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The computer bank behind which Zaphod, Ford, Trillian and Arthur are hiding on Magrathea blows up, but instead of killing them, the explosion propels them millions of years forward in time. They awaken in Milliway’s, the Restaurant at the Edge of the Universe, which was constructed on the ruins of Magrathea eons later. It also turns out that Marvin is there too, though he took the long way, remaining on Magrathea for millennia until Milliway’s was built. Not keen on staying at Milliway’s long enough to be found by the police - to whom, presumably, a few millennia make no difference - Zaphod decides to steal a particularly sleek black ship that has been parked in the restaurant’s docks.

written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland

Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Antony Sharpe (Garkbit / Zarquon), Roy Hudd (Compere’), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Stephen Moore (Marvin)

Originally broadcast: April 5, 1978

Slartibartfast takes Arthur into the hyperspatial construction grounds of Magrathea, where the planet-building engineers are hard at work on a special commission - the new Earth, a replacement for the old one which, as it turns out, was demolished five minutes too soon. The Earth was actually bankrolled by the beings humans know as mice, which are actually incredibly advanced pan-dimensional beings who built the Earth as an organic computer. The Earth’s program was to calculate the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. (The answer, already known, is simply 42.) But with the Vogons having destroyed millions of years’ work, the mice now hope to extract the question directly from Arthur’s brain. Meanwhile, intergalactic police arrive, hoping to extract Zaphod and the Heart of Gold from Magrathea. And now all the travelers want is to extract themselves in one piece.

written by Douglas Adams
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland

Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Richard Vernon (Slartibartfast), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect / Deep Thought), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Jonathan Adams (Majikthise / Cheerleader), Ray Hassett (First computer programmer / Bang Bang / PA voice), Jeremy Browne (Second computer programmer), James Broadbent (Vroomfondel / Shooty), Peter Hawkins (Frankie mouse), David Tate (Benjy mouse)

Originally broadcast: March 29, 1978

The Heart of Gold enters orbit around Magrathea, a near-mythical dead planet once famed for its singular industry: the construction of custom-designed planets. When automatic defense systems warn the ship off and Zaphod insists on approaching for a landing, a vicious attack ensues. Arthur suggests firing the Infinite Improbability Drive at the last minute, which not only whisks the ship away to safety, but also does away with the nuclear missiles from Magrathea. The Heart of Gold lands, and Zaphod, Ford and Trillian go off to explore as Arthur and Marvin guard the ship (despite Zaphod’s assurances that the entire planet is unpopulated). Arthur soon finds out that the planet is populated by at least one man, Slartibartfast. The others soon find out that they haven’t seen the last of the automatic defense systems, and Arthur subsequently discovers that he hasn’t seen the last of his home planet.

written by Douglas Adams
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland

Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Richard Vernon (Slartibartfast), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Stephen Moore (Marvin), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), David Tate (Eddie)

Originally broadcast: March 22, 1978

Against all odds, Ford and Arthur have completely and utterly failed to find a way to prevent being thrown out of an airlock by the captain of the Vogon ship. And against all probability, Ford and Arthur are picked up before they die, rescued by a sleek new starship which is powered by the revolutionary (and inexplicable) Infinite Improbability Drive. Ford is elated to find that the ship in question, the Heart of Gold, is under the command of his two-headed, three-armed, usually-inebriated semi-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox. And Arthur is stunned to find out that he’s not the only surviving member of the human race; a girl named Trillian (who Arthur knew as Tricia McMillan) is traveling with Zaphod, who convinced her at a party to leave Earth and join him several months ago - even though Arthur was attempting to get friendly with her at the same party. Ford and Arthur also meet Marvin, the ship’s permanently-depressed robot. There’s only one problem with the Heart of Gold (in addition to the fact that Zaphod barely knows how to fly it): Zaphod stole it, and now every cop in the galaxy will be hot on his trail.

written by Douglas Adams
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland

Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Stephen Moore (Marvin), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Bill Wallis (Vogon Captain), David Tate (Vogon Guard / Eddie)

Notes: The original radio broadcast attributed the worst poetry in the universe to Paul Neil Milne Jonhston, an actual acquaintance of Douglas Adams who - perhaps understandably - objected to this dubious tribute, especially when it came in the form of a radio program broadcast across Britain. In later LP releases, the novels, the television series, and even the version of the radio shows syndicated to America, this name was changed to “Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings.”

Originally broadcast: March 15, 1978

Arthur Dent’s having a more troublesome Thursday than usual. For one thing, the local council has decided to demolish his house and several others with as little warning as possible, all to make way for a new bypass. To protest this, Arthur lays down in front of a bulldozer which would, without his presence, destroy his home completely. And while that’s stressful enough, Arthur’s somewhat odd friend Ford Prefect chooses this very moment to come along and insist that Arhur must come to the pub with him and imbibe heavily, and somehow - according to Ford - the end of the world figures into the proceedings. Arthur reluctantly agrees, but regrets it soon afterward when he hears, from the cozy confines of the pub, the destruction of his house. But before Arthur can exact his revenge on the bureaucrats who made this all possible, he becomes one of the only surviving witnesses, from the not-so-cozy confines of a Vogon Constructor ship, to the destruction of the entire Earth - and the slightly bewildered recipient of a babel fish, courtesy of Ford. As it happens, Ford isn’t from Earth at all, and is a roving researcher for an encyclopedic electronic book known as the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The spaceship which Ford has managed to use to escape from Earth, with Arthur in tow, has a crew which isn’t from Earth either…and they’re none too pleased to discover that they have hitchhikers aboard.

written by Douglas Adams
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland

Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Bill Wallis (Prosser/Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz), Jo Kendall (Lady Cynthia Fitzmelon), David Gooderson (Barman)

Notes: If you can imagine David Gooderson quite a bit more angry and strident, and you happen to be a Doctor Who fan, you might remember him as Davros from the 1979 Doctor Who story Destiny Of The Daleks.

Originally broadcast: March 8, 1978