Dirk Gently is back on BBC... America !

From the DG comics published by IDW

We knew that Arvind Ethan David, a long time fan of Douglas Adams, and co-creator of "Dirk", the play adaption of the first Dirk Gently back in 1992, was working on a brand new adaptation of Dirk Gently on TV, this time with Max Landis as the main writer (the 2010 TV series on BBC4 was penned by Howard "Misfits" Overman).

The Uk version, broadcast on BBC4 in 2010 and 2012, with Stephen Mangan playing Dirk Gently, just lasted four episodes (one pilote and the three episodes of season 1).

Now Variety just confirmed that BBC America ordered a brand new version. First news, the series will feature one big mystery per season and he will have a brand new sidekick named Todd ("The series will follow the surreal adventures of the highly unconventional detective and his reluctant assistant Todd as they navigate one big metaphysical mystery per season.").

As in the US comics launched in 2015 by IDW (which also co-produce the TV series), Dirk will of course head to the US to live his new adventures.

BBC America president Sarah Barnett is quite enthusiastic about the project and Max Landis' take on Dirk Gently : ” ‘Dirk Gently’ is a very original series, fresh and unlike anything else. The novels have legions of fans, and with Max Landis’ brilliant and audacious take on this material we are excited to bring Dirk to life for our BBCA super-fans".

Apparently we can expect ten episodes for the first series. No news right now about the casting, the filming schedule and so on. But we can expect news quickly.

The new series is co-produced by AMC Studios, Ideate Media and comic book publisher IDW Entertainment with Circle of Confusion producing.

Here is the article published by Variety : http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/bbc-america-douglas-adams-dirk-gentlys-holistic-detective-agency-1201674933/

The post by BBC America http://www.bbcamerica.com/blog/2016/01/douglas-adams-dirk-gentlys-holistic-detective-agency-is-coming-to-bbc-america

Other posts :
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/dirk-gentlys-holistic-detective-agency-853173 

Trillian is dead

Susan Sherdian with Simon Jones for a live version of the H2G2 radio series episode 2 in 2008

Susan Sheridan, who played Trillian in the radio series, has died aged 68 the 9th August 2015.

Her voice is instantly recognizable for all Hitchhiker fans. She was Trillian since the broadcast of the first H2G2 radio episode in 1978. She was not casted in the TV adaptation but remained Trillian in the five H2G2 radio series and was also part of the H2G2 radio series live stage tours in 2012 and 2013.

Apart from Hitchhiker, Susan Sheridan was a voice coach, and provided her voice to a number of animations. She  voiced Princess Elionwy in the Disney animation The Black Cauldron.

She was also quite a loveable person for all those who had the opportunity to meet her (me included). 

She died peacefully at home due to ilness.

Dirk Maggs, producer of the new H2G2 radio series, broke the sad news to the fans : "Heartbroken to report that my dear friend and colleague Susan Sheridan died peacefully at home yesterday. Sue was cast as Trillian by Douglas Adams and Geoffrey Perkins in 1978 for the first radio series of Hitchhikers and returned for the last three radio series in 2004-5, after which she joined the cast for our Hitchhikers Live stage tours in 2012-13. Sue had a full and happy career on stage, radio and television, where for many years she was the voice of Enid Blyton's 'Noddy'. Backstage, Sue was warm, witty and wise, with a wicked sense of humour, which kept us sane during some trying times on the road. We will miss Sue dreadfully and our love and thoughts go to her husband Max and daughters Emily, Alice and Olivia."

Simon Jones wrote on his facebook page : "Yesterday our tight little group of original Hitchhikers became sadly diminished with the loss of our beloved Sue, when her sparkling light left our Galaxy, and left us lonely and bereft. We've known each other for two years shy of forty years, which is a fact that seems incredible to ponder.It was wonderful to be reunited for the Live Hitchhikers Tours that started in 2012, and to rekindle our long-standing friendship and team spirit, Those early days when we all assembled with Douglas Adams and Geoffrey Perkins seemed suddenly to have been made vividly recent, and her feisty energy invigorated us all, and made us value her more than ever. Her Trillian was practical and vital, and she more than made up for the somewhat sketchy character that Douglas had given her. Out of the studio she was also a delight, and I can only say to Max, Emily, Alice and Olivia, that she enriched all our lives in a very special way that will stay with us forever. Nancy and I send them our love and support."

Douglas Adams Day on Sunday 14th Dec

For the Hitchhiker and Douglas Adams fans who will be in London in mid december that is surely an event not to miss. As part of the BFI Sci Fi blockbuster, LOCO presents a celebration of the work of Douglas Adams on Sunday 14th December. This is part of a collaboration with the London Argentine Film Festival and The New Black Film Collective to create an Out Of This World Weekender of sci fi-inspired film and music in East London 12th – 14th December 2014.

Venue: The Proud Archivist, 2-10 Hertford Rd, London N1 5SH. The full day pass costs 20£ only. You can book your tickets here  http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/out-of-this-world-weekender-loco-presents-so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish-tickets-14507338841

The programme for Douglas Adams Day on Sunday 14th Dec includes:

12-2pm: Brunch at Milliways, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Come and sample a Pan Galactic Garglebaster or a cut of Ameglion Major Cow.

 2pm – 4.30pm: Unseen Douglas Adams 

A journey through rare footage of Adams’ TV work, including Out of the Trees – Adams’ sketch show pilot with Monty Python’s Graham Chapman, that was long-thought to be lost; the Doctor Who episode City of Death co-written by Adams, plus televised interviews, and a panel discussion including Jem Roberts, Douglas Adams’ biographer; James Goss, long time collaborator of Adams and co-writer of Doctor Who: City Of Death, plus more special guests to be announced!

2pm – 4.30pm. LOCO Presents Create Your Own Alien – kids’ costume workshop inspired by the work of Douglas Adams.

While you’re listening to the story of Adams next door, bring your kids along to take part in this superb costume workshop run by our kids’ School of Slapstick workshop team, to create your very own alien costume and world, and star in your own alien photo shoot! Suitable for ages 8-12.

5pm – 8.30pm: Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy TV series Marathon

8.30pm – close: Feel free to stick around to listen to the HG2G soundtrack, sample a Pan Galactic Gargleblaster and snacks from the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, with other like-minded humans.

More informations about the event here : http://locofilmfestival.com/2014/11/24/loco-presents-so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish-a-tribute-to-douglas-adams-part-of-a-sci-fi-weekender/

New Doulgas Adams' biography hitting the shelves 25th September

Jem Roberts' 'The Frood: The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' is going to hit the shelves this 25th september

Every Douglas Adams' fan is waiting impatiently for this new book more than ten years after the two previous very complementary biographies : Nick Webb's "Wish You Were Here" and Mj Simpson's "Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams".

There will be several events in UK to celebrate the new book publication.

Saturday 20th September

Douglas Adams Day

Heffers Bookshop (20 Trinity Street, Cambridge)

Cosplay competition + Quiz to win 2 tickets to meet Jem Roberts on 25th September

Tuesday 23rd September

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Douglas Adams, with Jem Roberts & Marie Phillips

Foyles (107 Charing Cross Road, London)

http://www.foyles.co.uk/Public/Events/Detail.aspx?eventId=2325

Wednesday 24th September
Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Jem Roberts in Bath
The Bookshop, The Paragon, Bath
https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/bath/douglas-adams-and-the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-with-jem-roberts/

Thursday 25th September

An Evening with Douglas Adams (courtesy of Jem Roberts and David Haddock)

Heffers Bookshop (20 Trinity Street, Cambridge)

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening-with-douglas-adams-courtesy-of-jem-roberts-and-david-haddock-tickets-12446191895

Satudray 27th September

Douglas Adams Tour of Cambridge

Meeting at 13:00 for 13:15. This is a special tour organized by David Haddock to coincide with the publication of The Frood.

https://www.facebook.com/events/275020802702205/

Saturday 4th october

Douglas Adams: A Celebration (with Jem Roberts, Clive anderson, James Thrift, Ed Victor & Terry Jones!)

Cheltenham Literature Festival

http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature/whats-on/2014/douglas-adams-a-celebration/

Here are few articles about the new book and what you can expect to find in it :

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/29/unseen-hitchikers-guide-new-douglas-adams-biography

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/douglas-adams-how-a-new-biography-sheds-light-on-his-genius-9734532.html

If you want to have more infos about Jem's own insight of the book, you can read these three threads on his blog :

http://jemroberts.com/2013/06/13/the-frood-fit-the-first/  (June 2013)
http://jemroberts.com/2014/01/01/the-frood-fit-the-second/ (January 2014)
http://jemroberts.com/2014/05/25/the-frood-fit-the-third/ (May 2014)

The new Book can be bought online at Amazon (UK)



 and Amazon (US)

Towel Day 2014 : don't forget your towel and celebrate !

Once again this year, there will be a large number of events to celebrate Towel Day. So don't miss the biggest day of the year and don't forget your towel !

You'll find an almost complete list of events all around the globe on towelday.org.

There is no reason to stay indoors and alone with your towel for such a day. Events will take place in severail cities of Brazil, Sweden, Germany or Australia to name but a few.

Two of the biggest events will occur in UK and France.

The National Space Centre (Leicester) will be celebrating Towel Day with special guests, displays, talks, workshops and something for everybody to enjoy. There will be two Marvin, Kevin Davies, Dirk Maggs, one Trillian,... More informations here.

In Paris, my association the Grand Ordre de la Serviette (GOS) will celebrate its 6th event for Towel Day. Action starts at 10 AM with a City of Death Tour (Dr Who and Douglas Adams fans will rejoice !), then it will continue with the infamous Towel Olympics (from 3 PM) and then with end with beers, peanuts and a lot of other things at the geek bar Le Dernier Bar Avant la Fin du Monde. Like last year, a special towel has been creatd for the french towel day (see picture below). In fact we began the festivities last week end but of course 25th May is the big day. Full details here (in french)

Great succcess for H2G2 Live special at BBC Radio Theatre !

Saturday 29th March, the cast reunited for a special H2G2 Live event at the BBC radio theatre. The event was part of  Radio 4's Character Invasion program.

The program was adapted and directed by the quite unique Dirk Maggs and starring all the main actors from the original radio series : Simon Jones (Arthur), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphd), Stephen Moore (Marvin), Sue Sheridan (Trillian) and Geoffrey McGivern (Ford). And the original producer John Lloyd was The Voice of the Book.

Here is a short  review from H2G2 expert, David Haddocks :

" The show was 75 minutes so not the full presentation of what toured in 2012 and 2013 and they did most of the visual side of the sound effects you will be aware of if your saw it in a theatre. At the end of the Pan-Galactic Gargleblaster mixing Mark got a straw stuck in his glasses so there is an extra big laugh that means nothing to the radio audience. Dirk was somewhat stressed by having to keep to a set time and at one point indicated to the cast to stretch things out a bit. I am not sure if this prompted Geoff and Toby to throw in the extra deja vue joke that looked to confuse Simon momentarily, but he handled it with aplomb even if he did end up reading from Toby's script rather than his own. At the end there was a standing ovation and the cast were joined on stage for the curtain call by Stephen Moore and he gave the Marvin robot a kiss."


You can listen to the 75 mn show on BBC Iplayer during one week after the show :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03xky8s

43 (!) great pictures of Hitchhikers LIVE at The Radio Theatre on the BBC website :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p01wgfjw

Douglas Adams 62nd Birthday : two events in London !

Today tuesday 11th March, we're celebrating Douglas Adams 62nd Birthday and there are two events happening at the same time in London.



First, the Highgate Cemetery where Douglas Adams is burried is organizing a special event called "Douglas Adams: A Conversation at the End of the Universe".

Special guests Lalla Ward and Richard Dawkins will share memories of Douglas Adams. As you may know Lalla Ward is a former Doctor Who companion and played with Tom Baker in Douglas Adams episodes "City of death" and "Shada".

Richard Dawkins, was a good friend of Douglas Adams. They shared a same views of live and also their atheism. evolutionary biologist and author of books such as "The Selfish Gene" and "The God Delusion". They met after Richard wrote Douglas the only fan letter he ever wrote, and Douglas replied with a fan letter of his own.

Lalla and Richard met at a party for Douglas’ 40th birthday in 1992 and were married later the same year. The event is sold out, but I really hope that we'll get pictures and reports from the evening.

More infos here : http://highgatecemetery.org/events


 

The Second event of the day is the annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture that will take at the Royal Geographical Society.

This year's lecture will explore a theme close to the hearts of many of Douglas' fans : "We will be exploring science in fiction, taking a closer look at two popular fictional worlds - Harry Potter and the Simpsons - and exploring the science within".

This year's speakers will be Roger Highfield and Simon Singh.

More infos here : http://www.savetherhino.org/events/798_douglas_adams_memorial_lecture