The final programs in the Hitch Hikers Guide.  Slightly different actors than the original but a great job nonetheless.  This disk set completes the radio series, for now.

Since htis was a later edition, I thought it wouldn't be as good as the others.  I was plesently surprised.  I thought this one (with a more modern twist) was the best one yet!  Highly recommend if you've listened to the other 4 series.

Well, that about wraps it up for...

Arthur Dent

Ford Prefect and

Trillian

...not to mention the galaxy of other characters who have appeared - even if only for a line or two - on the BBC radio series that has built a global and intensely loyal following for the past 28 years.

"There's nothing penultimate about this one: this - ladies and gentlemen - is the proverbial it."

Finally, there is closure.  A conclusion that this listener has longed for ever since the original THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY invaded my awareness in 1981.

And what a conclusion!  At the risk of spoiling it for other Hitchhiker wannabe's, BBC4 and Dirk Maggs have managed to remain faithful to Douglas Adams' final installment to the inaccurately numbered trilogy of books, spawned from the original radio series and then respawning into new radio shows.  Go to their web for some priceless photos and other cool stuff: [...]

And yet, there's more. The book was as dark as the space encompassing the outer eastern rim of the galaxy, and closed on a note that I'd swear was written by Marvin, the paranoid android. A series that the Beeb billed as "light entertainment" can't leave its audience that depressed and morose, now can it?

As I listened to the last episode of the fifth series, I awaited the darkness of the book's conclusion.  When I read the book, MOSTLY HARMLESS, on which this radio series was based, I wondered if Adams was so annoyed with the insatiable appetite of readers and listeners that he decided to dispense with his much beloved characters once and for all.  Was this the final disposition of the everyman hero, Arthur Dent, his hedonistic traveling companion and Guide field researcher Ford Prefect, and the only other survivor of the Earth's demolition, Trillian?  As I wondered and listened, I achingly mourned Adams' passing.  I'll miss forever his command of the English language - weaving similes and other literary devices into a tapesty that delights the listener/reader as much on the 10th or even 100th time as much as it does on the first.  Sure, those words would will last for a long, long time.  But there would be nothing new from that well that watered and nourished so many of us over the years.

On a somewhat related tangent, I responded to a query on the IMDB web page for Farhenheit 451 as to what book you would memorize for posterity's sake if that book/movie's scenario came true.  No question: the original HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY or any of its sequels.

Back to this CD collection: The producer, director, script-writers, performers and other talented members of the ensemble succeed admirably in this final reunion, ushering radio story-telling well into the 21st Century.  Sure, the voices had aged.  Some had passed and are dearly missed: Peter Jones as the Book and Richard Vernon as the definitive Slartybartfast.  But to hear the final reunion was absolutely golden.

Years ago, when I began my career as a road warrior, I used to tune into CBS Radio's nighttime mystery series on a 50,000 Watt AM radio station.  (Hey, this was pre-CDs, way pre- XM or Sirius). There's something about driving down a rural two-lane road in the dark that made those tales that much more spine-tingley.

In like manner, listening to any of the CDs of the BBC Radio4's productions of Adams' work makes the miles fly by so much more easily.  Books on tape/CD pale in comparison, in much the same way that a black hole is outshone by a supernova or even a red giant.  The sound effects and incidental music add such a rich and complex dimension to the story-telling that is so sadly lacking with all the audio books on the market these days.  OK, Ok, the flatulence noice is a bit puerile, but it works so well in the scene.

Douglas Adams is a true artiste whose talents will be appreciated for years to come.

So long... and thanks!

This is a must have for any HHGG fan.  I did not realize there were any more productions past the original radio production.  I have all the additional phases and am grinning from ear to ear.

First came the radio shows (and I still have the tapes), then the television series and then the movie - and somewhere in there came the books. The radio show are the best. I did not buy the entire five volume trilogy at one time but I recommend doing that. I now have all five and they remain as fantastic and funny as they were the first time around. This is great material for driving across country because it requires the listener to pay attention for fullest enjoyment. But the great thing is that one can play the entire series over and over and there will always be something new and the entertainment level never wears thin.

For another side of Douglas Adams read "Last Chance to See." There is a used copy for a penny right now.

I like the BBC ending to the series. I gave it an extra star for that

Hitchhiker's began on radio and audio remains the best medium for enjoying the stories.  All the original actors are here from the first broadcast (the ones that were still alive anyway.)  This one is based on the book "Mostly Harmless" and for fun even uses some of the actors from the '80s BBC TV series.  There are also some alternate endings that are much more satisfying than the book or the 6th (non-DNA) novel "And Another Thing..."  The sound quality is mind-blowing!