TV Review: BBC’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1981)

23 Jun

It’s completely absurd, and yet I was completely along for the ride. I hand it to the British who go about their comedy without warning or apology. Take it or leave it, but The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy British humor and societal commentary at its best.

The title credits from the 1981 BBC miniseries reading "The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams — Adapted from the BBC Radio Series," displayed in metallic lettering against a starfield background.

In a way, it’s that absurdity, that choice to disregard the logical in favor of a radical representation of what life would be like if humans were completely annihilated. One though, Arthur Dent, is lucky enough to come face-to-face with the terms of the galaxy’s bureaucratic existence and its role in the inconvenience of life, the universe, and everything.

A still from the 1981 BBC miniseries showing Zaphod Beeblebrox with his prosthetic second head visible over his left shoulder, seated next to Arthur Dent in the cockpit of their spaceship. Both are wearing colorful, eclectic 1980s sci-fi costuming.

We begin with Arthur’s house about to be demolished for a bypass. But so is Earth. Thankfully, his friend, Ford Prefect, is an undercover researcher for the next edition of the intergalactic travel guide, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Ford finds a way to get them off Earth seconds before the Vogons, the universe’s most bureaucratic species, reduce it to rubble.

The Vogons don’t destroy Earth because they’re bad, but because the paperwork was filed on time and no one from Earth objected to the plans on display millions of miles away. It’s quite a commentary.

It’s six episodes of traveling in a bathrobe, stolen starships, a two-headed President of the Galaxy, a depressed robot named Marvin, whose vast intelligence makes him paranoid and depressed, and the search for the answer to the question of life.

A personal shoutout to Marvin – the paranoid robot engineered with Genuine People Personalities who loathes his existence and feels everyone should be as miserable as him. Depending on the day, he is completely relatable.

Arthur Dent, wearing a plaid bathrobe, sits on a rock beside Marvin the Paranoid Android — a boxy, silver robot standing to his left. Both look off into the distance.

Yes, this is 1981 BBC. Expect effects and props built solely from imagination. Although I quite enjoyed the old computer graphic overlays used throughout.

As the Guide tells us on its front cover, Don’t Panic. Sit back and enjoy the journey into one of Britain’s greatest comedic outputs (and cult followings).

P.S. The 2005 film staring Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, and Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin, does not disappoint either, but I recommend watching the TV series so you get the full scope of Douglas Adam’s created universe and farcical renderings of authority and management.

The TV series is available on Kanopy here. (Free with your Hoboken Public card).

DVD in the BCCLS system here.

Bluray in the BCCLS system here.

Interested in the book? Reserve it in the BCCLS system here or borrow as a digital audiobook here.

Comment below your thoughts once you’ve had a watch.

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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant

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Award Winning Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction: The Last Cuentista, Night Owls, and The Darkness Outside Us

18 Jun

The Last Cuentista
by Donna Barba Higuera
The Last Cuentista won the prestigious Newbery Medal and Pura Belpré Award in 2022. This post apocalyptic Middle Grade Novel starts just as comet is scheduled to hit and cause catastrophic damage to the earth. Petra’s parents want her to follow in their footsteps and study science, but she longs to be a storyteller, like her abuelita (grandmother). Her family are part of the few picked to travel to a new world to start over. Petra is supposed to sleep through the transit to a new world, but when she wakes up she discovers that the other sleeping passengers who have survived have had their mind’s erased by a genetically modified collective who seeks peace through wiping out all memories of Earth and its culture. This story is definitely a bit dark and could be triggering for those who have recently lost family members themselves, but it also brings with it a sense of hope that we can each do our parts to create a better world. I also think its message of the importance of remembering our traditions and stories and how they can be an uplifting source of good is an important one that will resonate with many.

Night Owls
by A.R. Vishny
Night Owls is a winner of a National Jewish Book Award Winner and Sydney Taylor Book Award. This paranormal fantasy for teens set in New York, focuses on two “sisters” who are estries (female vampires who shape shift into owls and feed on men, as depicted in Jewish folklore). Molly is in love with a human girl who goes missing and will need her sister, Clara’s help to find her, despite Clara’s rules that neither of them should ever fall in love. Boaz, the young Jewish man who works at their theater, may also be of help or a hindrance as Clara tries to stop her own romantic feelings towards him from taking flight. I found this to be an engaging story and I enjoyed the exploration of family relationships as well as romantic and friendship bonds that the story explores.

The Darkness Outside Us
by Eliot Schrefer
The Darkness Outside Us was one of the Stonewall Honor books chosen by the ALA, for LGBTQIA+ Young Adult Literature in 2022. The story focuses on two 17 year-olds who are sent into space for a rescue mission of the one’s sister. The story is told from the perspective of the child of wealthy industrialist from a liberal country and the other teen is from the only other country left on earth, which is more conservative and communist. Despite their differences, they are drawn to each other. This novel will appeal to to older teens who enjoy their Science Fiction with a bit of romance. I enjoyed the epistemological exploration throughout the story. Also refreshing is that the story feels truly humanity against their environment and circumstances with the two main characters having different perspectives, but neither being portrayed as “right.”

These books are so well crafted that they also have appeal to adults as well as teens. We read The Last Cuentista for our Science Fiction and Fantasy discussion in March and Night Owls in April. The Darkness Outside Us is scheduled for the July discussion.

Sincerely,
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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