History Radio / TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy

* {{Retcon}}: The entire Secondary Phase is AllJustADream Zaphod had, to cover for the Tertiary Phase opening with Ford and Arthur still being stranded on prehistoric Earth.

* HeyItsThatVoice: StephenFry is Arthur's friend Murray Bost Henson.

The cast was fairly consistent across the board, with only Peter Jones and Richard Vernon being replaced in the last three seasons due to AuthorExistenceFailure. Even death didn't stop Creator/DouglasAdams from putting in an appearance in Seasons 3 and 5, despite the fact that he ''wasn't'' reprising a previous character.

The cast was fairly consistent across the board, with only Peter Jones and Richard Vernon being replaced in the last three seasons due to existence failure. Even death didn't stop Creator/DouglasAdams from putting in an appearance in Season 3, despite the fact that he ''wasn't'' reprising a previous character.

* VengefulVendingMachine: Arthur Dent, sick of getting bad tea from the Nutri-Matic machine, gives it a lengthy lecture on the nature and history of good tea. The machine hijacks the starship's entire computing power to work on the problem, leaving the ship defenceless against a missile attack. Arthur gets his tea in the end, though.

A RadioDrama on [[TheBBC BBC Radio 4]] which later became the basis for [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy various spin-offs]]. It (technically) ran for twenty-six years and as many episodes.

** Played straight when the episode featuring the destruction of the Guide offices was broadcast on [[TheBBC Radio 4]] [[TooSoon shortly after 9/11]].

It started with only two seasons in 1978-1980. It was later mixed-and-matched into the first two novels. It was later revived in 2003 and spawned three more seasons based on the last three books by DouglasAdams.

The cast was fairly consistent across the board, with only Peter Jones and Richard Vernon being replaced in the last three seasons due to existence failure. Even death didn't stop DouglasAdams from putting in an appearance in Season 3, despite the fact that he ''wasn't'' reprising a previous character.

** [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Season Naming]]: Primary Phase, Secondary Phase, etc.

Creator/{{Hipgnosis}} did the cover art for the British releases of the soundtrack albums.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Fit the First, Fit the Second, etc. This is a reference to LewisCarroll's ''TheHuntingOfTheSnark''.

* {{Retcon}}: The entire Secondary Phase is just a dream Zaphod had, to cover for the Tertiary Phase opening with Ford and Arthur still being stranded on prehistoric Earth.

* VengefulVendingMachine: Arthur Dent, sick of getting bad tea from the Nutri-Matic machine, gives it a lengthy lecture on the nature and history of good tea. The machine hijacks the starship's entire computing power to work on the problem, leaving the ship defenceless against a missile attack. Arthur gets his tea in the end, though.

* RelaxOVision: During the approach to Magrathea where, supposedly in order to help combat rising stress levels in the galaxy, it was carefully explained to the audience that no one was going to get killed in the ensuing confusion -- although one unidentified person would be bruised on the arm.

A RadioDrama on [[TheBBC BBC Radio 4]] which later became the basis for [[TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy various spin-offs]]. It (technically) ran for twenty-six years and as many episodes.

-->'''Zaphod:''' Oh, god. [rapidly] Ford, this is Trillian, Hi. Trillian, this is my semi-cousin Ford who shares three of the same mothers as me. Hi. [...] Zaphod Beeblebrox, this is a very large drink. Hi.

* Creator/{{Hipgnosis}}: Did the cover art for the British releases of the soundtrack albums.

* DeadlyEuphemism: Played with. Hig Hurstenflurst explains his use of "revoked" to Arthur by spelling it out as "k-i-l-l-e-d."
** This is part of a larger legal wrangle where (for various reasons) the representatives of a cloning agency were trying to get murder redefined in law. They'd managed to have the word legally changed, but not the spelling.
** Earlier in the series, Slartibartfast threatens Arthur that he will be "late" as in "the late [[TheNameIsBondJamesBond Dent Arthur Dent]]" unless Arthur comes with him.
*** "[[DontExplainTheJoke It's a sort of threat, you see...]]"

* DoTheyKnowItsChristmasTime: Fit the Seventh was almost a Christmas special in which Marvin would have been both figuratively and literally the star (of Bethlehem), and by participating in a nativity scene would be cured of his depression. This concept was WhatCouldHaveBeen; the episode broadcast instead on 24 December 1978 was the pilot for the second series.

!!This work contains examples of:
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: The final fate of Wowbagger.
* BackForTheFinale: The ending sequence of the final episode of the Quintessential Phase (and the final episode of the radio series altogether) has the return of Fenchurch and Marvin, as well as Max Quordlepleen, the Great Prophet Zarquon, Wowbagger, Lintilla, Prosser, and a few other bit players.
* CastingGag: Geoffrey Perkins, Douglas Adams's boss at the BBC, plays Arthur Dent's boss at the BBC.
* ContentWarnings:
** One episode of the Tertiary Phase finishes with the warning: "The preceding program contains scenes of extreme violence which may be disturbing to some viewers. Time travellers of a nervous disposition may wish to consider listening to something else for the previous half-hour."
** Played straight when the episode featuring the destruction of the Guide offices was broadcast on [[TheBBC Radio 4]] [[TooSoon shortly after 9/11]].

* [[spoiler:EverybodyLives: All the core cast manages to survive at the very end of the series, including Trillian and her alternate self (who merge into a single being), Marvin (who was still under warranty when he expired), and Fenchurch (who had been waiting at Milliway's since she seemingly ceased to exist). And the Vogons fail to eradicate every Earth.]]
* HeyItsThatVoice: StephenFry is Arthur's friend Murray Bost Henson.

* RemakeCameo: Inverted--cast members of [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the remake]] play roles in the continuation of the original series:
** The Quintessential Phase series had Sandra Dickinson, Trillian in [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the TV version]], voice Tricia [=McMillan=] (Trillian's alternate universe counterpart).
** David Dixon, the TV Ford Prefect, also had a cameo in the second episode of the Quandary Phase, getting pissed off at Arthur for trying to donate to save the dolphins when he should know they've all vanished. (This case is lampshaded, as Arthur--still played by Simon Jones, who acted alongside Dixon in the TV series--asks if they've met before.)
** Chris Langham, Arthur Dent from the 1979 Institute of Contemporary Arts stage production of ''Hitchhiker's'', pops up as Prak in the finale of the Tertiary Phase.
* {{Retcon}}: The entire Secondary Phase is just a dream Zaphod had, to cover for the Tertiary Phase opening with Ford and Arthur still being stranded on prehistoric Earth.

* SoundEffectBleep: Fit the Sixteenth from the Tertiary Phase. The book ''Life, The Universe And Everything'' on which the Phase was based featured an award for "The Most Gratuitous Use of the Word Fuck in a Serious Screenplay"; since it was scheduled to be broadcast at 6.30 pm the word was still uttered by the actor but completely masked by the sound of a starship engine.

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