THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY THE QUANDARY PHASE: Fit the Twentieth

By: Jason Davis
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2005

Somewhat overshadowed by the theatrical release of the long awaited cinematic adaptation, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has returned once more to its original medium. Following on from 2004's Tertiary Phase (just released on CD in expanded form) is the Quandary Phase, which adapts the final two novels of Douglas Adams' inappropriately titled Hitchhiker's Trilogy. Adapted by Dirk Maggs, the author's one-time collaborator on the stalled project, the new episodes are running every Tuesday on BBC Radio 4 with a repeat Thursday and access that week's episode available online.

As was the case with the radio incarnation of Life, the Universe, and Everything last year, the new audio endeavor enlists the original radio cast, replacing the late Peter Jones with William Franklyn as the book. This time, however, the project has gone a step further by enlisting the services of actors from the television series in the form of David Dixon (TV's Ford Prefect) and Sandra Dickinson (TV's Trillian). As a result, the series has taken on the feel of a giant family reunion, which helps somewhat when it comes to ignoring some rather unfortunate deficiencies in the show's design. More on those later.

In continuing the radio series that's been dormant since Douglas abandoned the medium for prose in the early 80s, Maggs has cleverly used the style of Adams to add a modern veneer to the proceedings. Novelty ring tones have replaced digital watches as a pretty neat idea, for one. Tedious customer service calls, planned obsolescence, and even browser-style bookmarks for the Guide itself have been incorporated in a fashion that doubtless would have amused the concept's creator.

Simon Jones is on tap to remind audiences that he's still a damn good Arthur Dent, opposite his big screen counterpart's slightly more modern portrayal. Jones handles the romantic scenes with Fenchurch quite well in this installment, with Jane Horrocks providing a wonderful interpretation of Dent's So Long and Thanks For All the Fish girlfriend. The classic diner scene in which an irritating woman offers them raffle tickets whilst they explore their feelings for one another is the highlight of the second episode and makes the best use, thus far in the Quandary Phase, of radio's assets. There are some marvelous in-jokes for those in the know. Geoffrey Perkins, producer of the original radio series and BBC executive, portrays himself when Arthur calls in to see if his job as a light entertainment producer is still open -- a lovely wink to listeners who've read one of the sundry Adams biographies that details his time in this capacity.

The only failing that this and the proceeding Tertiary Phase have exhibited seems to be a matter of echoing Adams' style without being able to conquer the techniques he used to convey that style in the medium. The Maggs-produced Hitchhiker's episodes frequently misuse the Guide itself as a more mainstream force of narration. Franklyn often presents vast chunks of exposition like a third-person omniscient narrator, whereas Jones's Guide from the first two radio series often commentated on the trivia of the universe, but rarely editorialized on the action of the characters and their adventures. Still, this is a small infraction in the greater scheme of things and at least the episodes have captured the flavor of their late creator's work if not the specific smell.