42 Years of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ – A Celebration

On 8 March 1978, on a planet that circles its small unregarded yellow sun in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy a unique and astounding event took place. From the dusty depths of BBC Radio 4 the premier of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio series aired to an unsuspecting populous. Now, forty-two years later, BBC Radio 4 Extra is celebrating this event with a number of special programmes.

Forty-two years to the day there will be over five hours dedicated to celebrating and talking about this wondrous event and everything it brought forth.

On BBC Radio 4 Extra the schedule of festivities is as follows:

• 20:00 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the First
• 20:35 Vogon Poetry Extra with Daljit Nagra
• 20:40 We Love H2G2 with Lucy Porter, Brian Cox and Robin Ince
• 20:50 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Second
• 21:20 No Such Thing as a Babel Fish with Dan Schreiber and Andrew Hunter Murray
• 21:30 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Third
• 22:00 Geoffrey McGivern
• 22:10 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Fourth
• 22:40 Why 42? with Matt Parker
• 22:45 Bookclub: Douglas Adams
• 23:50 We Love H2G2 with Angela Barnes and Neil Sleat
• 23:55 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Fifth
• 00:25 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Sixth

Series 2 to 6 will air every Saturday at 6pm from 14 March on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

In addition to the celebrations on the day, on Friday 6 March on the Podcast Radio Hour at 11:00 there will be The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy special where podcasts will be recommended to help celebrate the 42nd anniversary of this historic programme.

You can see that BBC Radio 4 Extra is pulling out all the stops in celebrating The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’m very excited to listen to these programmes and share with other fans around the world the joy this radio drama, book, television series, and film have brought. The Guide, in any of its forms, has been a constant source of comfort for me, bringing a smile to my face whenever I hear a quote or a reference.

Forty-two years have passed since Douglas Adams, Simon Jones, Bill Wallis, Geoffrey McGivern, Jo Kendall, David Gooderson and Peter Jones came together to create a story about a man, a book and a towel that would touch the lives of millions. And after forty-two years its still as fresh and funny as it was that first day.

So Frood, on 8 March, show your guide pride and raise a towel to the greatest book ever to come out of the great publishing houses of Ursa Minor.