The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction series written by Douglas Adams (1952–2001). It originated in 1978 as a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Since then it has been adapted to other media, including stage shows, a series of five books first published between 1979 and 1992, (the first of which was titled The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), a 1981 TV series, a 1984 computer game, and three series of three part comic book adaptations of the first three novels, published by DC Comics between 1993 and 1996. There have also been a series of towels that are considered by some to be canonical, as they include text from the first novel {{ref|H2G2_Towels}}. A Hollywood-funded film version, produced and filmed in the UK, was released in April 2005, and adaptations of the last three books to radio were broadcast from 2004 to 2005. Many of these adaptations, including the novels, the TV series, the computer game and the earliest drafts of the Hollywood film's screenplay, were all done by Adams himself, and some of the stage shows debuted new material written by Adams.

Related Topics:
Science fiction - Douglas Adams - 1978 - Radio comedy - BBC Radio 4 - Stage shows - Series of five books - 1979 - 1992 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - 1981 TV series - 1984 computer game - Comic book adaptations - DC Comics - 1993 - 1996 - Canonical - Hollywood-funded film version - April - 2005 - Adaptations of the last three books to radio

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The title The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is often abbreviated as "HHG", "HHGG", "HHGTTG", "HG2G", or "H2G2". The series is also often referred as "The Hitchhiker's Guide", or simply "The Guide". This title can refer to the several incarnations of the story, of which the books, having been translated into over 30 languages by 2005 {{mn|Simpson2005|5}}, are the most widely distributed. The title can also refer to the fictional guidebook The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an eccentric electronic encyclopedia which features in the series. Last but not least, h2g2, launched as the "Earth Edition" of the Guide, is a website hosted by the BBC featuring a range of user-submitted articles.

Related Topics:
2005 - Fictional guidebook - Encyclopedia - H2g2 - Website - BBC

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Although the various versions follow the same basic plot, they are in many places mutually contradictory, as Adams rewrote the story substantially for each new adaptation. In all versions, the series follows the adventures of Arthur Dent, a hapless Englishman who escapes the destruction of Earth by an alien race called the Vogons with his friend Ford Prefect, an alien from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and researcher for the eponymous guide. Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's semi-cousin and part-time Galactic President, unknowingly saves the pair from certain death. He brings them aboard his stolen spaceship, the Heart of Gold, whose crew rounds out the main cast of characters: Marvin the Paranoid Android (a severely depressed robot), and Trillian, a woman known by Arthur as the only other surviving human being. After this, the characters get involved in a quest to find legendary planet of Magrathea and the Question to the Ultimate Answer.

Related Topics:
Arthur Dent - Englishman - Vogon - Ford Prefect - Alien - Betelgeuse - Eponym - Zaphod Beeblebrox - Heart of Gold - Marvin the Paranoid Android - Depressed - Robot - Trillian - Magrathea - Question to the Ultimate Answer

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