Call me Arthur Dent because I'm here in my dressing gown to tell you everything
that you need to know about Douglas Adams' comedic science fiction series The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, including why because of these books
right here, the 25th of May is known annually as Towel Day.
Happy Towel day, or whenever you're watching this, but if it is the 25th of
May then it's officially towel day. And not just any towel day,
it's the 42nd towel day by which I mean the 42nd anniversary of the release of the
original Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy radio show why the number is so
significant we'll get to shortly but if you're not already aware then the reason
that every year Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy fans around the world come
together to celebrate today on the 25th of May is because according to The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy the book was in the book a tell is one of
the most essential items any intergalactic hitchhiker can have on
them why is that well this is what the Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy tells
us at oh well it says is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar
hitchhiker can have partly it has great practical value you can wrap around you
for warmth as you boned across the cold moons of Jaqueline better you can lie on
it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santa Anas 5 in healing the
heady sea vapors you can sleep under it beneath the Stars which shines directly
on the desert world of kartoffel use it to sail a mini raft in the saw heavy
river moth waited for use in hand-to-hand combat wrap it around your
head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the ravenous bugblatter
beast of trowel such a mind bogglingly stupid animal it assumes that if you
can't see it it can't see you daft as a brush but very ravenous you can wave
your towel in emergencies as a distress signal and of course dry yourself off
with it when it still seems to be clean enough well now that I've got my total I
can tell you a little bit more about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy sees
itself for those of you who are utterly confused at this point in the video in
1978 the comic genius that was Douglas Adams brought an original radio script
titled The Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy and 2020 marks the 42nd year
since the show first aired on BBC Radio the story itself which follows the
hapless human Arthur Dent as he travels the universe with his best
alien friend Ford Prefect took hold of so many imaginations the following year
Douglas Adams turned his radio script into a novel but one book full of
paranoid androids and bad alien poetry was not enough and Douglas Adams
followed up with a further four books in the cities big one The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the galaxy follows Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect as they
joined the crew of the spaceship heart of gold to traverse the universe
Victor the restaurant at the end of the universe provides Arthur Dayne and Cole
with the opportunity to visit the well named restaurant at the end of the
universe if only a fleet of Vogon spacecrafts was not trying to hunt them
down before dinner in victory life the universe and
everything Douglas Adams's take things a step beyond space travel to time travel
and Arthur Dent finds himself on a prehistoric version of Eris so long and
thanks for all the fish booked for in the cities may in fact be Arthur's
opportunity for his own happy ending if only he wasn't responsible for the rest
of the universe's as well and lastly book 5 mostly harmless traces Arthur's
adventures as he attempts to settle down on a new home planet only to have his
quiet new life interrupted by the appearance of a daughter he never knew
he had and there you have what Douglas Adams himself dubbed his trilogy in five
but if that weren't enough and your appearance at heart you can even get
your hands on the complete radio scripts from the original show this 42nd
anniversary edition has a very exciting introduction from Simon Jones who voiced
Arthur Dent both in the original radio show and played him in the first TV show
adaptation which brings me to my next topic now my first introduction to the
series was actually through the 2005 film I went to see in the cinema with my
parents when I was 13 years old and ever since then I have not been able to get
enough Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy in my
life thankfully the series has a long history of adaptation all the way from
the radio script being adapted into books and then going on to appear
multiple stage adaptations followed by the six episode BBC two television
series that was released in 1981 and like I have already mentioned featured a
host of actors who appeared in the original
radio show and then perfectly placed for a new generation of hitchhikers fans
came the film in 2005 which combines elements of the later books with the
original story to make a feature-length film starring Martin Freeman Stephen Fry
and a whole host of other recognizable faces and just to continue on with that
absolutely stunning multi-layered world both Stephen Fry and Martin Freeman are
actually responsible for narrating the audiobook adaptations of the five novels
and what makes all these adaptations all the better is that each one introduces
new layers to the universe when douglas adams adapted his reduce all four novel
form he changed certain elements he was also involved in writing both the script
for the TV show and the film and each time he tweaked his characters and
storylines ever so slightly so anyone being introduced to this wonderful world
of science fiction comedy has so many opportunities to enjoy new twists and
turns to the stories with douglas adams stamp of approval and there's even talk
of a new adaptation coming in 2021 on the streaming service hulu so I know I
for one will be there ready to compare but now you know a little bit more about
what the series is about I'm gonna let you in on a little secret what exactly
is the meaning of 42 and why do Hitchhiker's fans care so much that 2020
is the 42nd anniversary of this incredible series well even if you've
never listened seen or read the CDs then you may still have encountered somebody
making the joke that the answer to life the universe and everything is 42 this
tidbit stems from the very beginning of the series when Arthur Dent and Ford
Prefect find themselves in the crew of the hardship space of gold it turns out
that the alien Zaphod Beeblebrox in charge of flying this ship is on a
mission himself and that's to learn the answer to the ultimate question of life
the universe and everything many years ago an alien race built a supercomputer
called deep thought deep thoughts sole purpose was to calculate this answer the
answer to the question of life the universe and everything however no one
ever learned what deep thought came up with and Zaphod for one is unsatisfied
with that conclusion so the unwitting adventurers find
themselves face to face with this alien computer who has the answer and the
answer is 42 just like listeners and readers we're at
the and I'm sure you are now Arthur Ford
Zaphod and Trillian were all utterly confused what in earth could that mean
how could 42 be the answer to the question of life the universe and
everything well as deep thought poignant ly informs them that's not a question at
all and then till they know the question of life the universe and everything they
will never truly understand the answer luckily for you and I are so cool do
discover what that question is in later books but I won't give the answer away
so that you can enjoy the discovery for yourself now hopefully with a little bit
of a better understanding of Douglas Adams comedic science fiction world
you'll feel a little bit more comfortable jumping in at the deep end
and remember no matter where you decided to start your Hitchhiker's Guide to the
galaxy adventure there's one thing that's printed on every single copy of
the Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy in bright bold red layers and that is don't
panic so have a cup of tea make sure you've got your towel and enjoy the
journey