking out of the building by challenging him to fight, leaving Trillian with no choice but to come with them. The Krikkitmen now have all the parts of the Wikkit Key, and Slartibartfast notes that their next move must be to go to

5049-597: The Nineteenth through Fit the Twenty-Sixth. The manner of broadcasting these episodes carries over from the Tertiary Phase: the original broadcast was on Tuesday, with a Thursday repeat (with the exception of Fit the Nineteenth, which was not repeated due to election coverage). After the initial Tuesday broadcast, audio streams of the episode were available until the following Tuesday. For these final phases,

SECTION 50

#1732786833244

5148-431: The Question, and offer to make them "extremely rich" if they can do so. (In later versions this would be replaced with the mice wishing to extract Arthur's brain). The negotiations are interrupted by the arrival of a Galactic Police ship, pursuing Zaphod for his theft of the Heart of Gold . The Police confront Arthur, Ford, Trillian and Zaphod, and shoot at them, whilst explaining that they find violence upsetting. After

5247-400: The Seventh" actually started as a "Christmas Special" episode, and an early draft included a reference to the holiday, though the episode, as transmitted, does not. Five further episodes, to complete the second series (later retitled "The Secondary Phase") were commissioned in May 1979. These final five episodes (the last on radio until 2004) were 'stripped,' or broadcast on each of five days in

5346-618: The Snark ). The original series comprised Fit the First to Fit the Sixth. Fits the Fifth and Sixth were co-written by John Lloyd ; subsequent versions of the story omit most of Lloyd's material. The success of the series encouraged Adams to adapt it into a novel , which was based on the first four Fits and released in the second week of October 1979. A slightly contracted double LP re-recording of

5445-542: The Thirteenth of the radio series disguised as the Book's speech-generation system changing as part of updates to the Guide from the publisher; David Tate (died 1996), who played a multitude of minor roles in the two original radio series including Eddie, the Heart of Gold's computer. Bill Wallis , who played the roles of Mr Prosser and Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz in the original series, was not available. Toby Longworth took

5544-477: The Wikkit Gate itself and try to intervene. The episode opens with a Guide entry about the Silastic Armorfiends, a very aggressive species, who apparently were the first race ever to shock a computer, by asking it ( Hactar ) to design the "Ultimate Weapon". Hactar designed one, a small bomb which would destroy every sun in the universe by connecting them in hyperspace. However, it turned out to be

5643-556: The airlock into it. There, they meet Hactar, who explains that when the Silastic Armorfiends tried to destroy him, they failed, and because of his cellular nature, he was eventually able to coalesce sufficiently to influence things. In the long years he grew to regret his decision to make the bomb a dud. He created the dust cloud around Krikkit and also the fake wrecked spacecraft that provoked them to develop spaceflight. He knows they are going to destroy them, and they do. His final words are "I have fulfilled my function..." They have in

5742-429: The ball at the batsman standing at the wicket. Mid-run, Ford points out that "it's not an England batsman, it's a Krikkit robot", and that the ball is probably a supernova bomb, and not a dud. He finds himself unable to stop running and bowls anyway. It goes wide, and Ford catches the ball, the universe being saved by Arthur's poor bowling. Arthur decapitates the robot with its own bat, and then expresses his desire for

5841-488: The building starts to shake, due to it being bombed. Zaphod is met by Roosta, who blames the bombing on Zaphod failing to conceal his presence on the planet adequately. A Frogstar Robot class D soon arrives to come and get Zaphod. Zaphod orders Marvin to stop it (which he does, by tricking it into destroying the floor it is standing on), whilst Zaphod and Roosta escape into the pocket universe in Zarniwoop's office. From

5940-517: The cave-men Scrabble , in order to try to stop the Golgafrinchams supplanting them. The cave-man spells out "FORTY TWO" on the scrabble board, and Ford and Arthur realise that the program must have gone wrong because of the arrival of the Golgafrinchams. They decide to use the same technique (of choosing scrabble letters) randomly to find out what the question in Arthur's brainwave patterns is, although it might be wrong anyway. The question in his brain

6039-670: The chair. The second-in-command, who now looks like a shoebox, assumes that Trillian is the Admiral. They look up the name "Haggunenon", spoken by the second-in-command, in the Guide, and discover that they are a race of xenophobic shape-shifters. They realise that the Admiral is in fact on the ship, but had shapeshifted. It becomes a "carbon copy" of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. The group split up, Arthur and Ford taking one escape capsule and Zaphod and Trillian attempting to take another. Arthur notices that

SECTION 60

#1732786833244

6138-409: The character of Trillian until the Tertiary Phase. The spaceship to which Ford and Arthur have teleported, marked as "Golgafrincham Ark Fleet, Ship B" is filled with bodies, such as frozen telephone sanitisers, hairdressers, and advertising account executives. Whilst inspecting the bodies, they are captured by Number Two, the third-in-command of the ship, who takes them to the bridge. Here, they meet

6237-425: The control panels lighting up suddenly and the ship coming out of hyperspace. They realise they are outside of the galaxy, and part of an intergalactic battle fleet. Music : Melodien by György Ligeti ; The Engulfed Cathedral from Snowflakes are Dancing by Isao Tomita ; A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley ; Wind on Water from Evening Star by Fripp and Eno . Cast The episode opens with

6336-428: The core cast (Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern, Mark Wing-Davey, Susan Sheridan and Stephen Moore) returned, along with William Franklyn as the new voice of The Book (assisted by Rula Lenska). In addition, David Dixon, Sandra Dickinson, Bill Paterson, Roy Hudd and Jonathan Pryce, who had roles in the TV adaptation or the original radio series, all returned, though Dixon and Paterson both play new roles. The "Quandary Phase"

6435-613: The episode ends, Eddie the Shipboard Computer that the ship is moving into orbit around the legendary planet of Magrathea. Notes : First appearance of Marvin the Paranoid Android , Trillian , Eddie the computer , Gag Halfrunt , and Zaphod Beeblebrox . Music : "Wind on Water" from Evening Star by Fripp and Eno ; A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley ; Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band by Terry Riley ; Cachuaca by Patrick Moraz . Cast After

6534-478: The events of the Secondary Phase), on the day, four years after he last saw Ford Prefect , that Ford arrives back. Ford carries news that he has detected disturbances in the "space-time wash", and that they might be able to escape. The disturbance turns out to be an old sofa, which materialises in a field. They chase the sofa as it runs off, and then are transported elsewhere. Zaphod and Trillian are on

6633-415: The extraordinary usefulness of towels. Ford's other chief characteristic is his constant pursuit of an alcohol-fueled good time (in contrast to Arthur's quest for a cup of tea). Although his heart is in the right place and he is shown to be highly intelligent, resourceful and even brave, Ford is essentially a dilettante when it comes to causes such as the search for the question to the ultimate answer of "life,

6732-437: The fabric of space/time and thread the new one in its place, so that for all intents and purposes his name had always been and would always be Ford Prefect." Ford takes an existential view on the universe, sometimes bordering on joyful nihilism . He is eccentric and endlessly broad-minded – no doubt due to his vast experience of roughing it around the galaxy – and possesses of an off-key and often very dark sense of humour. He

6831-501: The final episodes of the radio series, Ford, along with all the other main characters, is teleported to safety by the Babel Fish in his ear. The episode ends with a selection of possible outcomes for this last-second-teleportation, as the "unstable" nature of the section of galaxy Earth is in means that there are a variety of realities that the characters could find themselves in. The outcomes focus mostly on Arthur, but Ford features in

6930-465: The final possibility, where they all end up at Milliways ( The Restaurant at the End of the Universe ), drinking and chatting - and in Ford's case, flirting. In the original and following radio series and subsequent LP adaptation, Ford was played by Geoffrey McGivern . On television , he was played by David Dixon , and in the film he was played by Mos Def . In The Illustrated Hitchhiker's Guide to

7029-404: The first four Fits was released in the same year, followed by a single LP featuring a revised version of Fits the Fifth and Sixth and the second book , both in 1980. Cast Arthur Dent is attempting to prevent the local council from bulldozing his house to make way for a bypass. Dent's friend, Ford Prefect takes Arthur to the pub. At the pub, Ford explains that he is an alien and that the world

7128-488: The first two radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , first broadcast in 1978. These were the first incarnations of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise. Both were written by Douglas Adams and consist of six episodes each. The series followed the aimless wanderings of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and his book, the eponymous Guide . It introduced unfamiliar music, mind-stretching concepts and

7227-427: The main characters on the black ship. Soon, they receive a transmission from the second-in-command of the battle fleet, who makes a report to Zaphod, believing him to be the Admiral. This is considered confusing as Zaphod was just presumed to be the Admiral, despite bearing no resemblance to the second-in-command, who looked like a leopard. Shortly afterward, they receive another transmission, this time with Trillian in

7326-547: The mean-time picked up a man named Prak, who was a witness at a trial when the Krikkit robots broke in and stole the Perspex Pillar. The robots jogged the arm of the person administering him truth drugs, and he took a huge overdose. He was then told to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"—a horrifying fate. The court-house was abandoned, with him in place. He has apparently stopped telling it ("there not nearly as much of it as people imagine"), but

7425-434: The newest science mixed together with-out of-context parodies, unfeasibly rude names, "semantic and philosophical jokes", compressed prose, and "groundbreaking deployment of sound effects and voice techniques". By the time the sixth episode was broadcast, the show had a cult following. A Christmas special would follow, many repeats and a second series. The two original series were followed by three more in 2004 and 2005 and

7524-435: The novel explains that Ford's birth name is "only pronounceable in an obscure Betelgeusian dialect" which was almost wiped out by the "Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid./Year 03758," a mysterious catastrophe which took place on the planet of Betelgeuse Seven and which Ford's father was the only man to survive. Ford never learned to pronounce his birth name, which was a matter that caused his father to die of shame (which

7623-554: The original meaning of quintessential was "fifth element"), and "Hexagonal", which refers to hexagonal phases . The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase , based on Life, the Universe and Everything , ran on BBC Radio 4 from Tuesday 21 September to 26 October 2004, with repeats on the following Thursdays. Episodes were subtitled "Fit the Thirteenth" through "Fit the Eighteenth". The third novel

7722-418: The other escape capsule is not escaping, and presses a button in his escape capsule that ends up teleporting him and Ford to a strange spaceship. Meanwhile, Zaphod, Trillian and Marvin are all eaten by the copy of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, with Marvin's leg coming off in the process, and Zaphod's second head is revealed to know French (via an ad-lib by Mark Wing-Davey). This is the last appearance of

7821-410: The pavilion. Watching the match, Arthur drinks some tea and glances upon a newspaper. He notices the date on the newspaper, and realises that it was from the day before the Earth was demolished. A ball lands in Arthur's bag, and when the fielder comes to collect it, Arthur decides to keep it. With the planet about to be demolished again, they then look for another lift from the planet. They discover

7920-592: The perspective of the three later radio series, all of the subsequent events of the Secondary Phase occur only in Zarniwoop's artificial universe, and not in the 'real' universe. They are later dismissed by Trillian as "psychotic episodes." Ford Prefect (character) Ford Prefect (also called Ix ) is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams . His role as Arthur Dent 's friend – and rescuer, when

8019-414: The portion of the episode removed from CD releases. Cast Slartibartfast explains that mice are really "the protrusions into our dimension of vast hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings", and that they commissioned the Earth to be built. He plays Arthur some recordings explaining the historical events. This race of pan-dimensional beings had constructed a great computer, called Deep Thought, to answer

8118-439: The robots are getting depressed and do fiendishly difficult quadratic equations instead of fighting. The episode ends with Zaphod over-hearing Marvin sing a depressing song. Ford, Arthur and Slartibartfast are on the surface of Krikkit, prisoners of the Krikkitmen, and waiting for Trillian to get back, or for Zaphod to do something. Zaphod has discovered Marvin, who since he was stolen by the Krikkit robots, has been plugged into

8217-406: The role of Jeltz in the new series. On the other hand, John Marsh, who was the original series' continuity announcer , returned to announce the credits. There was even a cameo role by Adams himself (who had died in 2001) as Agrajag , edited from his BBC audiobook recording of the novel. The original novel was based on a treatment that Adams wrote for an unmade Doctor Who movie, Doctor Who and

8316-467: The same four individuals. Arthur discovers that the entry for "Earth" in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which formerly had been edited down to "Mostly Harmless", has been replaced, with Ford's original full version. They head towards Earth independently, Arthur arriving first. After landing in a field in Somerset, Arthur tries to hike a lift to Cottington, to see if his house still exists. Along

8415-538: The same novel substituted "Belgium" for "fuck", as well as the explanation for why the former word is considered to be devastatingly rude in the rest of the galaxy, which is drawn from Fit the Tenth of the Secondary Phase. The broadcast version avoids saying "fuck" on radio by well-timed crashes and explosions—the CD version moves these so that the "fuck" is audible. Arthur wakes up in a cave on pre-historic Earth (thus ignoring

8514-459: The sky, far away from the Krikkitmen on the surface. Meanwhile, the others notice that the Heart of Gold is visible in the war zones above the planet. Zaphod sneaks into one of the floating buildings, where he finds the original starship that crash-landed on Krikkit. He recognises it instantly as a fake, designed to teach a non-spacefaring race how spaceships work. He later overhears a conversation between two Krikkit officers, and that apparently

8613-472: The spaceships in the carpark, and discover a totally black, totally frictionless ship. Stuck without the Heart of Gold , they decide to steal it, with Marvin's help. When on the ship, they discover that it is out of control, and since the interior is also totally black none of the controls are legible. They debate what the Question is, and Marvin reveals that he can read it in Arthur's brainwave patterns. Before he can reveal what it is, they are interrupted by

8712-510: The story except for the film, where Zaphod addresses him as "Praxibetel Ix," then introduces him by saying "This is my semi-half brother, Ix... I'm sorry, sorry, Ford." While not explained in the book, a footnote of the original radio scripts explains that "just before arriving (on Earth) he registered his new name officially at the Galactic Nomenclaturoid Office, where they had the technology to unpick his old name from

8811-788: The story of Lallafa the poet, and a description of Brockian Ultra-Cricket. The episode begins with Arthur, who has been "diverted" by Agrajag, who claims that Arthur has killed previous incarnations of him hundreds of times. He also claims to have been the bowl of petunias that materialised into existence in Fit the Third . Eventually it transpires one of the deaths was at Stavromula Beta, where someone tried to assassinate Arthur, and he ducked, hitting Agrajag. Arthur however has never been there. Agrajag cries "I've brought you here too zarking soon", but decides to attempt to kill Arthur anyway. Arthur and Agrajag struggle, and Agrajag dies. Arthur escapes from

8910-468: The supernova bomb, would destroy Krikkit as well, and that they ought to know that if they'd built it themselves instead of taking instructions from Hactar. A robot (independent from Marvin) detonates the bomb, only for it to turn out to be a dud. Arthur, Ford, Marvin, Slartibartfast, Trillian and Zaphod all return to the Heart of Gold , just outside the dust cloud. A pocket of pseudo-gravity has opened with an oxygen atmosphere, and Arthur and Trillian exit

9009-409: The two words—"Mostly Harmless"—to the hooker, and is shocked to see the guide updating this to his full entry. He decides to go to Earth himself. Arthur arrives at his house, finding it undemolished and the phone ringing. He is unable to get to the phone before it rings off. The contents of the house are as he left them, apart from a large pile of junk mail just inside the front door, and

9108-467: The universe and everything". Ford carries the essential items of his profession in a leather satchel, hiding them under copies of play scripts in keeping with his public persona as an actor in search of work. Among the contents are his copy of the Guide ; an Electronic Thumb, which he uses to signal passing spaceships in an attempt to hitch a ride; a Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic, which monitors interstellar activity and alerts him to ships' proximity and origin; and

9207-479: The universe has ended, when it will be released, thus saving the universe from attack from Krikkit, and allowing Krikkit to exist in isolation after the end of the universe. However, a Krikkit ship escaped. Slartibartfast notes that parts of the key to the Wikkit Gate, sealing the envelope of Slo-Time, have been re-appearing. After a failed attempt to recover the Wooden Pillar (the Ashes), Slartibartfast plans to go to

9306-563: The way, he meets Rob McKenna, a man who complains about the rain, before realising he has hitched a lift the wrong way. He gets out, and gets a lift with Russell, whose sister, Fenchurch, is out cold on a back seat of the car. Arthur is instantly smitten, and asks about her. Russell claims that she is mad, and has been ever since "the hallucinations"—the Vogon Constructor Fleet. On the Constructor Fleet,

9405-543: Was "doomed". The "A Ark" was supposed to contain leaders, the "C Ark" to contain workers, and the "B Ark" to contain middle-men. It becomes apparent that the stories of impending doom were nonsense, and the A Ark and C Ark were never launched. The story resumes some months later, with a meeting of the Colonisation Committee. Reports to the Committee include an update on the development of the wheel (it

9504-417: Was adapted by Dirk Maggs , John Langdon and Bruce Hyman following instructions left by Adams. Most of the original radio series cast returned, with the exception of three, due to their deaths: Richard Vernon (died 1997) as Slartibartfast , replaced by Richard Griffiths ; Peter Jones (died 2000), replaced by his friend William Franklyn , with some brief excerpts from Jones' original narration used in Fit

9603-612: Was dismissed as one of Zaphod's "psychotic episodes" (including events that did take place in the books). Hints, however, were interspersed in the subsequent fourth and fifth series that would ultimately tie all five together. The UK edition of the novel was used for the adaptation—this becomes evident in Fit the Sixteenth, when the "Rory" award is said to be given for the Most Gratuitous Use Of The Word Fuck In A Serious Screenplay. The US edition of

9702-582: Was dropped entirely instead opting for "Amro Bank", the name of the biggest commercial bank in the Netherlands at the time. Nowadays, the joke is largely lost on younger audiences in Britain as well, since the Ford Prefect is now a rare sight on British roads. In the film adaptation, his last name was never actually stated on-screen, but it is given in the film's credits as "Prefect." A footnote in

9801-402: Was released in a 2-CD set in late May 2005. The CDs contain material not present in the original transmissions, due to time constraints. The enclosed booklet contains notes from Dirk Maggs, Simon Jones, Bruce Hyman and Helen Chattwell. A 2-CD release of the "Quintessential Phase" was released in mid-June 2005, with similar material left out of the original transmissions, and notes in the booklet by

#243756