We're still recovering from Marvin's recent demise, but the return of Zaphod,
in the first episode of the Quintessential Phase, has cheered us up. Dirk,
Bruce, Helen, Paul and co have been doing a superb job with the adaptations
of So Long and Thanks for all the Fish and Mostly Harmless and the fun
continues on Radio 4 for another 3 glorious weeks.
Dirk Maggs tells us how the team have been putting the finishing touches
to the series:
The Quandary and Quintessential Phase surround mixes are pencilled for
early April 2005 but as we get closer and closer to deadline the complexity
of finishing the final episodes of the Quintessential Phase mean they are
getting pushed back and squeezed up against the first transmission date
of Quandary Phase. In the end the only way to keep the workflow running
is to divide and conquer - for Paul Deeley to start the surround mixes while
Dirk simultaneously continues the tracklays and stereo mixes for CD and
transmission...
Very many thanks to Dirk for taking time out of his impossibly busy schedule
to keep us up to date with the production news over the past months. You
have one final chance to quiz him about the series when he joins us for a live
webchat to mark the end of the Quintessential Phase on Wednesday 22 June
at 3pm. Details will be published on the site nearer the time.
An unbelievable 45 million moves have been played since we launched the
new edition of the game last September and, judging by the message board
comments, some of you are really addicted. We have now finished publishing
the location maps and all of Douglas Adams' original hints, so you can let him
help (or misdirect) you all the way from Earth
to Magrathea:
The excellent new series has an equally impressive website. Play the
Dalek game, watch editions of Dr Who Confidential and explore a huge
collection of behind-the-scenes pictures, videos and information:
Exactly three weeks to the start of the Quandary Phase and we already have lots of related goodies on the Radio 4 Hitchhiker site. Firstly there's an extended trailer - a glorious montage of aural delights from soundsmiths Maggs and Deeley. Then we have a new behind-the-scenes photo gallery to help you put some faces to the famous voices in the trailer. Finally (for those of us who insist on opening our presents before the big day) we have the full cast list for the two final series - and what a cast it is - roll on 3 May!
Dirk Maggs and Bruce Hyman tell us how the recording sessions for the final series have been progressing:
The cast recordings complete, there are barely ten weeks to edit, tracklay and stereo mix both series to meet BBC Audiobooks' deadlines. This is not to say that it's impossible to turn around a half-hour radio sitcom episode a week, in fact many are edited and have signature tunes and linking music added in a single day - but this is Hitchhiker's, where expectations of the sound effects and general audio production are - understandably - more like those for a commercial album or film soundtrack. Despite lack of time (and anything like the budget!), these requirements - AND those of both the stereo and surround mixes - need to be borne in mind.
So for Dirk it's a series of seven-day weeks editing all the takes into the best possible performances, adding various backgrounds, building hundreds of individual sound effects and panning the results to appropriate points in both the stereo and surround 'picture'. Many headache tablets are consumed in this period, also a fair few litres of imported Dutch beer...
We have almost finished publishing all the hints, so if you haven't yet set out on Douglas's extraordinary interactive adventure you really have no excuse:
1. Drinking the wine at the party?
2. Eating one of the hors d'oeuvres? (Try several times)
3. Throwing the glass of wine or the plate of hors d'oeuvres?
4. Jumping into the water from the Presidential Speedboat?
5. Throwing something into the water from the boat?
6. Shooting the crowd, the guards, Trillian, yourself, the toolbox...
Sci-fi and fantasy every night on BBC 7's 7th Dimension.
Earthsearch can be heard every day until 15 April at 6pm and midnight. Earthsearch II begins on Monday 18 April and the classic adventure Journey Into Space continues on Saturdays at 6pm
What a Carve Up! The spectacular climax of Jonathan Coe's satirical tale: Tuesday 12 April 11.00pm
Lawrence and Gus: Untold Stories 1/6 Death in Ipswich
A new comedy series about some of life's bit-part players: Wednesdays from 13 April 11.00pm
Paperback Hell - 1/6 Travelodge Travelogue, inspired by Britain's bestselling humorous travel writers. The cast includes Michael Fenton Stevens: Wednesdays from 13 April 11.15pm
The Employee - a dark comedy about the pressures of modern life: Friday Play 15 April 9.00pm
Wow - what a night! On 3 March, Sean Sollé, Rod Lord and Roger Philbrick, the
team behind the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Adventure Game, dressed up in
what Rod described as 'penguin suits' for a very glitzy dinner at Café Royal in
Piccadilly, London. We were attending the Interactive BAFTA Awards, hosted by
Radio 4 favourite Jeremy Hardy. Our new edition of the game had been nominated
in the Online Entertainment category and we were delighted to be joined by Jane
Belson (widow of Douglas Adams) and Steve Meretzky, the co-designer of the
original game, who flew across from the US for the event.
After a champagne reception on the 6th floor we were invited to take our seats
for the ceremony on the 4th floor. The sight of so many dinner suits and ball
gowns descending a very grand staircase made me wonder if we were being
filmed for a remake of 'Titanic'. Jeremy Hardy did a great job of relaxing and
entertaining us, teasing his 'new media' audience with a technophobic diatribe:
"Don't ask me to press the red button, just tell me the news!"
There were five nominations for each award and Hitchhiker's was up against
some pretty impressive competition. We held our breath as Jeremy announced
"And the Online Entertainment winner is... The Hitchhiker's Guide Adventure Game!"
The next few minutes were quite surreal, as the team marched on stage and I
attempted to thank all those involved - particularly Douglas Adams! We were
whisked away for publicity photos - you can see the results on the page below.
At the end of the evening I had to make my way home with a rather heavy trophy.
With no taxis to be had, I set off on foot, hiding the glittering mask as best I could,
but safe in the knowledge that it would serve as an effective blunt instrument were I
to be accosted. Fortunately the tabloids didn't have cause to use 'Bludgeoned by a
BAFTA' as a headline and the trophy has now embarked upon an 'Amelie' style
world tour. Steve Meretzky has taken it back to Massachusetts and he will ship
it on to Shimon Young, our coder for the project, who couldn't make it to the dinner
for the excusable reason that he lives in Jerusalem.
Dirk Maggs and Bruce Hyman tell us how the recording sessions for the
final series have been progressing:
Continued from last month ...
RECORDING DAY FIVE
After a weekend to vaguely recover it's back into the maelstrom with MOSTLY
HARMLESS. Mike Fenton Stevens, Andy Taylor, Philip Pope and Roger Gregg
are The Grebulons, aliens with no idea of who they are or what their purpose is.
Much improvisation goes on looking for a 'style' that is funny without being
unintelligible. Roger Gregg confesses afterwards that he has been in a state of
panic - as an American living in Ireland he has NEVER been asked to act with
an English accent before!
At lunchtime Rula Lenska arrives to record her part in various episodes. She is
in a play in Perth, Scotland, so we must squeeze her studio time into as short a
period as possible. Having played Lintilla in The Secondary Phase she is now
semi-reprising this part but with a lot more sinister plot undertones. Lots of story
threads are being drawn together in this final Hitchhikers series, which is why also
in this session Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox returns to the Hitchhiker's
Guide Headquarters Building ... still bugged by Trillian's refusal to accept his side
of the story, he's going to find out what's REALLY been going on ...
It was a great pleasure to meet Steve Meretzky, when he came to London for the
BAFTA dinner and our site now includes a fascinating interview, in which he
explains what it was like to work with Douglas:
1. Saying something other than your name when the Beast asks for it?
2. Saying your name with the towel over your eyes?
3. Carving the Beast's name on the memorial?
4. Reading the memorial?
5. Waking the sleeping Beast?
Victoria Goes to Ambridge: Friday 3.30pm on Radio 4 (Red Nose Day)
The final instalment of Victoria Wood's Archers spoof includes an omnibus of the
previous four episodes, plus a special guest appearance by the celebrity who wins
the public vote.
It's been a hectic start to the year for those of us working on the Hitchhiker project.
The competition winners recently visited the studio where Dirk, Bruce, Paul and
the cast (including some Radio 4 celebrities) were busy recording the new series.
Meanwhile the website team have been assembling the winning graphics to sit
alongside Rod Lord's great original illustrations in our version of the Adventure
Game. More details below...
Dirk Maggs and Bruce Hyman tell us how the recording sessions for the
final series have been progressing:
RECORDING DAY ONE
At last we are back at The Soundhouse, it's a bright cold Tuesday
morning and the cast assembles somewhat nervously for read-through on
Episode One of SO LONG & THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH. Everyone looks and
sounds the same - well ALMOST everyone - Geoff McGivern rolls up with a
big gappy smile - his lower front teeth are missing. "Over Chrishmash
I had a bit of an encounter with a Brashil nut", he says. "But no
worriesh. It won’t advershley affect my shpeech.” Grateful thanks to
Helen, who finds a dentist who provides replacements within 24 hours
...
Nolan and Andrew recently visited the Hitchhiker studio. They had a great
afternoon, meeting the cast & crew - including Dirk, Simon, Geoff, Peter and
Charlotte - and adding their own voices to the recordings. They are now the
proud owners of signed copies of the script as a record of the event.
REALLY big news this month - the new, completed versions of our 20th anniversary
edition of the game are now ready to play. Yes, we did say versions. The entries
to the competition were so good that we have decided to publish not one, but two
editions, featuring the work of Nolan, Andrew and many others. You can restore
your existing 'save' positions from either version, so you don't need to start the
game from scratch - unless you want to of course!
Choose the Nolan Worthington/Rod Lord edition, or the Rod/Andrew Wyld and 'best
of the rest' version:
And we're rather chuffed that our 20th anniversary adaptation has been nominated for
an Interactive BAFTA award. The winners will be announced at a glitzy dinner at the
Café Royal in London next month - so keep your fingers crossed for us.
We're also delighted to learn from the message board that some of you have actually
managed to complete the game(!):
'Finally Done!!! - greywolf393 - 3rd post - 2 Feb 2005 20:44
Took me a couple of weeks and a few restarts, but I finally did it. 586 moves.'
'Finally Finished - Sarcasmo8 - 4th post - 27 Jan 2005 18:08
Does anyone know of any other text games like this online? Loved it and want to
play another. Totally hooked!'
However, we're continuing to publish Douglas Adams' original hints for those of you
still pleading for help. Part 6 is now available:
1. Opening the hatch before landing on Magrathea?
2. Kicking the screening door, then entering Marvin's Pantry?
3. Closing the screening door once you've opened it?
4. Reading the tiny message on the circuit board with the magnifying glass?
5. Smashing the circuit board?
Sci-fi and fantasy fans can indulge their passion every night by tuning into
BBC 7's 7th Dimension. Including the classic adventure: Journey Into Space
on Saturdays at 6pm
Book at Bedtime this week is Planet of the Apes - Monday to Friday 10.45pm 14 to 18 February
and remember you can still 'listen again' to earlier episodes.
More behind the scenes news of work on the Quandary and Quintessential
Phases from director Dirk Maggs and producer Bruce Hyman:
Friday 17th December
The first recording for Hitchhikers Quandary Phase takes place almost a
month before main cast recordings, it's a New York recording studio session
set up by Bruce with Dirk directing a legendary US comedy talent down the
line from London. The result is one half of a very funny conversation with
Ford Prefect which will be completed by Geoffrey McGivern in January.
More news on casting will follow, including the voice behind this character
... sorry to tease ... it's worth the wait ...
Read the full diary here ... find out who will be playing Fenchurch:
1. Yelling in the Dark?
2. Waiting about 60 turns in Dark to see the hints you get?
3. Not eating the peanuts in the Vogon Hold?
4. Drinking the Santraginean Mineral Water?
5. Enjoying the Vogon poetry without the babel fish?
The Adventure Game Picture Competition closes on 15 December and we have had some very impressive late submissions. Selecting the winners won't be easy. Check out the galleries of entries:
The first set of hints have proved very popular and you should now have all the information you need to escape from Earth before it is destroyed. Here's the next installment:
1. Buying peanuts in the pub?
2. Listening to the jukebox music?
3. Petting or kicking the dog?
4. Hitting Prosser (before and after your house is demolished)?
Welcome to the first edition of Radio 4's Hitchhiker's Guide Newsletter. The Tertiary Phase was a huge success - congratulations to Dirk, Bruce, Paul and all the actors for having done such a great job in the studio. The original series was the first Radio 4 comedy programme to be broadcast in stereo, so it seemed fitting that the Tertiary Phase should break new ground by being available in 5.1 surround. The Listen Again audio streams received over a million hits during the series, taking Hitchhiker's to the top of the radio charts - knocking even The Archers into second place! Roll on the Quandary and Quintessential Phases.
The postings on our Hitchhiker's Message Board suggest that many players of the Adventure Game could do with a helping hand to nudge them in the right direction (one member of the Radio 4 Interactive team is still stuck in the
bedroom!) So, with the season of goodwill fast approaching, we've adding a hints section to our site:
Radio Roots on Tuesday 30 November at 11.30am, which looks at the career of Peter Jones, the voice of The Book in the original Hitchhiker's Guide series:
Listen to sci-fi and fantasy every night on BBC 7's 7th Dimension. Coming up in the next few days: The conclusion of Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, Harlan Ellison's Soldier and Daphne du Maurier's The Birds.
