New Series of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Mostly Excellent

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/' target='_blank'>http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Twenty-five years after the original radio series of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy exploded into the public consciousness, the further exploits of its bewildered hero, Arthur Dent, are being brought to life in their original medium and with the (mainly) original cast. The last three books of the ‘trilogy in five parts’, Life, The Universe And Everything; So Long And Thanks For All The Fish and Mostly Harmless, have been dramatised as two new series (none of them were previously produced for radio)…… Thanks to the wonders of digital technology, Douglas Adams himself can be heard playing the part of Agrajag."</i><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/hh_earth.jpg" /><br />Just a quick <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29400&amp;">reminder.</a> The new series of the "The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy" starts in the UK tomorrow on Radio 4 at 18:30 (repeated Thursday 23 September at 23:00). But, if you don't live in the UK, don't panic. You can use the BBC's 'Listen again' service to stream the show across the net. (Each episode will be available for 7 days following the Thursday evening repeats, i.e. every Thursday 23:00 GMT+1). The 'Listen again' link and episode guides are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/newseries.shtml">here</a>. The only non-excellent part, is that there are only six new episodes in this series, with a wait untill May 2005 for the rest. :wink: I'm looking forward to this. :mrgreen: Anyone else?

[scargill]

woo!
I'll be rushing home tomorrow to listen to it....live

Isn't it a bit scary that when they thought of it, a book which fits into your pocket was an insane thought.

I have about 10 books on my PDA, and I'm sure alot of people have many more.

[Snail]

Oh yes!

We've waited a long time for this - I remember tuning in avidly as a boy, and talking about it next day at school. It was the first real cult event I got into.

[wocket]

Great news thanks for the reminder Jonathon :D

My video is set up already to record it. Yes I said video! Cable radio onto DVD well it's the quickest way of setting it up pressing a couple of buttons and i'm sorted. :D

[upplepop]

Have you guys seen the trailer to the upcoming movie?

http://hitchhikermovie.free.fr/trailer_hitchhikers.avi (8.5MB)

Looks interesting...

[binstpa]

Is it possible to listen to the original radio broadcasts of the books. I haven't heard any of these and would like to listen to the first books before hearing these. Anyone know where I could find them? Are they online, CD?

[bikeman]

Not sure of anyplace else, but I found this on the net for the original series. http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=ABCD&title=142406

Of course, that's in the UK. good luck!

[Duncan]

Is it possible to listen to the original radio broadcasts of the books. I haven't heard any of these and would like to listen to the first books before hearing these. Anyone know where I could find them? Are they online, CD?

Have you tried your local library?

BTW - they weren't actually 'radio broadcasts of the books' - the radio series came first, then the books (which contradicted much of the radio series), then - after the first two books but before the third fourth and fifth books - came the TV series (which contradicted much of the radio series and the books). The upcoming film will no doubt contradict the radio series, books and TV series. Of course that leaves out both the computer game and the stage show... which were just as contradictary... learn more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/metaguide/

[bikeman]

The Original 12 episodes are still on the net! :D (ignore the old dates)

http://kcrw.org/show/hg

Listen while you still can!

[upplepop]

The first new episode is now available for streaming in 5.1 surround sound! They have it in two different formats:

Real Player 10: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode1.ram

Windows Media Player: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode1.asx

This (http://www.xi-soft.com/default.htm) may help you capture the stream if you want to save it.

[upplepop]

The second episode is available for online streaming.

Real Player: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode2.ram

Windows Media Player: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode2.asx

[Jonathon Watkins]

The second episode is available for online streaming.

Cheers Upplepop. So how are folks enjoying it so far?

[Deslock]

It's excellent. Anyone know how I can play the streaming files on my PPC? WMP on the PPC says it can't play this file:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode1.asx

Thanks!

[upplepop]

It's excellent. Anyone know how I can play the streaming files on my PPC? WMP on the PPC says it can't play this file:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode1.asx

Thanks!

First off, the first episode is not available at that link any more. It appears they only host 1 episode at a time, and they've moved on to episode 2.

What I have done to save the episodes is use Net Transport (http://www.xi-soft.com/default.htm) to download the Real Audio versions; they end up being around 26MB. I haven't tried playing them on my PPC, but it might work if you have RealPlayer installed on it. If not, there are many RM to MP3 converters out there.

[Deslock]

First off, the first episode is not available at that link any more. It appears they only host 1 episode at a time, and they've moved on to episode 2.Yeah, I meant to link to the second episode, which is what I tried to stream on my PPC.
What I have done to save the episodes is use Net Transport (http://www.xi-soft.com/default.htm) to download the Real Audio versions; they end up being around 26MB. I haven't tried playing them on my PPC, but it might work if you have RealPlayer installed on it. If not, there are many RM to MP3 converters out there.I'm trying to stream it via wifi. Do you know if that's possible with PPC? If not, I'll try your technique.

[upplepop]

The third episode is up:

Real Audio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode3.ram

Windows Media Player: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode3.asx

[upplepop]

Fourth Episode:

Real: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode4.ram

WMP: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode4.asx

[upplepop]

Fifth Episode:

Real: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode5.ram

WMP: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode5.asx

[Jonathon Watkins]

Interesting BBC story:

Hitchhiker gets 1m web listeners (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3962979.stm)

"About a million people have listened to internet repeats of sci-fi comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy over the past six weeks, the BBC has said. A third series of the show began on BBC Radio 4 in September, 26 years after the original show was first broadcast. It is based on an adaptation of Douglas Adams' third Hitchhiker book Life, the Universe and Everything. BBC director of radio Jenny Abramsky told a seminar that the figures vindicated the BBC's web investments. "We are completely amazed by the impact of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," she told MediaGuardian.co.uk. "It's important to listeners. We have to continue making these kind of programmes to make people go to the web."

[upplepop]

The sixth, and final episode of the tertiary phase:

Real: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode6.ram

WMP: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/media/hitchhikers_episode6.asx