• 450
    watchers
  • 3.5k
    plays
  • 885
    collected
  • 6
    lists

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Specials 1981 - 2009
TV-PG

  • 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z on BBC Two
  • 33m
  • 4h 58m (16 episodes)
  • United Kingdom
  • English
  • Comedy, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman who life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Earth is destroyed. His friend tells him about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guide with anything you ever needed, and wanted to know. They travel across the galaxy, meeting friendly, and not so friendly characters in order to find the great question (the answer being 42).

37 episodes

Kevin Davies' hour-long documentary from 1993. Packed with unbroadcast and archive material, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Simon Jones, David Dixon, Mark Wing Davey, Sandra Dickinson, Douglas Adams and Alan J. W. Bell.

2002-04-29T23:00:00Z

Special 2 Don't Panic!

Special 2 Don't Panic!

  • 2002-04-29T23:00:00Z26m

Kevin Davies revisits his footage from "The Making of..." documentary, to bring together a further 20 minutes of interviews and other material that didn't make it into the final program.

Special 3 Douglas Adams Omnibus

  • 2001-08-03T23:00:00Z35m

A profile of the late Douglas Adams - creator of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Features contributions from many of hsi famous collaborators and friends, such as Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, Clive Anderson and Griff Rhys Jones.

The first episode was screened to a selected audience at the National Film Theatre and featured a specially recorded introduction by voice-of-the-book Peter Jones -- his only on-screen appearance in his "Hitchhiker's" Capacity.

1981-01-05T00:00:00Z

Special 5 Communicate!

Special 5 Communicate!

  • 1981-01-05T00:00:00Z10m

As part of a BBC Education programme, cameras were given access to the radio studios of "Hitchhiker's" during the production of the second episode, just in time to record things going not-terribly-well with the Nutrimat Drink Dispenser.

1981-01-01T00:00:00Z

Special 6 Original Trailer

Special 6 Original Trailer

  • 1981-01-01T00:00:00Z2m

The BBC2 trailer for the first episode of "Hitchhiker's."

1981-01-05T00:00:00Z

Special 7 Behind the Scenes

Special 7 Behind the Scenes

  • 1981-01-05T00:00:00Z7m

The final minutes of studio recording for Episode Two on Saturday, 8th November 1980, were a fraught affair, with time seriously running out. A 15-minute overrun was formally agreed but it still meant lights-out at 10:15PM, whether the scene was completed or not. Watch the timecode as it counts down towards the cut-off point of 22:15:00 and you'll begin to feel some of the tension experienced by all concerned.

1981-01-23T00:00:00Z

Special 8 Pebble Mill at One

Special 8 Pebble Mill at One

  • 1981-01-23T00:00:00Z6m

An appearance by animator Rod Lord and producer/director Alan J. W. Bell on the 23rd January 1981 edition of the programme, talking about "Hitchhiker's" with Donny McLoud. This footage is sourced from the only surviving off-air recording.

A short sequence cut from Episode Two prior to transmission.

2002-04-29T23:00:00Z

Special 10 Out-Takes

Special 10 Out-Takes

  • 2002-04-29T23:00:00Z9m

Whoopsies and bloopers.

At the time, Zaphod Beeblebrox's second head was at the cutting edge of robot animatronics. The 12th February 1981 edition of the BBC's long-running science programme Tomorrow's World took a closer look.

BAFTA award winning graphics from the show.

Original opening titles as envisaged during production, before being modified for public airing.

Loading...