Archive Douglas Adams/Hitchhiker’s Guide news for July 2003

Home / News / About me / About my book

31st July 2003
Book of the Future published today
A new book “based on an idea by Douglas Adams” is published today by BBC Worldwide. Book of the Future is a collection of 77 articles, varying from the silly to the thoughtful, on what the world might be like in 2020. Billed as “the world’s first democratically edited book”, the articles were submitted to a BBCi website over the past few months and voted for by visitors to the site. The 77th article is by Douglas himself. The book (ISBN 0563 487712) costs £4.99 of which 50p goes to Comic Relief, a charity with which Douglas had many links.

30th July 2003
‘World’s longest domain name’ quotes HHGG
Webuser magazine reports that a site which claims to have the longest domain name in the world (though it’s not a record acknowledged by The Guinness Book of Records) carries a quote from Douglas Adams. You can find it at www.thelongestdomainnameintheworldandthensomeandthensomemoreandmore.com.

30th July 2003
Beeblebears’ Picnic photos online
For many years ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha - the Official Hitchhiker’s Guide Appreciation Society - has staged an annual ‘Beeblebears’ Picnic’ in a London park. The 2003 picnic was held on 26th July in St James’ Park, and a selection of photographs are now available for viewing on the ZZ9 website, to remind those who were there, and to show those who weren’t what they missed. The two-headed, three-armed Beeblebears are available exclusively from ZZ9.

30th July 2003
Battle of the Books – new broadcast date
The edition of the BBC 4 series The Big Read: Battle of the Books which features The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy vs The Colour of Magic, originally scheduled for 21st August, has been moved forward to Thursday 7th August (at 9pm). It will be repeated at 12.40am that same night (ie. the small hours of Friday morning). Thanks to Jonnyh2g2 for the tip-off.

29th July 2003
Life, the Universe and Douglas Adams on Swedish TV
Producer Joel Greengrass reports that the award-winning biographical documentary Life, the Universe and Douglas Adams is lined up to be broadcast (twice!) on the Swedish TV channel SVT. Thursday 7th and Friday 8th August are pencilled in as the dates but not yet confirmed.

25th July 2003
eBaywatch for week ending 25th July
There are some collectable audio tapes on eBay at the moment. These copies of the first three Stephen Moore-read, abridged audio books (ends 30th July; no bids yet; starting price $7.99) look a little battered but seem to be the first packaging variant. Or why not bid for an abridged, double-cassette reading by Douglas of Last Chance to See (ends 30th July; latest bid $2.99)? There’s no picture, but presumably this is the Random Century Audiobooks release from 1991. Plenty of signed books turn up on eBay, and plenty of copies of the computer game, but signed games are comparatively rare. This one (ends 31st July; latest bid $6.00) is missing the ‘Don’t Panic’ button badge but is otherwise complete.

But the undoubted highlight of this week’s eBay trawl is a massive poster for the Restaurant at the End of the Universe album (ends 2nd August; no bids yet; starting price only 99p but there’s a reserve). Original paper promotional material like this turns up only once in a blue moon - this is 23 years old, folks - and if you miss this now you’ll probably never see another. On the other hand, it is huge - about three feet by five feet - so you’re going to need a hell of a frame if you want to preserve and display it properly!

24th July 2003
Exclusive! Hitchhiker’s Guide confirmed for Big Read programme in November
As regular readers will know, the BBC is currently promoting literature through a series of events called The Big Read, based around a list of the UK’s 100 favourite novels. The top twenty of those novels will be featured in detail in a series of programmes on BBC 2 in November, with viewers voting for the best novel of all. Which twenty titles are included and which are the eighty runners-up has not yet been announced but I can now confirm that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy definitely is in the top twenty and will be featured. I actually heard this ‘off the record’ a week ago, but now know it for certain because the BBC Big Read team are planning to film the annual ZZ9 ‘Beeblebears Picnic’ on Saturday 2nd August for the programme. No more details of the show are available at present.

In the meantime, viewers with BBC 4 can see the merits of Hitchhiker’s Guide being debated in The Big Read: Battle of the Books on 21st August. This show was taped last Friday and was tremendous fun to make. A full behind-the-scenes report will be included in issue 90 of of Mostly Harmless in October.

23rd July 2003
Mostly Harmless 89 out now
The latest issue of Mostly Harmless arrived at Magrathea this morning so if you’re a member of ZZ9 you should receive it today or tomorrow - or slightly later if you’re outside the UK. (If you’re not a member of ZZ9 - why not?) Highlight of the issue is three pages on the movie developments, including the original article from Variety, a detailed biography of Hammer and Tongs with a lengthy list of videos they’ve directed, and a world exclusive first interview anywhere with Nick and Garth. There is also Part 3 of my epic interview with John Lloyd and an interview with Adams-fan-turned-author David Lee Stone. The MP3 CD of the radio series and the latest Terry Pratchett novel are reviewed, and on a sadder note there’s an obituary of Debbie Barham, a comedy writer who worked on Starship Titanic and the 20th anniversary Radio 4 documentary about Hitchhiker’s. There is a fabulous front cover illo from Dave Hallewell and this issue’s ‘Front Cover on the Back Cover’ is the Italian More Than Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide.

22nd July 2003
Hitchhiker DVD is big seller in USA
USA Today recently reported on the popularity of British TV programmes on DVD in the United States. Without citing a source or any figures, the paper says: “Top sellers so far this year include the naughty comedy Coupling, Young Ones and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

20th July 2003
Mostly Harmless 89 posted
Issue 89 of Mostly Harmless, the world’s only Hitchhiker’s Guide/Douglas Adams magazine, was posted out to members of ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha yesterday. This issue was delayed slightly because of possible breaking news, but that news is still not available for printing so has been held over to issue 90. ZZ9 members should receive the mag in the next few days.

18th July 2003
French Dirk Gently book cover designer interviewed
The two Dirk Gently books were recently reissued in France, where they’re known as Un Cheval dans la Salle de Bains (‘A horse in the bathroom’) and Beau comme un Aéroport (‘As pretty as an airport’). Nicolas Botti, France’s number one Adams fan, has added to his excellent Guide Galactique site a fascinating interview with Benjamin Carré, designer of the new book covers. The interview is in English and French versions, and includes a series of roughs for the Aéroport cover.

18th July 2003
eBaywatch
There’s a lot of good stuff on eBay this week, including two hard-to-find Starship Titanic items: a US proof copy of the novel (ends 21st July; no bids yet; starting price $8.99) and a smart promotional jacket (ends 21st July; no bids yet; starting price $5.00). Very few of these were made and most were given to TDV staff although I think they may have been available through the website at one point. Here’s a twenty-year-old copy of People magazine with a relatively early Douglas Adams interview (ends 27th July; no bids yet; starting price $4.00), and of a similar vintage is this early American boxed set of three paperbacks (ends 17th July; no bids yet; starting price $5.00) which is considerably rarer than the similarly titled, later box of books 1-4. Somebody is selling issue 61 of Mostly Harmless (ends 24th July; no bids yet; starting price £1.99). Of course if you’re a member of ZZ9 you can get this and many other back issues for a quid or less, direct from the Merchandise Officer.

These original, Stephen Moore-read, abridged audiobooks of Hitchhiker’s Guide (ends 20th July; one bid - £4.75) and Restaurant (ends 20th July; three bids - £6.50) are the second version of the packaging - a double-size plastic case, rather than the earlier two-single-cases-on-card-backing - though either version is rare. Even rarer is the cassette format of the first Original Records album (ends 20th July; no bids yet; starting price £2.99). The card insert with track/copyright details is included, but buyers should be aware that the cassette packaging did not include the unique Guide entries from the LP sleeve. But probably the best thing on eBay right now is a signed US proof of Mostly Harmless, which is a bit battered but you won’t see one of these again for a while (ends 21st July; two bids - $61.00).

17th July 2003
Robbie Stamp interviewed in new SFX
The latest issue of SFX magazine is now on sale (issue no. 107, August 2003) including an interview (by Yours Truly) with producer Robbie Stamp about the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie. “Nick and Garth have the kind of lateral thinking that was Douglas’ greatest strength,” says Robbie. “They have a phenomenal imagination and will bring a visual style which does justice to the humour and intelligence of the books and the radio series.”

16th July 2003
Hitchhiker’s Guide RPG
John Coxon tells me that there is an on-line RPG (role-playing game) based on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a sort of free-form improvisational open-ended story with people taking the roles of various Hitchhiker’s Guide characters. You’ll need to register with Yahoo! Groups to take part, but that’s free, easy and painless.

15th July 2003
New discovery – third Liff book!
Many odd editions of Douglas Adams books have been published around the world, occasionally very different to the original English language versions. Some of the oddest have been the foreign editions of The Meaning of Liff. In Finland there have actually been not the normal two Liff books but three. A translation of the original 1990 book was published in 1996 as Elimäen tarkoitus and a second edition, Elimäen perimmäinen tarkoitus – presumably The Deeper Meaning of Liff – followed in 1997. Surprisingly, a third edition, Elimäen kootut tarkoitukset, was published last year. I don’t read Finnish so further information will be welcomed.

11th July 2003
eBaywatch
A rarely seen item now on ebay (if you hurry) is Eye of the Storm, a collection of artwork by Storm Thorgerson with an introduction by Douglas Adams (ends 11th July; no bids yet; starting price $20.00). Thorgerson is best known for his Pink Floyd album covers, which is how he met Douglas; this 1999 book predates the designs that Thorgerson created for the 2002 Picador editions of the HHGG novels. Also currently up for sale is an eleven-year-old issue of British music mag Vox including an interview with Douglas (ends 13th July; no bids yet; starting price $1.99). There is a copy of the obscure Douglas Adams book The Prostitute in the Family Tree on eBay, but of course that is a completely different Douglas Adams!

10th July 2003
Exclusive! HHGG vs Discworld in ‘Battle of the Books’
Magrathea can exclusively reveal that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will square off against Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic in Battle of the Books on BBC 4 on 21st August. This 20-part series, based on the BBC’s ‘Big Read’ event, is structured like a courtroom, with John Walsh, Assistant Editor of The Independent, presenting the case for Hitchhiker’s Guide while poet Ian McMillan will represent the Discworld book. Comedienne/author Sandi Toksvig is in charge and each ‘counsel’ will call two ‘witnesses’: Walsh has author Jenny Colgan and Yours Truly, MJ Simpson; McMillan will be calling on journalist Sarah LeFanu and David Westwood, Chief Constable of Humberside Police! The public can vote for HHGG or TCOM from the Battle of the Books website in the week that the show is broadcast, and in the autumn (when the series may be repeated on BBC 2) there will be a general phone vote along the lines of last year’s 100 Greatest Britons.

10th July 2003
Swedish DVD goes on sale
The Douglas Adams Continuum has spotted that the Swedish DVD of the Hitchhiker’s Guide TV series went on sale yesterday. Liftarens Guide till Galaxen is a two-disc set in packaging similar to the British release - although notice that there is a different starf-ield behind Ford and Arthur - and includes The Making of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the Don’t Panic ‘making of’ supplement. It has the original English soundtrack with subtitles in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish. Pan Vision, the company behind the disc, have no connection with Pan Books but are a division of Pan Entertainment who were the major backers behind the aborted 3D graphic adventure game of Hitchhiker’s Guide.

8th July 2003
Robbie Stamp discusses HHGG movie
The editorial team at h2g2 recently cornered their former boss, ex-TDV director Robbie Stamp, nowadays a producer on the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie, to ask him for his comments on the current state of play. “The irony,” says Robbie, “is that the directing and producing team, Hammer and Tongs, work from a houseboat, ten minutes down the canal from Douglas' house in Islington, so in many ways Hitchhiker’s has come home.”

6th July 2003
Nick Webb promises ‘unconventional’ biography
Nick Webb, author of the forthcoming Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams, has spoken about the book on douglasadams.com, saying that his book “has an unconventional structure for an unconventional bloke.” The site says that Nick’s book will “focus more on the man than the work” which corresponds with a conversation that I had with Nick back in February 2002, when we were both just starting out on our research: we agreed that my book would be about What Douglas Did and Nick’s would be about Who Douglas Was - and that real fans would need to buy both (sorry!). Nick finished the first draft of his book in March; it will be published by Hodder Headline in the UK in October but last time I spoke with Ed Victor Ltd no US publisher had been agreed.

4th July 2003
eBaywatch
The best DNA item currently available on eBay is a first UK hardback (Arthur Barker edition) of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in very good condition (ends 9th July; no bids yet; starting price £99.99 or buy now for £199). These are worth £200-£400 nowadays so this is cheap if not exactly a bargain. Slightly more affordable is an edition of The Sunday Times Magazine from 11th November 1990 including an extract from Last Chance to See (ends 13th July; no bids yet; starting price £3.99/$6.65).

3rd July 2003
Shada production footage at NFT
Production footage from the uncompleted DNA-scripted Doctor Who story ‘Shada’ will be screened at the National Film Theatre in London on Saturday 16th August. Full details are not yet available but the ninety-minute screening, in NFT1 at 3.00pm, will presumably be different to the version released on video in 1992. Tickets are £6.50 (concs £4.70) for NFT members, £7.50 for all non-members.

2nd July 2003
Big Read Debate at British Library
The British Library is hosting a series of public debates to tie in with the BBC’s Big Read campaign. On 16th July Lisa Jardine and Dotun Adebayo will be speaking on the subject of ‘The Great Escape’ under which heading they will be discussing Hitchhiker’s Guide as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Goodnight Mister Tom, On the Road, Treasure Island, The Secret Garden and Swallows and Amazons. An eclectic selection! The event runs from 6.30pm to 7.45pm and costs £7.50 (concs £6). More details at the British Library’s site. (Thank to David Haddock for the info.)

July 2003
MJS at the Edinburgh Book Festival
I will be speaking about Douglas Adams at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Friday 15th August. My talk is in the Blackwell’s Studio Theatre from 8.30pm to 9.30pm and costs £8 (concs £6).

19th June 2003
New film team – first interview
Nick Goldsmith and Garth Jennings have kindly granted me an exclusive first interview about their hopes and ambitions for the HHGG movie. This short interview, arranged by producer Robbie Stamp, will be published in issue 89 of Mostly Harmless in July. Robbie himself has given me an exclusive interview for issue 107 of SFX.

17th June 2003
New film team announced
Directing/producing team Hammer and Tongs (aka Nick Goldsmith and Garth Jennings) have been confirmed by Variety as the new men in charge of the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie. Previously attached director Jay Roach remains onboard as a producer, along with Roger Birnbaum, Robbie Stamp, Gary Barber, Derek Evans, Jonathan Glickman and Douglas Adams. Goldsmith and Jennings will direct from the script delivered earlier this year by Karey Kirkpatrick. The duo’s previous work includes the videos for ‘Right Here Right Now; by Fat Boy Slim and ‘Coffee and TV’ by Blur and the ITV Digital television ads starring Johnny Vegas and Monkey.

June 2003
Big Read spawns Little Reads
Extracts from the hundred books on the ‘long list’ of the BBC Big Read have been published as ‘Little Reads’ by WH Smith. The Hitchhiker’s Guide Little Read is 32 pages long, costs a pound and is the first part of the book until Ford and Arthur are thrown into the Vogon airlock halfway through Chapter Seven.

June 2003
Nick Webb book available for pre-order
Nick Webb’s book Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams is now available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk in hardback and trade paperback.

June 2003
Salmon nominated for SFX Award
The latest issue of SFX reveals that The Salmon of Doubt made the top ten in the ‘Best Novel’ category of this year’s SFX Awards. The award was won by Robert Rankin for The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse.