Douglas Adams

Education & early works

Adams was educated at Brentwood School, Essex from 1959 to 1970, where he became friends with Griff Rhys Jones. He was six-feet-tall by the time he was 12, and he stopped growing only at 6'5". On the strength of a bravura essay on religious poetry that mixed the Beatles with William Blake, he was awarded a place at St John's College, Cambridge to read English, entering in 1971. Adams attempted early on to get into the Footlights Dramatic Club, with which several other names in British Comedy had been affiliated. He was, however, turned down, and started to write and perform in reviews with Will Adams (no relation) and Martin Smith, forming a group called "Adams-Smith-Adams." Later, on another attempt to join Footlights, Douglas Adams was encouraged by Simon Jones and Adams found himself working with Rhys Jones, among others. In 1974, Adams received a B.A. (and later, an M.A.) in English literature.

Related Topics:
Brentwood School - Essex - 1959 - 1970 - Griff Rhys Jones - Beatles - William Blake - St John's College - Cambridge - English - 1971 - Footlights - Martin Smith - Simon Jones - 1974 - B.A. - M.A.

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Some of his early work appeared on BBC2 (TV) in 1974, in an edited version of the Footlights Revue from Cambridge, that year. A version of the same review performed live in London's West End led to Adams being "discovered" by Monty Python's Graham Chapman. The two formed a brief writing partnership, and Adams earned a writing credit in one episode (episode 45: "Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Liberal Party") of Monty Python's Flying Circus. In the sketch, a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill out numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment (a joke he later incorporated into the Vogons' obsession with paperwork). Adams also contributed to a sketch on the Album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Related Topics:
BBC2 - Footlights Revue - London - West End - Monty Python - Graham Chapman - Monty Python's Flying Circus - Vogon - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

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Douglas also has two "blink and you miss them" appearances in the fourth series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. At the beginning of Episode 42, "The Light Entertainment War," Adams is in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Michael Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. At the beginning of Episode 44, "Mr Neutron," Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart, driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron..."). The two episodes were first broadcast in November 1974. Adams and Chapman also attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees.

Related Topics:
Michael Palin - Terry Jones - Out of the Trees

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Some of Adams's early radio work includes sketches for The Burkiss Way in 1977 and the News Huddlines. He also co-wrote, again with Graham Chapman, the 20th February 1977 episode of Doctor on the Go, a sequel to the Doctor in the House television comedy series.

Related Topics:
The Burkiss Way - 1977 - News Huddlines - Doctor in the House

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An autobiography from an early edition of one of the HHGG novels provides the following description of his early career:

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:After graduation he spent several years contributing material to radio and television shows as well as writing, performing, and sometimes directing stage revues in London, Cambridge and at the Edinburgh Fringe. He has also worked at various times as a hospital porter, barn builder, chicken shed cleaner, bodyguard, radio producer and script editor of Doctor Who.

Related Topics:
Stage revues - London - Edinburgh Fringe - Hospital - Barn - Chicken - Bodyguard - Radio producer - Script editor - Doctor Who

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In 1979, Adams and John Lloyd wrote the script for two half-hour episodes of Doctor Snuggles: "The Remarkable Fidgety River" and "The Great Disappearing Mystery" (episodes seven and twelve). John Lloyd was also co-author of two episodes from the original "Hitchhiker" radio series (Fit the Fifth and Fit the Sixth (a.k.a. Episodes Five and Six, see explanation below)), as well as The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff. Lloyd and Adams also collaborated on an SF movie comedy project based on The Guinness Book of World Records which would have starred John Cleese as the UN Secretary General, and had a race of aliens beating humans in athletic competitions, but the humans winning in all of the "absurd" record categories. This latter project never proceeded past a treatment.

Related Topics:
1979 - John Lloyd - Doctor Snuggles - The Meaning of Liff - The Deeper Meaning of Liff - The Guinness Book of World Records - John Cleese

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After the first radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide became successful, Adams was made a BBC radio producer, working on Week Ending and a pantomime called Black Cinderella Two Goes East. He left the position after a mere six months to become the script editor for Doctor Who.

Related Topics:
Week Ending - Black Cinderella Two Goes East - Doctor Who

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