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Douglas Adams' Doctor Who

Posted by michael on from the who's-on-first dept.

Blue Stone writes "As you probably know, the "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" author, Douglas Adams, wrote a number of Doctor Who episodes. The BBC in its wisdom has turned one of his stories "Shada" into a Flash animation. Although the animation is rather primitive, I found the story very entertaining (you can always minimize the window and just listen.)"

8 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Dirk Gently by Radian · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I haven't seen all of the Dr. Who episode, but so far they've mentioned Professor Chronotis at St. Cedd's College, Cambridge. The Professor is a main character in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (the first DG novel), and he resides at the College (which is fictional btw). The book was published in 1987 and set at a similar time, so 8 years after this script was written.

    Thought it was an interesting thing to point out :)

    1. Re:Dirk Gently by DrPepper · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Part four has a car called a "Ford Prefect" :-) Was that in the original script then?

    2. Re:Dirk Gently by mindriot · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I liked the fact that the car of the passer-by is a Ford Prefect :)

  2. Dirk Gently by JimPooley · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why not just go off and read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency instead? It's basically the same story.

    --

    "Information wants to be paid"
  3. It's quite good, really. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I quite enjoyed it, mostly for matching up the bits Adams later recycled in Dirk Gently. I was gratified to hear them use the Tom Baker version of the theme song, and there's a cameo by a Ford Prefect. It feels like a Dr. Who episode, and that's good enough for me.

  4. Rare Dr. Who Video... by Mister+Transistor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have a very rare Dr. Who (old VHS tape) at home, I recently ripped to SVCD, one not too many fans seem to have heard of, called "The Curse of the Fatal Death". It's a hilarious Dr. Who spoof episode made by the actual producers and set designers of the old T.V. series for Comedy Relief.

    It stars Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean, Blackadder) as The Doctor, and Jonathon Pryce (Brazil) as The Master. It also has guest cameos by Hugh Grant (Media Darling) and Joanna Lumley (Ab. Fab.), and, of course, The Daleks.

    It runs about 20 minutes in 2 parts, and has "The Making Of..." footage, and 3 other older Dr. Who spoofisodes afterward.

    This is REALLY funny stuff, if you like that sort of thing (Dry British humor and Dr. Who In-Jokes) and I'd highly recommend finding a copy. I would hope they've released it on DVD by now.

    --
    -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
    1. Re:Rare Dr. Who Video... by Phoenix · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually it's not that rare anymore. I've picked up a few months ago at my local SunCoast Video, and a quick check of Amazon.com shows that you can snag it for 13 bucks.

      God that was a bad spoof of Doctor Who though. They took every bad cliche from the series and made it worse. Had us in stitches the whole time.

      "Here's my sonic screwdriver. Oh Look! It has three settings"

      --
      -- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
  5. The Pirate Planet by toupsie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have the key to time series on DVD. It's amazing how much of "The Pirate Planet" is shared with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It sounds like Douglas Adams was in the habit of recycling story lines. Think he was writing HGTG radio play at the same time he wrote "The Pirate Planet". The Pirate Planet is the best of the Key To Time series.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.