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Geoffrey Perkins Is Dead At 55

Posted by kdawson on from the arthur-dent-removes-his-hat dept.

Dynamoo writes "Legendary comedy writer and producer Geoffrey Perkins has died in a road accident in London. Perkins was until recently the head of comedy for BBC TV. Earlier in his career he produced the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series, and was a writer, director, and producer of many comedy shows including Spitting Image, The Fast Show, and several others. He also invented the game of Mornington Crescent. The world will be a less joyful place without him."

11 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Re:lol by eln · · Score: 5, Informative

    Perkins was until recently the head of comedy for BBC TV. Earlier in his career he produced the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series, and was a writer, director, and producer of many comedy shows including Spitting Image, The Fast Show, and several others. He also invented the game of Mornington Crescent.

    HTH, HAND.

  2. Mornington Crescent... by gardyloo · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... someone explain all the rules to me again?

    1. Re:Mornington Crescent... by topham · · Score: 3, Informative

      You have to learn them while you go. It's one of the rules.

    2. Re:Mornington Crescent... by adamofgreyskull · · Score: 3, Funny

      Pursuant to the Livingstone (abridged) annexation corollary:
      Gospel Oak

    3. Re:Mornington Crescent... by Pseudonym · · Score: 4, Funny

      Bethnal Green

      (For those not so familiar with the game, this position is essentially the same as the classic Kolmogorov Gambit (see, for example, Stovold vol CCCLXIV (ii), pp 697-702), except that all hexes are now wild and aquatic crossings will force a transverse shunt. Knip in two.)

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    4. Re:Mornington Crescent... by bmsleight · · Score: 4, Funny
      Leading to the classic Reverse-Ksmiov of Mornington Crescent.

      Easy really ?

  3. Might have Fainted before falling into road by piltdownman84 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Independent is reporting that he might have fainted and stumbled onto the road before getting hit.

    Also, Anyone else wonder how someone managed to hit him, drive away and not realize it? I understand he was hit by a lorry and not a smart car, but I remeber a few years ago I hit a cat and I sure felt it.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-seek-new-evidence-on-death-of-comedy-guru-geoffrey-perkins-913928.html

  4. Re:ZZZ,,, by Eudial · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Slashdot editors do realize they've posted a British-centric story at 3:44 AM London time...

    Ah, but slashdot is news for nerds. It's an integral part of the geek culture to be 6-10 hours out of sync with your timezone.

    The relevant XKCD panel is #448.

    --
    GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
  5. He'll be missed... by amaupin · · Score: 5, Informative

    The BBC Hitch-hiker radio broadcasts were far and away the best versions of Douglas Adams' story of Arthur Dent, Zaphod Beeblebrox, the destruction/creation of Earth, and the search for the question. While I enjoyed the books somewhat, the original radio series was a spectacular production that couldn't be topped.

    Geoffrey Perkins will be missed.

    1. Re:He'll be missed... by PhotoBoy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm glad to see someone in this thread is showing some decorum instead of making tasteless jokes or asking "who?"

      I agree entirely with what you've said, the H2G2 radio shows were fantastic (and a regular fixture on my iPod), I was always disappointed they didn't continue the story after the end of the second series (although Dirk Maggs did a decent job more recently).

      Another Perkins favourite of mine was KYTV, a spoof on satellite TV channels with lots of tacky low budget game shows and news channels.

      RIP Geoffrey.

  6. Re:The numbers were in his favour... by Goldberg's+Pants · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hammond can also remember phone numbers now, something he never used to be able to do.

    Recent studies have shown that celery actually contains chemicals which help the brain repair itself in the case of an injury, making Hammond's taste for celery very interesting.