Sadly a poor ending to a great story.

2021 Jul. Redeems the Quandary phase, whose rating I am upgrading from 2 to 3. Apparently they were originally released at the same time, once "fit" per week for eight weeks in a row.

What a mind fuck of a ride!
I loved them all!!!!

Well, well, well. This adaptation of the final, fifth book, Mostly Harmless, in the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, is the perfect ending. The book was widely criticised at the time of its release due to its darker feel compared to the previous 4 books. Well, the radio series makes up for this with an extended, alternative, ending.

As for the plot; Fenchurch has disappeared, the guide has been taken over and is due to be upgraded, Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian/Tricia, all in seperate parts of the universe, if not in separate parallel universes, are trying their best to cope, fight back, and/or just live their lives as a sandwich maker. How the many strings, across many times and dimensions, are pulled together, is pure genius!

Story and adaptation: 4.5/5
Sound quality of available radio play (from audible): 3/5

Arguably the most life affirming entry into the Hitchhiker’s Guide saga, that while lacks Adams’ absurdist stylisations, instead going for such harder sci-fi (which, had been behind each progressive entry), it no less takes Adams’ world view of the probability of life, existence and the fact that we are here now and we should live in it, to the utter extreme and just love it, because in one dimension or another, we will find our way. It’s endearing more than its predecessors, though maybe not as funny, and production-wise feels more over produced, but its heart is all there, and really sings when it counts.

Post listen review:

Totally incoherent, rather plotless, completely insane and fully and thoroughly entertaining. My only complaint is that it is too short.

Pre-listen guess

Woohoo! Douglas Adams is (ok was) a genious at being funny! Finally something decent to listen to.

I have come to conclusion that I will always be a die hard Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fan. This phase did not disappoint although I was a little surprised it ended so well and then it was just bitter sweet and a bit sad knowing that we lost such a great person.

I will always recommend this series.

Seriyi böylece bitirmiş olduk. Son kitap en eğlencelisiydi sanki. 10. gezegen Rupert, Arthur'un kızı Random Frequent Flyer Dent, bir bilim olarak astroloji..

I listened to this via Audible.

The Quintessential Phase is the last part of the adaptation of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy into a radio production. It also feels like it is the most-changed of all the three phases that were produced after the author's death. The cast and crew knock things out of the park as always, and it was fantastic to listen to. If you enjoyed everything up until this point you'll like this as well.

If you've read the books, you may recall that the last one is darker overall than the rest of the series, especially the end. This is where most of the changes come in, wrapping everything up with a much happier bow and leaving things open for Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing...

This is another solid recommendation, and the whole series is great and worth a listen for anyone and everyone.

I think the changes made from "Mostly Harmless" to this actually enhance the story. I might even like the radio play adaptation more than the original book in this case.

Stylistically speaking, this is as good as anything Adams ever wrote. A lot of people, however, object to the plot. The book upon which this is based is called Mostly Harmless, but it is anything but. The radio adaptation, however, pretends the ending was all an elaborate joke and gives us several happy endings connected inter-dimensionally. While the last few minutes of this radio play (not written by Adams, as I understand) are funny enough, it does feel like a betrayal to the original story.
Mostly Harmless IS supposed to be that devastating. Arthur Is supposed to *spoiler* lose Fenchurch because of a stupid bureaucratic clause, and everyone is supposed to die horribly so that Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz can put a tick inside a box. That's just the universe.

But apart from that, the Quintessential Phase has some great bits, like the whole Sandwich Maker fit in Lamuella, and perhaps the most beautiful couple in all of literature, Arthur and Fenchurch.