1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 2: Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,959 Speaker 2: is Robert Lamb. On today's show, I'll be talking with 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 2: author Kevin John Davies about his new book forty two 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 2: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams. This book will 6 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 2: be available as a physical book on the nineteenth of September. 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 2: It's already available as an ebook, so one way or 8 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,840 Speaker 2: another you can get your hands on this book. It's 9 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 2: a beautiful volume, so I highly recommend it now in 10 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 2: the event that you're not familiar with the man himself. 11 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 2: Douglas Adams born nineteen fifty two was a groundbreaking English author, humorist, 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 2: and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 13 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 2: a work originally can see for radio, but it would 14 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 2: also take on new life as a novel in nineteen 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 2: seventy nine, stage shows, a comic book, TV series, video game, 16 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 2: and a two thousand and five feature film that many 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 2: of you may be familiar with. His other works include 18 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 2: the Dirk gently books, and he served as screenwriter on 19 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 2: thirteen episodes of Doctor Who in the late seventies and 20 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 2: early eighties. He died in two thousand and one, but 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 2: his influence continues to be felt in humor and science 22 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 2: fiction and beyond. So with some of the basics out 23 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 2: of the way, let's jump right into the interview with 24 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 2: author Kevin John Davies. Hi, Kevin, thanks for coming on 25 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:37,559 Speaker 2: the show. 26 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 3: Hello there, Rob, nice to be invited. Thank you. 27 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 2: So the book is forty two The Wildly Improbable Ideas 28 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 2: of Douglas Adams. Many of our listeners are well acquainted 29 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 2: with Adam's work, and I included a short overview at 30 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 2: the top of this episode for everyone, But as someone 31 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 2: who worked with him and has chronicled his ideas in 32 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 2: his work, what do you think is the most essential 33 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 2: thing for our listeners to recognize about the man, especially 34 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 2: they're just not that familiar with him in his work. 35 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 3: I think what you have to realize is that Douglas 36 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 3: never set out to be a science fiction author. You know, 37 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 3: he's primary focused ever since his college days, you know, 38 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 3: at university and Cambridge, he just wanted to be a writer, performer. 39 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 3: He wanted to be John Clees until he realized that 40 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 3: job was taken. But he certainly got to meet a 41 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 3: few of his heroes. So his favorite kind of reading 42 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 3: material were things like PG Woodhouse. So he saw himself 43 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 3: as a comedy writer, a satirist primarily. But he said 44 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 3: that he rather ruefully, he said to me once when 45 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 3: I interviewed him several times over the years. But he said, 46 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 3: the trouble is everything I write seems to involve robots 47 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 3: and spaceships. So I think he appeals across the board. 48 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 3: You know, he appeals to people who like science fiction 49 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 3: because he seems to be playing with the usual tropes 50 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,639 Speaker 3: of science fiction, and he appeals to people who don't 51 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 3: like robots and spaceships because he seems to be sending 52 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 3: it up. So it kind of works across the boards. 53 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 3: You know, you don't have to be a big science 54 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 3: fiction fan to get The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 55 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,920 Speaker 3: It works on that kind of satirical level, and it's 56 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 3: just beautiful writing. So I hope new people will give 57 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 3: it a go. They might discover something new that they 58 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 3: really love. 59 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 2: Can you tell us how you came to first work 60 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 2: with Douglas Adams and where he was in his career 61 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 2: at that time. 62 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 3: Sure, well, I mean within the first few years of 63 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 3: knowing him, he suddenly became very rich and famous. But 64 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,839 Speaker 3: when I first met him, i'd seen his first Doctor Who, 65 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 3: which was called The Pirate Planet, and that had been 66 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 3: a four part serial on television starring Tom Baker. And 67 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 3: then I'd heard The Hitchhiker's Guide on its second repeat 68 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 3: within the first year. It was quite unusual for a 69 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 3: radio show to get repeated quite so quickly, but it 70 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 3: was popular demand, and he very soon realized he had 71 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 3: a hit on his hands. I was invited to bring 72 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 3: my new tape recorder. I was seventeen years old and 73 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 3: I just had a new tape recorder for my birthday, 74 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 3: remember those cassettes, And I brought it along to interview 75 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 3: him for a fan magazine for Doctor Who. Primarily, but 76 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 3: my friends and I kept asking him questions about Hitchhiker's 77 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 3: Guide because that was all new and exciting, and he said, 78 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:33,239 Speaker 3: I thought this was going to be an interview about 79 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 3: Dr Who. He'd just taken a day job, that was it, 80 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 3: because he needed regular income. He had a few tough years, 81 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 3: and so the idea of a year long contract at 82 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 3: the BBC marshaling scripts for Dr Who was something that 83 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 3: he badly and sorely needed. At the time. So I 84 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 3: just met this very tall everyone remarks on that, and 85 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 3: he's good foot taller than me, very smiley, witty, very friendly, 86 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 3: immediately friendly, an amazing guy. Immediately you sort of you're 87 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 3: taken to him, you know. That was the flavor of it. 88 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 3: And it was about another eighteen months later after that 89 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 3: interview that I, by pure chance, ended up working on 90 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 3: the hit Tricker's Guide to the Galaxy TV series, And 91 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 3: that was my first year in the business, having left 92 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 3: Art College. So it was a glorious year for me 93 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 3: and one that I treasured to this day and remember 94 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 3: vividly despite it being all those years ago. And I 95 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 3: was an animator working on the BBC television version, So yeah, 96 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 3: it was a very strange hit trackers that it began 97 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 3: on radio, then it became a stage play, several stage plays, 98 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 3: then then finally a novel, a vinyl LP, and then 99 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,559 Speaker 3: I found myself working on the TV version, and yeah, 100 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 3: that was it, and that's when I really got to 101 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 3: know Douglas properly. In nineteen eighty. 102 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 2: Now, prior to this interview, I think my only full 103 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 2: experience with his work was the film adaptation of Hitchiker's 104 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 2: Guide to the Galaxy. But I listened to the Stephen 105 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 2: Frye narrated audiobook version in preparation for this interview, and 106 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 2: you know, I was just really kind of taken aback 107 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 2: just how good it is and how you know, it 108 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 2: still feels so distinct and original, which isn't always the 109 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 2: case with works of great popularity and influence. So I 110 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 2: was wondering, like, why do you feel that this book 111 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 2: in particular is still speaking to us forty four years 112 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 2: after its initial publication. 113 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 3: I think it's the sheer amount of work that Douglas 114 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 3: put into the writing. He's a great friend of his. 115 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 3: Nick Webb, who I got to know as well, also 116 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 3: has passed now, but he became Dougs's official biographer, and 117 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 3: I've interviewed him too in the past, and he said 118 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 3: that Douglas Douglas could hear the music, and what he 119 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 3: meant by that was as a writer, he could hear 120 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 3: the rhythm and flow of a sentence. And I think 121 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 3: you you know, if you adapt any of Douglas's work, 122 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 3: you mess with that at your peril. And I think 123 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 3: the movie took some liberties with the actual flow of 124 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 3: his very carefully chosen sentences. You know, he would do 125 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 3: very long sentences with lots of subclauses and parentheses, and 126 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 3: then on the last word of something he would rip 127 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 3: the rug from under you and make you laugh. And 128 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 3: he had thought about it, and I think it came 129 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 3: from his days in sketch comedy. So, you know, the 130 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 3: radio series of hit Choker and the television version are 131 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 3: born out of that kind of footlight Cambridge footlights, sketch 132 00:07:54,120 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 3: comedy performing background that's you know, famously Monty Python. They 133 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 3: all came out of the same stable, and so I 134 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 3: think when they came to do the movie, it's a 135 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 3: slightly different style of acting. Actually, you know, Martin Freeman 136 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 3: has a much more realistic style to his. I think 137 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 3: he was quite good, actually is after Dead. But it 138 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 3: is a different way of performing, you know, it's more traditional, 139 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 3: you know, Hollywood movie style. And they obviously they grafted 140 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,559 Speaker 3: in more of a love interest with trillion between the 141 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 3: two main characters after and a trillion, and you know, 142 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 3: it tried to fit that thing that Douglas tried all 143 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 3: his life and for twenty odd years he tried to 144 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 3: get a movie made of Hitcherck, and sadly it didn't 145 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 3: come along into the few years after he died, and 146 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 3: so I think some of the fans, some of the 147 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 3: purest fans, don't really rate the movie as much. I 148 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 3: think it looks beautiful, and I did go along to 149 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 3: the set and I met the filmmakers, and they certainly 150 00:08:54,920 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 3: had Douglas's best interests at heart, but they were music, 151 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 3: video producer director pair that made it, and I think 152 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 3: they thought much much more about the visuals than they 153 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 3: did about the script. And I think Disney had quite 154 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 3: strong studio control on the script. So you know, it's 155 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 3: a difficult thing to pull off. The later radio adaptations 156 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:25,680 Speaker 3: by Dirt Maggs, he adapted and directed them for BBC Radio, 157 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,719 Speaker 3: and they kept the flavor. He got the style, he 158 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 3: understood it, and he knew that Douglas had chosen Dirk 159 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 3: as the successor to Jeffrey Perkins, the main producer of 160 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 3: the original series. And sadly, you know, those shows didn't 161 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 3: come along until after Douglas had passed, but certainly they 162 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 3: kept the flavor. So I recommend, you know, try the 163 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 3: radio shows, try the books. The books are pure Douglas. 164 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 3: It's him playing with the language, and that's why they 165 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 3: survive and why they still work now because the sheer 166 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,679 Speaker 3: effort that he put into them. 167 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: Ye. 168 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 2: Now, I want to come back to Doctor Who for 169 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 2: just a second. As you mentioned, he wrote for the 170 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:11,200 Speaker 2: TV show during with the late seventies and early eighties. 171 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 2: In what key ways do you think Doctor Who influenced 172 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 2: Douglas Adams and what sort of lasting influence did he 173 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 2: leave on the franchise. 174 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 3: Well, he said that when he was at prep school 175 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 3: he was writing sketches about Doctor Who with them the 176 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 3: Daleks being powered by Rush, Chrispies or something, just something 177 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 3: that he did as a thing with his friends on 178 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 3: audio tape. And so he'd always wanted to work for 179 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 3: Doctor Who, and we have in the book, in the 180 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 3: forty two book, there's a letter of rejection which must 181 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 3: have pained him deeply in nineteen seventy six when he 182 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 3: first got turned down by the then producer and the 183 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 3: script editor team. But two years later, you know, he 184 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 3: got the commissioned, and thank goodness because he was in 185 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 3: a real pit at that time, and suddenly he had 186 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,839 Speaker 3: the first series of Hit Shriker and the first four 187 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 3: episodes of Dr Who to write almost simultaneously, and he 188 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 3: retreated down to the West country where his mother lived, 189 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 3: and the back to the family home and slaved away 190 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 3: over those scripts until he'd sort of run out of words, 191 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 3: as he put it, and he got John Lloyd to 192 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 3: help him with the last two episodes of that first 193 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:34,199 Speaker 3: radio series of Hit Shriker, and it just it was 194 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 3: obvious when you watch that Doctor Who, what his take 195 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 3: on it was. He has a peculiar turn of phrase. 196 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 3: The humor is there, the ideas, it's all about the ideas. 197 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 3: Douglas had some extraordinary ideas, and in later years he 198 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 3: became fascinated with real science. So it wasn't just making 199 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 3: it up for Hit Shriker's sake, you know, and for 200 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 3: Doctor Who. But it was obviously there was a strong 201 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 3: talent there, and that's why he was offered the role 202 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 3: to join the show and be it script editor for 203 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 3: a whole year looking after other writers. Not a job 204 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 3: he was terribly well suited to because he had trouble 205 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 3: delivering two deadlines himself, so to get scripts out of 206 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 3: other writers, you know, he had been a radio producer 207 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 3: very briefly before he ran away to television. From their 208 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 3: point of view, so yeah, pulling scripts out of other people, 209 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 3: that's not really that wasn't really his forte But luckily 210 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 3: at that time Hitchhiker exploded and he then had to 211 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 3: go off and do other things and work on, you know, 212 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 3: milk this baby to do sequels, and everyone kept demanding 213 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,839 Speaker 3: more and more Hitchhikers until he was sick of it. Really, 214 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 3: But yeah, I think the legacy that he left behind, 215 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:57,160 Speaker 3: and people have quoted this, like Steve Moffett and Russell T. Davis. 216 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:00,840 Speaker 3: They cite one of his particular stock is The City 217 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 3: of Death, as their kind of role model for how 218 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 3: they'd like it to be. Don't. When I interviewed him 219 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 3: about it, he said that he worried that when he 220 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 3: put jokes into scripts, he still wanted the drama to 221 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 3: be played straight. But the fear is that when you 222 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 3: put comedy into a drama script that people then start 223 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 3: to ham it up and play to the comedy more. 224 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 3: And you know, he wanted to use the light and 225 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 3: shade of the drama and the comedy. But City of Death, 226 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 3: which he co wrote, I mean the producer. It was 227 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 3: an emergency script written supposedly over a weekend, which is 228 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 3: hard to imagine, But that was the legacy left behind. 229 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 3: I think it had an effect on how the modern 230 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 3: producers of Doctor Who tackled it when they revived it 231 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 3: in two thousand and five onwards. 232 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 2: So the book is a beautiful memoir using various documents, 233 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 2: photos from the Dougals Adams archive. Correct along with these 234 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 2: various words and letters from friends, you, words of fans, 235 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 2: collaborators tell us how this project came together and what 236 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 2: sort of challenges were involved. 237 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 3: Sure, the book was something that, strangely enough, I first 238 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 3: thought about in twenty sixteen. I was asked by the 239 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 3: radio producer, an adaptor of Dougas's work Dirt Mags, to 240 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 3: go along to the archive, which I didn't really know 241 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 3: much about. Before there had been a book. Another guy 242 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 3: had written a book which had had some appendices of 243 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 3: stuff from the archive, so we knew a little bit 244 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 3: about that that was Hitchhiker material. But Dirk said, go 245 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 3: and see if you can find anything that a bit 246 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 3: of pure Douglas magic, any titbits, odd phrases, lines, you know, 247 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 3: anything you can find that hasn't been used yet, and 248 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 3: we'll put it into this final radio series. The final 249 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 3: radio series is called the Hexagonal Phase of Hitchhiker was 250 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 3: based on a book by Owen Colfer, the Irish writer 251 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 3: who wrote Artem's Foul and other young young adult readers. 252 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 3: You know, he felt that it needed a bit more 253 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 3: douglasy magic. So I went and had a look at 254 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 3: the material. Then I spent about six days there. For me, 255 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 3: I live right at the top of North London, so 256 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 3: it was a drive up the motorway to Cambridge in 257 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 3: ancient city of Cambridge, which is full of colleges that 258 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 3: all part of the Cambridge University, and there is Saint 259 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 3: John's College and the ancient library there. I mean, the 260 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 3: building's about four or five hundred years old. All the 261 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 3: front of it is all beautifully remodeled and everything, but 262 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 3: the back is almost like a church. It feels like Hogwarts, 263 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 3: you know, and the Harry Potter films, big heavy old 264 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 3: bookcases with giant leather bound sort of books on the shelves, 265 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 3: and they've got medieval manuscripts and they've got all sorts there, 266 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 3: and Douglas's material was lodged there by his family. Now, 267 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 3: while I was going through this, I realized that Douglas 268 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 3: kind of argues with himself on the page, and we've 269 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 3: got some of this in the book. He would be 270 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 3: berating himself for forgetting an idea that he thought of 271 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 3: the night before, or he just wasn't in the mood 272 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 3: to write that day. Every now and again there's a 273 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 3: nice little pep talk where he tells himself and you 274 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 3: can do quite well for yourself, you know. You know, 275 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 3: once he was actually seeing the money rolling in. But 276 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 3: it was interesting to watch a writer at work. Looking 277 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 3: at a man that I knew for twenty years. I'm 278 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 3: looking at his handwriting. He's terrible handwriting, very scribbly at times, 279 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 3: and he's appalling typing with all sorts of liquid paper 280 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 3: or tip its blobs all over it and crossings out 281 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 3: and x x x through everything, and you know, it 282 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 3: was quite He wrote four books before he got into 283 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 3: using a word processor. So you know, if anyone thinks 284 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 3: that forty two was inspired by his knowledge of asking 285 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 3: or whether it's called a SC two, no, he knew 286 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 3: nothing about computers when he wrote it, chuck. So anyway, 287 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 3: I looked at all this material and I thought, you 288 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 3: know what, there should be a book about this, something 289 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 3: along the lines of how Douglas Adams wrote. And I 290 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 3: didn't think about it anymore. I didn't even think necessarily 291 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 3: that it would be me that would write the book 292 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 3: until the publisher came out of the blue in twenty twenty. Yeah, 293 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 3: at the end of twenty twenty they contacted me and said, 294 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 3: you've been suggested by the estate of Douglas, the family 295 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:40,959 Speaker 3: and the agent who runs the estate to go and 296 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 3: do some more research in the archive and prepare this book. 297 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,800 Speaker 3: And I said, well, isn't that strange. It's something I'd considered, 298 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 3: but I didn't think it would be me, So thank you, 299 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 3: and so off I went. Eventually, I mean the first 300 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,199 Speaker 3: year of the business, it was the unbound. The publishers 301 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 3: they begin each project with a Kickstarter to raise the 302 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 3: funds and to secure it, and that protects them as 303 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 3: a small publisher. It protects them from the risk involved 304 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 3: in an expensive book. And they'd already done a book 305 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 3: called what's it called Letters of Note, quite a big 306 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 3: coffee table book of famous people's correspondents and sometimes quite 307 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 3: old fashioned copper plate writing. You'd have on one page 308 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 3: you'd see the actual letter, and on the other page 309 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 3: you'd see it in a plain text to make it 310 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 3: easier to read. So that was their kind of model 311 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 3: that they wanted to make this book based upon. So 312 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 3: the first year was very difficult because the library was 313 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,679 Speaker 3: in lockdown still and there was a member of staff 314 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,640 Speaker 3: there who could be very badly affected by getting COVID. 315 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 3: She had quite severe asthma, so she was keeping it 316 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 3: strictly to live in students, So that was a bit 317 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 3: of a delay. Then I got ill, then my wife 318 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 3: got ill, So the first year was a bit of 319 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,000 Speaker 3: a writer. The second year twenty twenty two, I went 320 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 3: seventeen times in all to up to Cambridge. It's about 321 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 3: fifty miles each way, and I would spend the day 322 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,640 Speaker 3: looking through the material, photographing it on my iPhone because 323 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 3: there wasn't enough time to sit and read it on 324 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 3: the day bringing it home. And I think for every 325 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 3: day I went, I spent at least a week reading 326 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 3: everything and logging it and creating my own database. There 327 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 3: is you can actually look at the Saint John's College 328 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 3: database of Douglas's material, but it really is only very 329 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,199 Speaker 3: broad strokes, you know, It's like bullet points. Whereas the 330 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 3: only way to do it is to sit there and 331 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 3: look at the papers and go slowly through it all. 332 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 3: And it still belongs to the family. They still have 333 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 3: very much the control of it. You have to get 334 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 3: written permission to go and access this stuff. So I 335 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 3: felt very privileged. I also felt now in Douglas, I 336 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,199 Speaker 3: don't think he wanted me or anyone to go and 337 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,879 Speaker 3: look at his material in the unprepared state, and I 338 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 3: felt very much like I was prying, especially when you 339 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 3: look at things like his notebooks and his diaries. You know, 340 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 3: there's not a lot that didn't really exactly pour his 341 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:23,119 Speaker 3: heart out. Of his diaries, they're mostly just notes about 342 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 3: meetings and birthdays and party lots of parties. But in 343 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 3: his notebooks he was really much more personal. He would 344 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 3: talk about, you know, how he was feeling about working 345 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 3: on this thing. But it was lovely to see phrases 346 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 3: that you know and love if you're a hitch Tracker fan, 347 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 3: you know, or a Dot or two fan, you can 348 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 3: see things. You can see him working it out on 349 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 3: the page and there it is in his own handwriting. 350 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 3: So again, very privileged. And I was walking in his 351 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 3: footsteps literally because I was going into the same college 352 00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 3: that he studied in all those years ago. In the 353 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 3: early set, I was going across the road at lunchtime 354 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 3: in the same pub that we know he frequented and 355 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 3: cafes around the corner, you know, to break up the day. 356 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:14,199 Speaker 3: They always shot for lunch. Very British and it was 357 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 3: a lovely job. It's something I thoroughly enjoyed doing. I then, unfortunately, 358 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,400 Speaker 3: I did get rather ill last year and I had 359 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 3: to take a slight back seat for a while. A 360 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:31,119 Speaker 3: copy editor was assigned to look after the project, to 361 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 3: guide me through the whole business of the layout. She 362 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 3: worked with the designer and you know, took a lot 363 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,159 Speaker 3: of the load off me when I was hospitalized for 364 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 3: a while. Anyway, the hospital they promised me they'd cured me, 365 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 3: and they did. I had six months of chemo and 366 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,960 Speaker 3: I got better and I was able to finish the book. 367 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 3: The publishers were wonderful, they waited for me, and between 368 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 3: the whole team, we've put together something that I think 369 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 3: the fans are going to cherish. And it's beautiful book, 370 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 3: beautifully printed. It's very heavy and very glossy, and I'm 371 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 3: delighted with the outcome. So now's the time to tell 372 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,360 Speaker 3: everyone all about it rather excitedly. Is out in Britain now. 373 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 3: It was launched on Thursday last week Here in the UK, 374 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 3: and it will be out in the middle of September 375 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 3: in America. Takes that long for the ship to get 376 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 3: across the Atlantic. 377 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 2: Was the Thursday release date intentional? 378 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 3: I wonder? Also it was also the twenty fourth of August. 379 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 3: That's forty two. 380 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:36,239 Speaker 2: Backwards, isn't it. 381 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 3: But I don't know. You can read what you like 382 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,239 Speaker 3: into that, and people will. I mean, the fans are 383 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:47,639 Speaker 3: delighted in making notes about forty two ever since. I've 384 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 3: been a what do they call it, an honorary member 385 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 3: of z Z nine plurals ad Alpha, which is the 386 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 3: official Hitchhiker's Guide Appreciation society for over forty years now. 387 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 3: And we even had the letter to Douglas and replies 388 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 3: from him in the book from the fans. There's old 389 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,639 Speaker 3: chapter about fan letters and things, which I quite enjoyed 390 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 3: putting together. So yeah, it's been It's a real mixture. 391 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 3: It covers his whole life from cradle to grave, you know, 392 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 3: really shows early promise when he was twelve years old. 393 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 3: His poems are extraordinary, and then there's you know, loved 394 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 3: RM student verse and then the early sketch comedy material 395 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 3: Doctor who Hitchhikers Dirt Gently, Last Chance to see right 396 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 3: up to the digital Village, which was how he spent 397 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,360 Speaker 3: the later years doing new projects, some of which didn't 398 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 3: make it to fruition, and we've got some pages of 399 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 3: those as well. So it's the whole shamac. 400 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,119 Speaker 2: I was really intrigued by this whole world of eighties 401 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 2: video games that the book touches on. I have very 402 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 2: little personal experience with games of this genre in time period. 403 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 2: So what was the nineteen eighty four Hitchhiker's game? Like? 404 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 2: What was this and what was Douglas Adam's involvement in it? 405 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 3: Well, I'm going to be I'm going to be quite 406 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,360 Speaker 3: honest here. It's not one that I got into at 407 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 3: the time. I've been working in animation and we were 408 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 3: looking at computer graphics from quite early on, and I 409 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 3: just looked at it and thought, well, this technology is 410 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,359 Speaker 3: not ready yet. You know. Of course, Jurassic Park and 411 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 3: Terminator too, and all that kind of stuff was a 412 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:41,800 Speaker 3: long long way ahead in the future. Computers were quite 413 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 3: kind of raw and it was all very rough at 414 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 3: that time. But those who loved tinkering with computers were 415 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 3: having a field day. And Douglas admitted he said, do 416 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 3: you know what I really would quite like to have 417 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 3: been a software engineer. I don't know if he had 418 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 3: the discipline, to be honest, he was a quite chaotic 419 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 3: sort of It's wonder that his archive exists and I've 420 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 3: put that down. Who's battery of personal assistance he had 421 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 3: over the years who probably kept it all in order. 422 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:09,239 Speaker 3: But yes, he really enjoyed the process of writing that 423 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 3: first game. It's a text adventure, so you're interacting with 424 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 3: the text in a way that he quite mischievously would 425 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,919 Speaker 3: get the computer to lie. He said, you know, it's 426 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 3: not artificial intelligence. He's actually artificially it's not user friendly. 427 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 3: It's artificially mendacious I what you call it. It would 428 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 3: deliberately lie to you. And the game, I believe, was 429 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 3: quite frustrating. I only dabbled on it briefly. I mean 430 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 3: it was launched at a convention that we had in 431 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 3: the middle of nineteen eighty five. I remember them doing 432 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 3: quite a bit of publicity there for it, and a 433 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:51,159 Speaker 3: TV show that covered it at the time, and there 434 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,880 Speaker 3: was one guy who was quite good at it who 435 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,400 Speaker 3: was explaining how it worked. And I had to dabble there, 436 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 3: and I thought, ah, this is not for me. But 437 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 3: I know that Doug. You know, from my interviews with Douglas, 438 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 3: I knew that he loved the experience, and then he 439 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 3: went on to do bureaucracy, which was based on I mean, 440 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 3: they wanted Hitchhiker too, but he was much more interested 441 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 3: in doing something different, which I think was true throughout 442 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 3: his career. He kept trying to escape from Hitchhoker. But 443 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 3: the bureaucracy game was about getting a bank to register 444 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 3: a change of address card because he had personal experience 445 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 3: of a bank. He just bought a swanky new flat 446 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 3: in fashionable Islington in London, and the bank kept sending 447 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:41,879 Speaker 3: all his correspondence went to the old address, and he 448 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 3: kept saying to them, look, you know, for heaven's sake, 449 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 3: you're into this property for X thousands of pounds. Surely 450 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 3: you know where I am. And he said, they wrote 451 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,640 Speaker 3: back to me and said wherever. So sorry, yes, it's 452 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 3: completely our fault. We will get it right in future. 453 00:26:55,359 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 3: And he said, guess where they sent that letter? So yeah, 454 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 3: So I mean, famously, in Hitchhikers, the bureaucracy, the bureaucrats 455 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 3: are the vogons, and that's kind of become a byword 456 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:14,560 Speaker 3: now for anybody that has a sort of stubborn bureaucratic streak, 457 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 3: you know, parking wardens and petty officials that like to 458 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 3: wield their look a bit of power too heavily. I 459 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,119 Speaker 3: think a lot of people call them vogons. 460 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 2: Now, now I might correct that in this did he 461 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 2: also work on the nineteen eighty six Labyrinth the computer game? 462 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 3: Ah, there was a dabble. He did know Jim Henson, 463 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 3: and I know that he went to dinner with him, 464 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 3: and I know he got involved in a discussion group. 465 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 3: There was an educational thing that he was going to 466 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,160 Speaker 3: do with the muppets. Quite how much involvement he had, 467 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:50,200 Speaker 3: I don't know. It's not something that's terribly well documented. 468 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 3: And yeah, I can't really give you much on that, 469 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 3: but I know that that you know, he prized his 470 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 3: friendship with Jim Henson quite highly at the time. But 471 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 3: who knows what they would have created together that happened. 472 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 3: It would have been amazing. 473 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,480 Speaker 2: Both such creative individuals that died far too early. 474 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, I agree, Yeah, terribly missed both of them. 475 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:17,719 Speaker 2: I agree. Now, speaking of technology and also you know 476 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,600 Speaker 2: sci fi visions of technology, does Adams get enough credit 477 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 2: as a kind of futurist, at least at least as 478 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 2: far as you know technology is concerned. 479 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 3: I don't know how many people know about quite how 480 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 3: many conferences that he went to as a guest speaker 481 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 3: the world of sort of you know, geeks, nerds, whatever, 482 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 3: you know, the computer and the high tech world, even 483 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 3: to mobile phones and things like that. They clamored to 484 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 3: have him there because he was a very entertaining speaker. 485 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 3: He essentially gave pretty much the same speech I think 486 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 3: at quite a few conferences, and we have his notes 487 00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 3: from one of those speeches from right towards the end 488 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 3: of his tragically short life. But yes, he once told 489 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,239 Speaker 3: me on an interview in ninety two and he said, oh, 490 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,640 Speaker 3: I'm off to Japan next week or something. He said, 491 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 3: I'm giving a talk at this conference, and my audience 492 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 3: is going to include the head of Sony, Francis Faull Coppola, 493 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 3: and George Lucas. He was certainly mixing with interesting company 494 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 3: and the high tech side of things. Yeah, he knew 495 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 3: some very powerful people. I found a note about Jeff 496 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 3: Bezos in one of his notebooks. He wasn't above just 497 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 3: picking up the phone and ringing these people. You know, 498 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 3: he had ideas and he was communicating them quite early on. 499 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 3: He knew long before the most of us mere mortals 500 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 3: were really aware of the Internet. He was way ahead, 501 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 3: he knew and an interview I did with him further 502 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 3: Sci Fi Channel in ninety five, he was saying, then, 503 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 3: I want to get this country wired up, you know, 504 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 3: I want us to have a fighter to every home. 505 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 3: And that was a long way before. I mean, we 506 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 3: still don't have that now, but he was talking about that. 507 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 3: So yes, he was very aware, and he became more 508 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 3: and more aware of it. He was fascinated by real 509 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 3: science and that was his preferred reading matter in the 510 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 3: latter stages of his life, and we've kind of been 511 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 3: robbed of something. I think that he would have written 512 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 3: some real science books. I mean, his only factory book 513 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 3: was his favorite, and that was Last Chance to See. 514 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 3: But that was about endangered species, which was another hot 515 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 3: topic for him. He was asked by a newspaper to 516 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 3: go and be a sort of untrained observer for a 517 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 3: trip to Madagascar to go and look for a rare 518 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 3: species of lima called the II. And I interviewed him 519 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 3: in eighty five, just after he got back two weeks 520 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 3: after he got back, and he said, that was fascinating experience. 521 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 3: We went off into the jungle because the II is nocturnal, 522 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 3: it means ted talture. He loved it so much, and 523 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 3: they did get to see the II, which is the 524 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 3: most bizarre looking creature. And you said, I really enjoyed that. 525 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 3: I'd like I think I'd like to do more of that. 526 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,120 Speaker 3: And within a couple of years he was taking an 527 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:12,280 Speaker 3: entire year out to go around the world with Mark Carld, 528 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 3: the naturalist, and that they went to all sorts of 529 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 3: far flung places to look at endangered species and sort 530 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 3: of report upon them, mainly originally for a radio show, 531 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 3: but also with the idea that it would be a book. 532 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,160 Speaker 3: And they were given a big old chunk of money 533 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 3: to go and do this and to make these trips 534 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 3: and a series of different radio producer Sam mccordyce went 535 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 3: with them to make the radio shows. The radio show 536 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 3: varies slightly from the book. The book is pure Douglas. 537 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 3: It's about the fun and games they had just getting 538 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 3: to the places, so it's almost like a travelogue thing 539 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 3: of what it's like to go to these tiny, little 540 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 3: airstrips in the middle of Africa, where corrupt officials would 541 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 3: want their palms greased if they were going to let 542 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 3: you have your baggages, you know, you couldn't get your 543 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 3: suitcases unless you, you know, seen the right man sort. So, yeah, 544 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 3: he had some great stories to tell, and we've got 545 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 3: a couple of the stories that didn't make the book 546 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 3: are in this book. There's there's one where he went 547 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 3: to see some fruit bats and he was so preoccupied 548 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 3: with the fact that he'd been completely bitten all over 549 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 3: by mosquitos that he barely could look at the fruit bats. 550 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 3: But you know, he was an intrepid traveler. He liked 551 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 3: his home comforts. I mean, he really did go all 552 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 3: around the world and stay in some really swanky hotels. 553 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 3: But but he wasn't above roughing it and being you know, 554 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 3: in the outback or in jungles or whatever it took. 555 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 3: And he became very passionately fond of endangered species, and 556 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 3: he would have written more, I'm sure he would have. 557 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 3: He was reading on evolution and evolutionary theory. He was 558 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 3: keeping up to date and abreast of all the modern 559 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 3: technological trends. What he would have thought of today's situation 560 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 3: with AI. You know who knows we've been robbed of that, sadly. 561 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 3: And Jeffrey mcgiven, who played full Prefect on the radio, 562 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 3: he said, one thing we've been robbed of is Douglas's 563 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 3: view on being the parent of a teenage girl, because sadly, 564 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 3: he's a little girl. Polly was only six when he 565 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 3: passed away, so you know, he would have had a 566 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 3: take on what it was like to deal with a 567 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 3: teenage girl, you know, and all that. There's all sorts 568 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 3: of things that the family missing terribly. I know his 569 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 3: sisters and his brother and they champion him a lot. 570 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 3: They get involved in when we have memorial services or 571 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 3: we have there's an annual lecture science and comedy lecture 572 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:55,320 Speaker 3: in his name and organized partly by the family and 573 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,400 Speaker 3: partly by Save the Rhino International of which he was 574 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 3: a founder patron. 575 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's some photos in the book with some sort 576 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:04,400 Speaker 2: of a rhino costume, right. 577 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 3: That's fantastic costume. I think it was made originally for 578 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 3: a stage show. It's a caricature of a rhino really, 579 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 3: but it's quite familiar to Britain's for taking part in marathons, 580 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,719 Speaker 3: you know, city marathons and things like that. These rhinos 581 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 3: with their low slung head hanging down in front of 582 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:28,600 Speaker 3: the costumes fabulous designed by Gerald Scarf, fomous cartoonist. But yeah, 583 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:32,280 Speaker 3: Douglas took part in a trek. There was a team 584 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 3: that walked across part of Africa up to the top 585 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,239 Speaker 3: of Manculum Andnjara. I don't think Douglas made it up 586 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:43,200 Speaker 3: the mountain, but he did part of the sweltering in 587 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,280 Speaker 3: that costume in the African heat, and there are pictures 588 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 3: in the book of that and a very nice portrait 589 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 3: of him standing there holding the costume. Yeah. So yeah, no, 590 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,560 Speaker 3: it was serious about that. And also the Diane Fossy 591 00:34:55,600 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 3: Gorilla Fund. You know, he would give to those charities 592 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:01,399 Speaker 3: and support them. 593 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,319 Speaker 2: Tell us about Secret Empire and how this would have 594 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,320 Speaker 2: fit into the creative output of Douglas Adams. I know 595 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 2: the book. In the book, it's compared in scope to 596 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 2: something ultimately like Asimov's Foundation series. So like, what would 597 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 2: the tone and scope have been if this had come 598 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 2: to fruition and why didn't it come together? 599 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 3: I think it didn't come together primarily because the company 600 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 3: from which he was running that and proposing it was 601 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,960 Speaker 3: the Digital Village, which he set up with several people, 602 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 3: including his friend Robbie Stamp, and it went to the wall. 603 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:43,319 Speaker 3: Unfortunately in the dotcom bubble burst, you know, it was 604 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 3: not financed quite as strongly as they'd hoped, and so 605 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,640 Speaker 3: I don't know, it would have been a very expensive series. 606 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:55,319 Speaker 3: His ideas were quite extraordinary, and it was very much 607 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:59,120 Speaker 3: like we've now got foundation. Finally the technology is there 608 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,799 Speaker 3: now to make something as awesome as a story with 609 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,280 Speaker 3: that kind of scope. But that's what he was planning. 610 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 3: It was. The idea was called Secret Empire because the 611 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:13,600 Speaker 3: notion was that we nearmortals on Earth. We're not aware, 612 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:19,240 Speaker 3: but there's an international conspiracy of scientists and top people 613 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,640 Speaker 3: that are already out there exploring the Solar system more 614 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:28,280 Speaker 3: than we know, and over the centuries, and each series 615 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:31,880 Speaker 3: was going to be set another century later that we 616 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:35,040 Speaker 3: would go off, you know, if in the hopeful idea 617 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 3: that there would be many series of this, we would 618 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,240 Speaker 3: reach into the far flung future. And there were difference 619 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 3: engineers who were speculating using all kinds of theory about 620 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:50,400 Speaker 3: how the human race might reach out further, and all 621 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 3: the implications politically, scientifically, you know, across across those millennia, 622 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,440 Speaker 3: you know where would we end up. So it was 623 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:03,239 Speaker 3: quite far reaching, grand scope of an idea. And I 624 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,360 Speaker 3: remember him saying to me, he said, you'll be surprised. 625 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,719 Speaker 3: All I'm not doing science fiction. I am. I thought 626 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,560 Speaker 3: up another science fiction series, and I didn't know what 627 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,640 Speaker 3: it was at the time. He was keeping it quite 628 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:17,080 Speaker 3: his cards, quite close to his chest. But I last 629 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,040 Speaker 3: saw him in December of ninety eight when he was 630 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,240 Speaker 3: giving one of his speeches, a variation on the usual 631 00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:27,319 Speaker 3: speech to the Public Awareness of Science Drama Awards, which 632 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:29,600 Speaker 3: is something I'd been involved in since the year before. 633 00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 3: I'd been a guest speaker there whilst I was directing 634 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:39,280 Speaker 3: episodes of a science fiction series. And yeah, he was clearly, 635 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 3: you know, firing on all cylinders and he had great ideas. 636 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,880 Speaker 3: And then the following year ninety nine, he went and 637 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:49,120 Speaker 3: emigrated to live in California to get the movie done. 638 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:51,960 Speaker 3: That was the real reason for going. And sadly two 639 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 3: years later, after a strenuous workout in the gym, he 640 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:58,800 Speaker 3: collapsed and that was the end of him. I'm afraid. 641 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,440 Speaker 3: So I think the I think the Secret Project, I 642 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:06,560 Speaker 3: think that was something that it's time passed. You know. 643 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 3: It's a shame it didn't happen when it was first 644 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:13,040 Speaker 3: proposed in the mid nineties. But it's there in the book. 645 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:14,040 Speaker 3: If you want to have a look, there's a few 646 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,640 Speaker 3: pages from it. It's not the whole thing. In fact, 647 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:18,759 Speaker 3: now I don't think there's anything in the book which 648 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:21,200 Speaker 3: is the entire thing. It would be impossible. The book 649 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:23,600 Speaker 3: would be enormous. So what I've tried to do is 650 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:28,440 Speaker 3: find really good representative pages of everything, so you get 651 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:33,440 Speaker 3: a really broad suite of his life, his projects, the 652 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 3: surprising things that he did, you know, like working on 653 00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:42,400 Speaker 3: cartoons for children, and he did some sketch comedy for 654 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,680 Speaker 3: Pete Town's End of the Who, and all sorts of 655 00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:50,480 Speaker 3: snippets and tipbits that I found, And yeah, I think 656 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 3: you'll find something in there. It's one of those books 657 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,280 Speaker 3: that you can pick up and read a few pages 658 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,000 Speaker 3: and then come back to another time, or if you 659 00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,080 Speaker 3: want to work your way through the whole thing. It 660 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:03,040 Speaker 3: is vaguely chronological. Sometimes it's difficult to be sure because 661 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:06,440 Speaker 3: he didn't put a lot of dates on things. You know. 662 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,960 Speaker 3: The diaries, of course are dated, but they're not He 663 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,600 Speaker 3: wasn't using them to pour his heart out. They were 664 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:16,000 Speaker 3: really disappointment diaries, you know, which is a shame. But 665 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:20,279 Speaker 3: his notebooks are frequently undated. The other funny thing about 666 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 3: his notebooks was he would start a fresh notebook in 667 00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:26,400 Speaker 3: a burst of enthusiasm and you'd see it on the 668 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:28,960 Speaker 3: page and he would declare boldly, I'm now going to 669 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:33,600 Speaker 3: write something new every day, all big bold statements and 670 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:37,000 Speaker 3: lots of optimism, and then after about six or seven pages, 671 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:39,719 Speaker 3: that sort of fizzles out and the rest of the 672 00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:44,960 Speaker 3: book blank. Then he starts another notebook and it's just 673 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:48,719 Speaker 3: you know, he continues on another fresh It's like a 674 00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:51,319 Speaker 3: butterfly mind. He would flip from thing to thing and 675 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 3: try very hard to make it, to make it work, 676 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,400 Speaker 3: and then if he would get plunged into fits of despair, 677 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:03,359 Speaker 3: he was known to have depression occasionally. I think maybe 678 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:05,279 Speaker 3: less and less as his life went along, as he 679 00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:10,600 Speaker 3: got more successful. I think it helped. But yeah, he 680 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:15,040 Speaker 3: was a man of extraordinary enthusiasms, and that comes across 681 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:15,680 Speaker 3: on the page. 682 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:19,120 Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah. I haven't had a chance to look at 683 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:21,239 Speaker 2: the physical book, but I had the digital book, and 684 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,600 Speaker 2: you know, the layout is fabulous and it provides so 685 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:27,399 Speaker 2: much insight and it get, like you say, into these 686 00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:29,960 Speaker 2: different areas of his life, this sort of pyramid of 687 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:34,560 Speaker 2: interest really really a treat, a great introduction, I think, 688 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:36,839 Speaker 2: in some respects to the man for people who aren't 689 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:38,360 Speaker 2: familiar with him. But I could see this would be 690 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:42,160 Speaker 2: a cherished volume for Douglas Adams fans out there. 691 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:44,880 Speaker 3: Well, I hope, so, I mean that's that was the intention. 692 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:49,280 Speaker 3: So I hope we've fulfilled it. And I'm certainly delighted 693 00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:51,759 Speaker 3: with when the book arrived. I was quite surprised at 694 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,719 Speaker 3: the at the quality of it. That's that stood out 695 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:57,600 Speaker 3: to me. You know, it's something to be proud of. 696 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:03,680 Speaker 3: And yeah, I hope people will enjoy four to two 697 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:07,480 Speaker 3: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams. And we do 698 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:10,560 Speaker 3: explain forty two of the books we've given it. We've 699 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:12,800 Speaker 3: given it a little sub chapter. Excellent. 700 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:14,680 Speaker 2: Well, thanks for coming on the show, Kevin. This is 701 00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:15,320 Speaker 2: a lot of fun. 702 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:15,840 Speaker 3: Thank you. 703 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:18,560 Speaker 2: Thanks again to Kevin for coming on the show. The 704 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:22,480 Speaker 2: book again is forty two The Wildly Improbable Ideas of 705 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:25,520 Speaker 2: Douglas Adams. It is going to be available as a 706 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 2: physical book to you shortly. It's already available as an ebook, 707 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:31,719 Speaker 2: so go ahead and look it up an order or 708 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:36,880 Speaker 2: pre order wherever you get your volumes. Thanks as always 709 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:40,520 Speaker 2: to the excellent JJ Possway for producing the show, and 710 00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:42,960 Speaker 2: just a reminder that Stuff to Blow Your Mind is 711 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:46,960 Speaker 2: primarily a science podcast, with core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 712 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:50,640 Speaker 2: Listener to ail episodes on Mondays. On Wednesdays we have 713 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:54,000 Speaker 2: a short form monster fact or artifact episode, and on 714 00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:57,040 Speaker 2: Fridays we set aside most serious concerns to just talk 715 00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 2: about a weird film on Weird Houses Cinema. And if 716 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:02,600 Speaker 2: you would like to reach out to us well, you 717 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:05,040 Speaker 2: can email us at contact at stuff to blow your 718 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:13,400 Speaker 2: Mind dot com. 719 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:16,440 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 720 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:19,279 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 721 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:36,440 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listen to your favorite shows