History Main / DirkGently

* ''Series/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency2016'' is a 2016 BBC America television series.

* "Series/DirkGently'sHolisticDetectiveAgency2016 is a 2016 BBC America television series.

[[redirect:Literature/DirkGently]]

''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' and ''Literature/TheLongDarkTeaTimeOfTheSoul'' are the two books written by DouglasAdams (of ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' fame) starring the character Dirk Gently. A third novel under the working title ''TheSalmonOfDoubt'' was in the works, but its publication was prevented by [[AuthorExistenceFailure Adams' death]].

Dirk is a small-scale con artist whose latest scheme is working as a "Holistic Detective", who believes in the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things" and how that means that ''anything'' might prove useful in solving the ''whole'' cases of his clients -- which, the way he sees it, means that he can do anything he likes, even take a three-week tropical vacation, and still charge it to the client as an expense. Of course, by FinaglesLaw, ''somehow'' every mundane little job he starts off working on in each novel is somehow actually connected to the main plot, and ''he's'' the one who has to solve everything.

Both books were adapted for [[TheBBC BBC radio]] in 2007, starring Harry Enfield as Dirk. An ongoing BBC TV adaptation, ''Series/DirkGently'', stars [[GreenWing Stephen Mangan]].
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!!Individual entries:

* ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency''
* ''Literature/TheLongDarkTeaTimeOfTheSoul''
* ''TheSalmonOfDoubt''

!!This series as a whole provides examples of:
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* AuthorExistenceFailure: Midway through the writing of the third book. After Adams's death, parts of the unfinished manuscript were published along with various other writings extracted from his Macintosh in ''TheSalmonOfDoubt''.
* BavarianFireDrill: Dirk's favorite way of getting places he shouldn't be.
* ChekhovsArmoury: Dirk isn't wrong--''everything'' that happens in these books is ultimately important. The ''Dirk Gently'' books embody this trope really because they are all about the interconnectedness of everything. Chekov's Armoury isn't just a device Adams used, it's what he based the whole book on.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Dirk's "holistic" philosophy of detection argues that ''anything'' that happens to him or his client is bound to have some relationship to the mystery at hand, no matter how remote the connection. Due to his LaserGuidedKarma (see below), this actually ''works'' for him, bringing this trope repeatedly into effect, often to his disgust.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Whatever Dirk claims to believe in order to extract cash from gullible people invariably turns out to really be true, but always in such a way that he looks bad, sometimes in such a way that he suffers physical or emotional trauma, and never in such a way that he gets the money.
* NotSoPhonyPsychic: As described above under LaserGuidedKarma; Dirk has twice [[PhonyPsychic posed as a psychic]], been uncannily right both times, and got arrested for it the first time. He now spends a lot of time insisting to people who were there that he's ''not'' psychic. Usually they don't believe him and his reputation from the ''first'' incident often precedes him.
* OccultDetective
* PerpetualPoverty: Dirk never seems to have much money -- a RunningGag in ''Holistic Detective Agency'' is his secretary quitting over not getting paid -- and most certainly never gets paid by ''his'' clients. He manages to stay in his office, flat, etc, through arranging the situation so that it would be more inconvenient to actually eject him or force him to pay than just let him be and hope that he'll pay some day.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: In response to the LaserGuidedKarma mentioned above, Dirk has also, on at least one occasion, stood outside, fist clenched at the sky, and screamed for life to stop screwing with him.
* ViewersAreGeniuses

!!Adaptations with their own trope page include:

* ''Series/DirkGently'' (BBC TV series)

!!Other adaptations of this series provide examples of:

* ShoutOut: The BBC radio adaptions of the novels re-use several sound effects from ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', and include a reference to the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation.

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''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' and ''Literature/TheLongDarkTeaTimeOfTheSoul'' are the two books written by DouglasAdams (of ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' fame) starring the character Dirk Gently. A third novel under the working title ''TheSalmonOfDoubt'' was in the works, but its publication was prevented by [[AuthorExistenceFailure Adams' death]].

* ShoutOut: The BBC radio adaptions of the novels re-use several sound effects from ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', and include a reference to the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Dirk's "holistic" philosophy of detection argues that ''anything'' that happens to him or his client is bound to have some relationship to the mystery at hand, no matter how remote the connection. Due to his LaserGuidedKarma (see below), this actually ''works'' for him, no doubt to his disgust.