THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY THE QUANDARY PHASE - Fit the Twenty-Second

By: Jason Davis
Review Date: Saturday, May 28, 2005

Each installment of the Quandary Phase has made marked improvements on its predecessors, and the fourth part is no exception. It is now readily apparent that adapter Dirk Maggs has integrated the final volumes of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker series into one amalgamated tale. Though the longest literary gap existed between the two novels, Maggs has skillfully tied them together with such genius that they now seem like two halves of a whole. Though this conjunction could have been hypothesized by the fact that the Quandary and Quintessential Phases would air back-to-back, the degree to which Maggs has combined them only reaches its full expression in "Fit the Twenty-Second" where the events of the two books converge completely.

Following on from their audience with Wonko the Sane in the twenty-first episode, Arthur and Fenchurch are reunited with Ford Prefect to go in search of God's last message to his creation. Sadly, Ford's involvement in the narrative is just as limited as it was in So Long, And Thanks For All the Fish. Luckily, the antithesis is true for the long-absent Marvin, who returns with Stephen Moore's melancholy intonation reminding listeners that, despite his talents, Alan Rickman will always be second best. Like most incarnations of Hitchhiker's, this one immediately becomes doubly entertaining when the paranoid android makes his appearance. This time, there's an added poignancy as Marvin's shuffling off to silicon heaven and, for once, his incessant misery seems to be a worthy assessment of a miserable existence.


With Arthur's plastic pal who's fun to be with no longer any fun, he and Fenchurch depart from the text of the fourth novel and wander into the strange netherworld between novels. Most of the material synthesized here comes from throwaway continuity plugs from the beginning of the fifth novel, Mostly Harmless. As knowledgeable readers will recall, Adams dispensed with the character of Fenchurch with a rather nonchalant hyperspace anomaly. What was an aside in the book becomes a full scene in the radio series, offering audiences a hint of Arthur Dent's reaction to the loss of his ladylove. All the while, the alternate Trillian, inexplicably created when the Earth popped back into existence, makes a none-too-subtle cameo appearance laying the groundwork for the Quintessential Phase. Rather ingeniously, the other Trillian is played by Sandra Dickinson, who assayed the part in the 1981 BBC TV series. Like her co-star, David Dixon (TV's Ford Prefect), she's found her way into the new radio cycle, truly making these plays a Hitchhiker's reunion. Described as blonde with an American accent, Trillion Mark II will play a significant role in the coming complications to Arthur Dent's life. Will the final four episodes, comprising the Quintessential Phase and adapting Mostly Harmless, maintain the standard established by this series? Time will tell, but perfect or not, it's certainly worth it to hear the story in its original medium after years of diversified adaptation into other storytelling realms.