The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
First edition cover of the eponymous 1979 novel
Created byDouglas Adams
Original workThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Primary and Secondary Phases (1978–1980)
Print publications
Book(s)
Novel(s)
Films and television
Film(s)The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Television seriesThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Games
Video game(s)The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984)
Starship Titanic (1997)
Audio
Radio program(s)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy[a][b] is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it was later adapted to other formats, including novels, stage shows, comic books, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 text adventure game, and 2005 feature film.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an international multimedia phenomenon; the novels are the most widely distributed, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005.[4][5] The first novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979), has been ranked fourth on the BBC's The Big Read poll.[6] The sixth novel, And Another Thing..., was written by Eoin Colfer with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. In 2017, BBC Radio 4 announced a 40th-anniversary celebration with Dirk Maggs, one of the original producers, in charge.[7] The first of six new episodes was broadcast on 8 March 2018.[8]

The broad narrative of Hitchhiker follows the misadventures of the last surviving man, Arthur Dent, following the demolition of the Earth by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Dent is rescued from Earth's destruction by Ford Prefect—a human-like alien writer for the eccentric, electronic travel guide The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—by hitchhiking onto a passing Vogon spacecraft. Following his rescue, Dent explores the galaxy with Prefect and encounters Trillian, another human who had been taken from Earth (before its destruction) by the self-centred President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox and the depressed Marvin the Paranoid Android. Certain narrative details were changed among the various adaptations.


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  1. ^ "Jo Kent saves cult hg2g game from scrapheap". Ariel. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  2. ^ "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Douglasadams.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  3. ^ Gaiman, Neil (2003). Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Titan Books. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-1-84023-742-9.
  4. ^ Simpson, M. J. (2005). The Pocket Essential Hitchhiker's Guide (Second ed.). Pocket Essentials. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-904048-46-6.
  5. ^ "The Ultimate Reference Guide to British Popular Culture". Oxford Royale. 23 November 2016.
  6. ^ "The Big Read - Top 100 Books". BBC. April 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2019
  7. ^ "The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy to land back on Radio 4 in 2018 together with new series from Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall". BBC Media Centre, 12 October 2017.
  8. ^ "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase". BBC Radio 4, 28 February 2018.

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