The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: Primary Phase

This is where it all started in a small house not that far from Taunton where Arthur Dent woke up one morning to see a number of yellow machines outside his house. His shock turns to anger as he is informed that his house was scheduled to be knocked down to make way for a bypass. His anger turns to surprise when a friend, who went by the name of Ford Prefect, informed him that the Earth itself was about to be demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass and that Ford himself was actually from a planet in the vicinity of Betelguese. Before this can happen, however, Ford and Arthur escape onto one of the ships and thus the story of the HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy begins. It involves action, adventure and really wild things, travel, intergalactic politics, time travel, lunch and one book which, while occasionally inaccurate and sometimes irrelevant, does score over the more pedestrian Encyclopedia Galactica in that it is (a) slightly cheaper and (b) has on its cover in large, friendly letters, "DON'T PANIC".Over the years this show has made it to books, television, stage shows and records but this is the original version (with a slight amendment to remove some of Marvin's humming to avoid possible copyright issues) that Radio 4 broadcast back at the end of the 1970s. It's the series that made Douglas Adams famous. It's the series that puts that movie version to shame.And at no point does Arthur ever find somewhere where he can have a cup of tea.

There's no way to review this really. It's such a unique piece of radio that there is no where to begin, and nothing to liken it to! These 6 half hour full cast radio episodes were the beginning of a mighty saga crossing space/time/radio/book/TV/film/dimensions and other weird things currently unknown to science. With a sense of anarchic weirdness and fun it tries to tell the story of the most wholly remarkable book in the universe, the Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by telling the stories of some of those associated with it. The original aim is soon lost as we get lost in the mayhem of the adventures of Arthur Dent the last remaining earthman, Ford Prefect his friend from somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and not Guilford after all, Zaphod Beeblebrox galactic president and most wanted criminal and Marvin the paranoid android. Through an unlikely series of events they are plunged across space and time in a search for the ultimate question to the ultimate answer. It's weird, it's funny, it's fun.This CD release from the BBC is excellent, with a great sound quality far superior to my old somewhat muddy copy. Two episodes per disc on 3 discs, held in a double jewel case. It's a classic, and has been given the decent release it deserves. 5 stars.

I had the privilege of working at the BBC when this was aired. It was truly ground breaking. It was the 1st radio comedy to be transmitted in stereo (up to then only BBC drama had been in stereo) and made significant use of the famous BBC Radiophonic Workshop.I can remember the reverence with which the reel to reel tapes of the show were treated. Exciting times in radio and people forget that the Primary and Secondary phases started off in radio and later became books.It has rightly become a cult show.

As someone who listened to the radio version in the early 80’s on a quality sound system, I’ve never heard a better produced piece of entertainment. The storyline, the casting, the sound effects, all go to create one of the classic listening experiences. When I saw this on Audible, I had to get it. I listened to it while at work, on headphones and once again found myself laughing out loud. Despite knowing everything that was coming, I still couldn’t hold back.If you know HHGTTG, you know that the radio version is the original and best. Don’t settle for anything else!

What can I say? What can anyone say except "bravo"...I do have one small quibble which is pretty childish - the cassette tapes that I owned twenty five years ago had one or two different actors, and I wanted the EXACT same experience...but my children didn't know those actors, and they love it...my 9-year old gets the whole thing and laughs her head off - loves the whole improbability thing - but the two younger ones couldn't understand how nuclear missiles turned into a bowl of petunias ("what's petunias?") and a sperm whale...anyway it's a howling success, and will transport you to Magrathea and beyond, educate you on the niceties of Vogon poetry and is the perfect bed-time treat (whether or not you have the excuse of children to listen to it)!

This is the original BBC recording - and it's interesting to be reminded of this first version of the story before it was refined and changed for the book. It's a hodge-podge of funny ideas and it wouldn't surprise me if the author was still writing it as the series bucketed along.It's full of humour and sharp observation and it's still a joy. It is, however, ultimately nihilistic so the laughs come at a cost - but if you are happy to accept sad and empty along with exuberant and zany, you won't be disappointed...

Harmless

"In the beginning I purchased this on Google Play. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."Now I've bought the CD, I get the best quality recording and everyone is happy.My 9yo now goes round humming the theme tune and talking like Marvin. #happydad

Listening to this after reading the books and watching the film was amazingly entertaining. The audio quality is very good and the stories are very entertaining.

As an instant fan of the book many years ago it was a real surprise to find out the book was written after the radio broadcast, but the surprise was also a pleasant one. The radio series is/was really well done and it's clear why the the books were the next step in the world of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".Now, as much as I love the radio series and the books, I will say that there is one thing that I consider a drawback about the radio series: the slightly over-the-top use of sound effects on a few of the character voices. Realizing that this was a radio broadcast originally, the producers likely wanted to enhance the listeners' experience and rightly so. However, the amount of effect used on a few of the character voices almost, and in a couple of cases completely, obscures the words. It may be that my hearing these days isn't quite what it was but that notwithstanding, I still feel that the amount of "effect" used in a few cases really could have been pulled back to let the words be more easily understood.That said, I listened to all three CDs in a matter of just a few trips in the car, and the story was over all too soon. But along the way there are numerous laugh-out-loud moments throughout as well as the story just being fun overall and presented very well with solid performances from everyone, with all those elements combining to bring a great and funny story to life.

die original bbc radio serie als cd. wem das buch gefällt MUSS die cds auch haben. wer die bücher nicht kennt, sollte ev. lieber dort mal reinlesen, die geschichte ist doch etwas skurril und liegt nicht unbedingt jeder/m. sehr lustig, aber nicht unbedingt immer leichte unterhaltung.

This 3 CD package contains the original six episodes--they call them "fits"--of the BBC Radio series broadcast in 1978. Each fit is approximately 30 minutes long. There are 7-13 tracks per fit, so that you can quickly and easily go forwards or backwards in any episode--as close to hyperdrive as your going to get. The sound quality is excellent.As the title of my review indicates, my favorite version of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the radio version. The BBC Radio broadcasts were the first medium through which The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy was introduced to the world, with the books, TV series and film coming later. Peter Jones' performance as the Book is outstanding.That being said, I think it beneficial to read the book (if you haven't already) prior to listening to the CD's, so that you know the basic story line. I say the basic story line, because the book and the radio version differ on occasions.Listen to these CD's in your car, and you'll arrive at your destination before you really want to--who needs an Improbability Drive.

This package collects over 99% of the original BBC radio broadcasts from 1977 and 1978 with good sound quality. The original theme music (The Eagles "Journey of the Sorcerer") at the beginning of each episode has been re-recorded (obviously not by The Eagles) and the announcer introduces each episode as "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Primary Phase", then the episode runs exactly like the 1988 audio cassette release. The radio broadcast of episode 3 (or "Fit the Third") included a few seconds of background music from Pink Floyd. The dialogue for this section was not essential to the story, so this episode is slightly shorter than the others. Also, the name of the worst poet in the history of the universe has been scrambled, since it was the actual name of a real poet who threatened legal action after the episode was broadcast. Otherwise, it is as it was. Reviewers who downloaded these episodes complained that the sound quality of the background music was not acceptable. On CD, it is possible to enjoy the sound quality of the background music (mid-1970s avant-guarde electronic music including Terence Riley, Stomu Yamashta, Fripp & Eno, and Tomita). The episodes (2 per disc) are broken down into bite-size tracks, so if you want them to run as complete half-hour episodes on your iPod, you will have to use the "Join CD Tracks" option when you load them into iTunes.