Dirk Gently, the 16th december on BBC4 : watch the trailer

Dirk Gently, the TV series pilot, will be broadcast the 16th december at 9 PM. This TV adaptation has been written by Howard Overman and stars Stephen Mangan as Dirk Gently, Helen Baxendale & Darren Boyd.

Here is a nice preview from the folks at crimetimepreview.com : "Happily, the Beeb’s new Dirk Gently will have most viewers' laughing gear moving in the right directions. It's succinct at one-hour long, has a fine cast and is a good production all round, with a jaunty Sixties-tinged, crime-movie score.... There are some nice sight gags, but most of all Adams's absurd, imaginative humour comes through nicely as the conventions of crime fiction are playfully tweaked (much credit should go to writer and Bafta-winner Howard Overman). Where Sherlock Holmes deduces, Dirk Gently reduces the universe's chaos to a unified theory of guilt."

If you cant' wait for the broadcast, you can join the event on facebook here

You can also watch the trailer here on youtube

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, this year's book for Vancouver

Vancouver is a froody place. "The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" was chosen by Vancouver residents as the book the whole city should read this fall.

"This year's One Book, One Vancouver winning book was chosen by Vancouver residents. For three weeks in June, Vancouverites voted online and at the Library's 21 branches for the book they think we should all read this fall.

The choices were: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie or The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

And in a vote closer than the hairs on the head of a ravenous bugblatter beast of Traal, you chose Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy! "

 Vancouver's public library is organizing several events from the 1st September to the 20th November. The book will be brought to life for audiences around the city through an array of fun events and contests, including writing workshops, a film screening, a high-tech Innovation Expo and a Vogon Poetry Slam! 

Here is the program of the events

(thanks to daveh for the info)

Happy 42day!!

Today is the 42day. An event which won't happen again before one hundred years. So this is a very special day you don't want to miss.

42day has of course it's own website where you'll get all the informations you want and need.

Wherever you live, there is probably a 42 event somewhere, or if there is not, create one! Here are the list of the main events which will happen today : 42day around the world.
 
The Twitter Tag for the event is #42day

42 day is also on Facebook.


Note : to celebrate the 42day, my website domain name is down (douglasadams.info) because i wanted to change my webhosting provider. I got mixed up and now it's a mess. So please use http://www.h2g2movie.com/ till i've solved the issue

Dirk Gently TV series : Lead actors revealed

As you know, a TV production of Dirk Gently is currently being filmed for BBC4 as one off which should be broadcast during this winter. If this one off is a success, then Dirk Gently could become a TV series. Argh, fingers crossed!!

Now some major casting news have been revealed.  Most importantly, Stephen Mangan is Dirk Gently. Mangan has already played a major comic character Adrian Mole in "Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years" (2001). He also played in other british TV series as "Free agents" and "Never better".

Darren Boyd plays Richard Macduff (a young software engineer working for WayForward Technologies that Dirk met in the first DG book and who would be something like Dirk's sidekick in the tv series). Darren Doyle is also known for his parts in some british tv series as Steve Coogan's "Saxondale", "Green Wing" and "Whites".

Helen Baxendale is playing Richard’s girlfriend Susan. She played in Cold Feet, and already played with Sptehn Mangan in "Adrian Mole : the cappuccino years" where she played Adrian's first love, Pandora. She also played in Friends (the part of Emily during 14 episodes in seasons 4 and 5).

Jason Watkins is Detective sergent Gilks. He played previously in at least two excellent british TV series : "Being Human" and "The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle"

Janice Pearce (Dirk's secretary) is played by Lisa Jackson (walking the dead, bright young things).

Dirk Gently is produced by ITV Studios in association with The Welded Tandem Picture Company and will be directed by Damon Thomas ("The First Men In the Moon", "Crooked House"), written by Howard Overman ("Misfits", "Merlin", "Vexed"), and produced by Chris Carey (here is his twitter account). Saurabh Kakkar is Executive Producer for ITV Studios and Eleanor Moran and Jamie Laurenson are Executive Producers for BBC.

The DNA & H2G2 memorabilia page on facebook

I've just opened a page on facebook for all the Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy fans who want to share their memorabilia with others. Post the pics there and give us details about your rare DNA & H2G2 stuff.

We're not trekkies or Elvis Presley fans, H2G2 and DNA memorabilia is not massive, but there a are of course a lot of collectible, rare and unique stuff, and after years of collecting stuff, i thought it would be nice to share with other fans.

After all, our motto is Share and enjoy, isn't it?

The Dirk Gently TV series based on new stories

Well, we knew that you couldn't base an entire TV series on just two books (and the first chapters of a third one) but even the 60 minutes long TV pilot won't be a straight adaptation of the books as SFX releals in an exclusive interview with writer Howard Overman.

“I’m aware that it’s a bit of a poison chalice... What I did was take the character, Dirk Gently, and his detection method, and write a new story. It has elements from the book, obviously, in it, but it’s kind of a different story. Because if you’ve ever read the book, the story in there isn’t really adaptable for TV. Especially not on the budget we’ve been made to do it on, because it involves an alien planet and all sorts of weird and wacky ideas."

So will it be an understated adaptation with just a bit of Douglas Adams (Dirk Gently and his quirky and weird methods) and a more traditional (and less costly) detective story ?  Well we certainly hope that this Dirk Gently adatpation won't be too classic even if doesn't involve an alien planet!

Dirk Gently TV series on BBC4 this winter!

At last! This is the great news we were all waiting for since Hitchcon 09 where Ed Victor, Douglas Adams' agent, told us that there was a Dirk Gently TV series project under consideration at the BBC.

The news came from an article on bbc.co.uk the 24th august about BBC Four's new season : "Dirk Gently, the bumbling detective creation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams, will come alive on the screen for the first time in a mystery that stems from his attempted rescue of a cat from an old lady's house." 

 Then, the day after, guardian.co.uk published an article with some more informations : "BBC4 will also dramatise Adams's 1987 novel about anti-hero Dirk Gently next year. Adams was writing a third Dirk Gently book, The Salmon of Doubt, at the time of his death in 2001.The books have formed the basis of a play and a BBC Radio 4 series but have never before been filmed for TV. ITV Studios is shooting a one-off pilot for BBC4, adapted by Misfits creator Howard Overman."

 James Thrift, Douglas Adams' brother, wrote on the DAC forum, that "I (too) had reservations, until I saw the script. Good feeling about this one."

Many thanks to DaveH from the ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha fan club for this incredible news.