The Hitchhiker's Guide Entry Competition - The Results
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy famously described the Earth with a single word: Harmless. After years of research by Ford Prefect the entry was expanded slightly - to Mostly Harmless.
We asked you to write a more comprehensive (but equally witty) description using exactly 264 words*.
Many thanks to everyone who took part in the competition - we received over 700 entries.
We really enjoyed reading them all.
A number of themes kept recurring in your essays, including concern for the environment, the fact that human behaviour belies our claim to intelligence and, intriguingly, kebabs!
Series producer, Bruce Hyman, has now selected the winning entries and has awarded joint first prize to Adam Cole-King, "witty, clever, a pleasing homage to Douglas and yet also original, plus annoyingly well-written" and Tim Cross, "smart, original, funny and rather touching. I think Douglas would have loved this one." Adam and Tim will each be receiving a digital radio.
Runner up prizes of CDs of the new series will be going to Steve McKinney and John Milne, "each in his own way capturing Douglas' spirit" and to 10 year old Becky, from Reading, who "deserves a special mention" for her excellent essay.
Congratulations to the winners and to the writers of the other shortlisted entries:
*In "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas revealed that Ford had in fact written a substantial article about Earth for the Guide. Douglas described the entry using 264 words.
