The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Image: David Tate (multiple parts), Alan Ford (Roosta), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Douglas Adams (scriptwriter), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox) and Simon Jones (Arthur Dent) in a recording at the Paris Studios in July 1979. 

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy began life as a radio series, with the first episode airing on 8 March 1978. The science fiction comedy was described in the Radio Times as "an epic adventure in time and space including some helpful advice on how to see the Universe for less than 30 Altairian dollars a day". Written by Douglas Adams, and produced by Simon Brett, it started a franchise that included books, television and a feature film, and even outlasted the author's untimely death.

Radio was the perfect medium on which to debut Adam's vision of the universe, as visual effects were at that time incapable of matching his imagination. However the BBC Radiophonic Workshop rose to the challenge, using the full potential of stereo - previously only used in radio dramas - to bring The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to life. Peter Jones was cast as the voice of the book, and his calm tones punctuated the action with extracts from the Guide.

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy was adapted for television in 1981, after the second radio series. Radio has always proved to be fertile ground for comedy, being cheaper to produce and more able to take risks than television, and many television classics started on radio. However for many, the original radio series will never be surpassed.