Trailer for The Tertiary Phase of H2G2

June 21, 2004 11:20 AM

The trailer for The broadcast of The Tertiary Phase of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (by Douglas Adams).It doesn't just sound great, it doesn't just sound amazing, it sounds amazingly amazing! [via]
posted by feelinglistless (33 comments total)

Wow, I mean, Wow.

I'm way more excited for this than the movie.
posted by o2b at 11:33 AM on June 21, 2004

I absolutely agree with o2b. No compromises, just British awesomeness.
posted by inksyndicate at 11:35 AM on June 21, 2004

I have always been absolutely nuts for the space banjo soundtrack.
posted by o2b at 11:36 AM on June 21, 2004

I can't wait for this to be broadcast. The original was known 'off by heart' with some of the guys in my circle, mostly cos we played the LP version late at night whilst smoking dope.

Its fantastic that virtually the whole of the original cast is reformed for the production - it would not have been the same without. William is a decent replacement for Peter Jones, having the same heavy, sardonic tone of voice.

Good on ya, BBC - and thank god (not that he exists, mind you) that Douglas got so much completed before he took an early bath.
posted by dash_slot- at 11:40 AM on June 21, 2004

Sweeeet. The radio is the place for h2g2. I'm afraid of the movie.
posted by hoskala at 11:45 AM on June 21, 2004

[sigh - 24 hour reposting limits]

More info and the reg only Media Gurdian says:

Life, the Universe and Everything features all the surviving members of the main original cast, with Simon Jones reprising the role of the hapless Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox and Stephen Moore as Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Richard Griffiths takes over from the late Richard Vernon as Slartibartfast, Roger Gregg provides the voice of Eddie the computer following the death of David Tate, and in the narrator role of the Book, the voice of William Franklin will be heard instead of the late Peter Jones.

[Adams] actually wrote half an hour of the [new] series, which appears in episodes one and two. So there's half an hour of totally original stuff," said Dirk Maggs [writer & director of the new series].

Another yet-to-be-recorded eight-part series is planned for next year, adapting the two remaining books, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish and Mostly Harmless.

From Media Guardian (Reg. Req)
posted by Blue Stone at 11:49 AM on June 21, 2004

Hate to sound like an ignorant Yank, but, with those accents, all of the characters sound the same to me!!!
posted by scalz at 11:57 AM on June 21, 2004

Quiet, You Ignorant Yank!
posted by Elim at 12:04 PM on June 21, 2004

I'm an American, and I think this rules.

Next question: Can one get Radio 4 via the Internet?
posted by jjg at 12:18 PM on June 21, 2004

Wait, I see the "Listen Live" link. Never mind.
posted by jjg at 12:19 PM on June 21, 2004

Wait, I see the "Listen Live" link. Never mind.

Plus they might have it on the Listen Again feeds. Depends on copyright issues. But it is going to be released on cd at some time in the future...
posted by feelinglistless at 12:48 PM on June 21, 2004

Doesn't sound enough like the original for my tastes. Also, it's a bit too overactive, not a single pause in the entire thing. Of course, that could well just be the preview. It still got a few chortles from me, I'm happy to say.
posted by fvw at 1:14 PM on June 21, 2004

What hoskala said.



YAY!
posted by CunningLinguist at 1:24 PM on June 21, 2004

Interestingly The Finnish National Broadcasting Corporation did these series (books 3,4,5) years ago. (1999 I think.) I thought then that they were translated like the original series were, but I'm not sure. When did DA actually write these series? Along side with the books or later? The plots differed from the books in the original radioseries, are these going to have new plotlines too?
posted by hoskala at 1:26 PM on June 21, 2004

Is it possible to get the original radio series on CD anymore? I've been looking on Amazon, and all I see are audio versions of the books.
posted by emptybowl at 1:34 PM on June 21, 2004

Wonderful. Despite the recent surge in interest that the new film has brought, I haven't listened to this in years. That video clip brought back a lot of memories, I'll have to dig the original out for a listen.
posted by chill at 1:49 PM on June 21, 2004

You know, I could have done without the photograph. The thought of everyone twenty years on just makes me aware of time passing.

I hate being reminded of that.

I am totally looking forward to this. I'll be picking up a few of these CDs as Christmas presents, or whenever they come out.
posted by chicobangs at 1:50 PM on June 21, 2004

Is it possible to get the original radio series on CD anymore?

It seems to be only available now as a disc full of MP3s.
posted by jjg at 1:52 PM on June 21, 2004

If anyone has the original radio series in burnable form....well, boy I would love a copy.
posted by CunningLinguist at 1:55 PM on June 21, 2004

Oh sorry, didn't see that.
posted by CunningLinguist at 1:55 PM on June 21, 2004

Not clear: is this going to start where the original radio series left off or where the book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe left off?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 2:13 PM on June 21, 2004

Woo hoo. I'm all giggly. :)
posted by waldo at 2:42 PM on June 21, 2004

It's not as funny as it was when I was 13.
posted by muckster at 2:54 PM on June 21, 2004

I was having trouble getting the BBC's Real-formatted preview to work, so I went poking around on the website of the production company, Above the Title Productions. On their page on the Hitchhiker's project, there's a preview in MP3 format.

Now that I've heard it, I'm full of giddy excitement wrapped in a sour fear that there's no way it can be as good as the original. Hopefully I'm very, very wrong.
posted by Inkslinger at 2:54 PM on June 21, 2004

Dear Douglas is a Saint in the Universal Church of The Interactive Network.

As he should be.
posted by dash_slot- at 3:34 PM on June 21, 2004

-If you missed it (like me at first), Adams will himself act the part of Agrajag.
-My mailbox would probably explode if I said I do have the original series recordings as mp3s.
-The Finnish YLE version had the same great title banjo tune. It was good, although I caught only some of the episodes. I'd love to have those in a reasonable format (tapes are not).
posted by ikalliom at 3:52 PM on June 21, 2004

"The Banjo Song" as you so quaintly call is is actually "Journey of the Sorcerer" by the Eagles. Download it from iTunes here. But most of the world knows it as the H2G2 theme song.

I for one can't wait to find out what happens, I had to go to England to get the complete radio series on audio CD and the secondary phase ended in something of a cliffhanger.

What a wonderful world...
posted by BartFargo at 5:04 PM on June 21, 2004

it all sounds fantastic. i just can't wait
posted by quarsan at 9:50 PM on June 21, 2004

*cough*
posted by mr.marx at 2:55 AM on June 22, 2004

See, this is why we need a "owes a drink to" label in contacts.
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:58 AM on June 22, 2004

I totally agree with CunningLinguist.
posted by MzB at 6:25 AM on June 22, 2004

Is it possible to get the original radio series on CD anymore?

Here.
posted by rushmc at 9:25 AM on June 22, 2004

mr.marx, can I give you a hug?
posted by of strange foe at 12:08 PM on June 22, 2004