Ask Douglas Adams transcript
|
| This event took place Wednesday 21st March 2001 |
 |
 |
Douglas Adams
Renowned writer & force behind the BBC's H2G2 website, joined us for an exclusive web chat earlier this year (2001).
|
|
|
Question from Cupid_Stunt1: What was the initial inspiration behind the radio series?
Douglas Adams: The fact that they wouldn't let me do it on TV!
Question from |S0xY|: I love all your books... when are they going to be on the radio again?
Douglas Adams: There are no plans to do any of the other books on radio at the moment.
Question from Tim_Pickles: How do you think the BBC radio play compared to the books?
Douglas Adams: The radio series is where it originated, and I wrote the book from the radio
series.
Question from Keith: Where on earth did you get a name like Slartibartfast from?
Douglas Adams: A collection of very rude words jumbled together and then mixed slightly so that it was broadcastable.
Question from Neil Harding: What's the latest news on the feature film?
Douglas Adams: This is a complicated question. The reason I've kept quiet about it in the last few months is not because nothing's going on - quite the reverse - but that what's been going on is quite complicated and I don't want to make any mispronouncements in
public. Suffice to say that an awful lot of people are spending a lot of time,
thought, energy and potentially money on trying to make this happen. We have several obstacles still to come, but things are looking more hopeful
at present than they did a few months ago.
Question from alistair_black: Is the internet anything like your initial concept for the
guide?
Douglas Adams: Yes and no.
Question from Jules Noble: Do you have or ever had a Ford Prefect?
Douglas Adams: No I don't. Someone sent me a photo of one the other day, and it was wonderful to be reminded of what they actually look like. They are so dumpy and domestic! The last one I saw on the road was actually in New Zealand.
Question from tony marsh: will there be more Dirk?
Douglas Adams: That depends. I don't have any immediate plans to do another Dirk book. But there is, waiting in line behind this much talked-of and much-delayed
Hitchhiker movie, a plan to make a movie of Dirk. If that happens it's possible I might write another Dirk book.
Question from Andrew_Mitchell: Do you have any other favourite sci-fi comedies, films or television?
Douglas Adams: Kurt Vonnegut also, Robert Sheckley.
Question from Ross_Burton: What happened to the Salmon of Doubt?
Douglas Adams: The Salmon of Doubt is a title that's been applied to various different stories because it's equally irrelevant to each. But it usually refers to a book I abandoned a few years ago because I felt it wasn't working, so I decided to go and to different things for a bit. It's now several years since I've written a book, as my publishers, agent and bank manager keep reminding me! But the great thing about not having written a book for several years is that I've built up an enormous backlog of ideas, where previously I'd felt I'd run out of them. It's now a question of one of those old writer's bugbears, which is, time and application to get them done.
Question from John_Davies: Which book do you wish you had written?
Douglas Adams: Right at the moment? Harry Potter!
Question from Michael_Donaldson: Can you tell me (if not already answered) what happened to the previous h2g2 site and its future?
Douglas Adams: h2g2 has now moved to BBC Online, and is live again right now It's at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2. It's been down for a short while it
migrated to its new home but now it's there, hopefully it'll have the chance to flourish even more spectacularly than before.
Question from Helen_Hogg: What does the name "h2g2" refer to or stand for?
Douglas Adams: It's the H and the H from Hitchhiker and the G and the G from Guide to the Galaxy rendered as a chemical formula. It's also a sort of nod to R2D2 from Star Wars. The thing was, we needed a short URL, which hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy.com
was not!
Question from Paul_Arthur: What would you have done had you not been a writer?
Douglas Adams: I've no idea. If I was starting again now, at the age of 20, I can imagine several different things I might have done. But at the time, my mind was a complete blank!
Question from Suzie McPherson: Did the success of the guide surprise you?
Douglas Adams: Yes!
Question from Ian_Daley: Hi, Have been back to see any of the animals you saw since " Last Chance to See" ?
Douglas Adams: No I haven't. I've been planning a trip to Madagascar this summer to coincide with the eclipse, but I think it's just fallen through. Pressure of work on the new novel.
Question from James_Barnard: is there soon going to be a h2g2 film?
Douglas Adams Well, I mentioned this earlier. I very much hope so, yes. It's been a very, very long and rocky road, but I think that the chances right now are better than
they've ever been. It's very much at the centre of my attention at the moment.
Question from Bill_Johnson: How many years have you worked with the bbc?
Douglas Adams: Difficult to answer. I was only a staff member of the BBC for about six months. But, I worked in various capacities for the BBC on and off many times over the
years.
Question from Klaus-Peter_Behrens: When can I buy the infinite improbability drive at the car dealer across the street?
Douglas Adams When he gets it in stock!
|
|
Suggest a Star or Expert to answer your questions