As for the BBC TV series of the early 80's, I got around to seeing it about three years ago. It tried very hard and with moderate cleverness to adhere to the events of the radio series, but it paled in comparison for two main reasons: 1) A 'Doctor Who' approach to scenery which to my American eyes led me to continually hope they wouldn't lean against anything for fear of knocking it over or put a hole in the cardboard, and 2) the casting of Trillian as a 'bimbo' with a high pitched American accent.

The original radio series was one of those exceptional intersections of writer, performance artists, and sound specialists. I long kept them on Dolby cassettes and I often duped them for newbies. I now have high quality mp3 copies.

Until that time the only thing I valued so much for its delightfully off-kilter plots and sound effects were Goon Shows. Monty Python recordings were quite good, but Hitchhiker advanced the medium.