The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase (Dramatised)

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the HHGG.

As always, a PHENOMENAL bit of work by the BBC. Sound design is inspired and hearing the original radio show cast (minus a few who have, sadly , left us) is the auditory and emotional equivalent of slipping into a cherished pair of comfortable slippers. Truly wonderful stuff, that.

The rest is a bit troublesome.

Eoin Coffer is a brave author to wade into a pool as deep and sacred as Douglas Adams' eccentrically-named Hitchhiker's Trilogy and take on what was surely a lose-lose scenario: create a wholly new work and find it greeted as "not Hitchhiker's enough" or delve deep into the lore and find himself accused of coasting along atop Douglas' hard-won success.

To me, a die-hard Hitchhiker's fan since its first broadcast, the work comes off as clunky pastiche at best and fanfic at worst. It sounds like Douglas(ish.) And I suppose it sounds like Eoin(ish) but it feels overstuffed so chock-full of refences from the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that the work just feels forced. The parts that are original in tone or content, meanwhile, feel poorly integrated, and the whole thing reads like 2 authors writing, lightly at odds with each other while simultaneously attempting to mimic each other's style.

That said, the audio production itself is the work's saving grace. The original cast dances though the almost-but-not-quite-entirely-unlike-Douglas Adams prose as if Douglas had written it himself in the office down the hall from the recording studio. In their hands, and the capable hands of the sound designers, who pepper the saga with light callbacks to the original radio's sound, the work is elevated to far more than the sum of its parts.

If you're a fan, or a completist, or a fan who is a completist, yes, you'll probably have to own this work. It's fun to hear familiar voices, and the performances are sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, but I felt so often that just as I had gotten into the groove of hearing Zaphod, Trillian, Ford, Arthur or the Guide itself, along came some clunky new stuff that just didn't fit the groove, or worse, a callback to the original works that felt so ham-handed and obvious that it knocked me right out of the merry suspension of disbelief needed to enjoy the Hitchhiker's universe.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Like talking to a robotic version of an old friend

As always I enjoyed the performances from the actors and the quality of the recording. but there's something a little off with this one and it's abundantly clear from the get-go. Eoin Colfer does a serviceable job to return us to the universe that Douglas Adams created, but it always feel like a watered down version.

That being said, I still enjoyed it. There were many times I laughed at the absurdity of it all, and that reminds me of the originals.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Enjoyed it—but also disappointed by it

It was brilliant to hear the original cast bring the radio show back to life again. There were a few almost-Adams-quality jokes—I laughed aloud once, which I hadn’t expected to do without the man himself at the helm—but the overall effect was marred by a number of inconsistencies and inaccuracies (“Zark” was not used quite so generously by Adams, nor in such a way [‘Zark this, zark that’... it just didn’t feel authentic]; there was no need for further hyperspace bypasses due to a technological breakthrough just prior to the destruction of Earth II, so why were the Vogons still using hyperspace bypasses to travel [I can get behind their excuse that they had to kill Earthlings too, but every detail matters, and the details were often inaccurate]; language like “bastard” and “crap” [I mean honestly, a little more creativity, please?] came up way too often; there was more sexual humor than in the originals; Trillian acted massively out of character [really? She would just fling herself on Wowbagger like that? I don’t think so]; on and on.) True, Adams himself included inconsistencies (with a flourish!) between versions, but I found the lack of continuity between radio show seasons unfortunate. Adams did maintain consistency within each respective version, after all. On the brighter side, Ford felt delightfully true-to-life, and I appreciated the moments when I could almost convince myself that Adams had penned a joke or two.

Overall, though, it felt rather contrived—both trying too hard and not trying hard enough at the same time. I’m wishing someone other than Colfer had been chosen to add to the series. It was pleasantly nostalgic, but I feel that someone who knew the series better or at least cared to do more thorough research would have produced a wittier, more accurate extension. Not much one can do without Adams himself, I suppose. A decent effort, though, and worth a listen.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Something that should never have been done. Stick with the trilogy, in five parts.

To think that anyone could continue this without it being glaringly obviously a gargantuan suckfest is evidence of their, whomever they may be’s, enormous ego.
1. The new voice of the narrator, wether by design or accident sounds like a badly conceived Siri/Alexa clone. It literally in parts sounds like individual words have been pasted together to form a sentence. The previous voices have had presence and personality, traits we have become familiar with. This new approach is jarring to say the least, and enough at most to make the listener realise that purchasing the book even to satisfy their curiosity is a mistake of galactic proportions.
2. The story is at best a badly conceived rehash of all the other stories, put through a blender, in the hope that what comes out the other end resembles the quality of the ingredients put into the mix in the first place. It doesn’t.
3. The constant references to old material feel forced, and only there to support the week structure of thee narrative and to convince us that this belongs in the canon. It definitely does not.
4. The only thing that is good about this is that the original actors, and the pre-existing fragments from the previous stories serve as a tragic reminder of what we have enjoyed from our past and sadly lost for our future.
I said this when the book was announced, when it was published, and I reiterate the sentiment now....
No, just no.

awesome

awesome ending to the series. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is something of a Bible to me I love it.

No real storyline

I love THHGTTG, but this isn't really it. Seems like the scrips tries too hard to be funny. And there are new and strange things introduced with a 'trying to explain them like the original' explanation, and there is no way to further explore or explain these things, because it all seems to be a long and unnessecery ending. Sorry.

Felt like a sitcom

This felt very much like a sitcom and not at all like the old Hitchhikers

Great end to a great series.

I've listened to the entire series, and have appreciated them all. This production, with the different actors, allowed my imagination to be fully engaged. Enjoy!

Not Douglas Adams, But Still Fantastic!

This books as the sixth book in the H2G2 trilogy is a fantastic addition to the Douglas Adams five. Some of the points and changes to story of the last (5th) book I can overlook for story and the joy of getting to see the characters once more. The pace feels different than the Douglas Adams written stories, but it still holds up on it's own.

meh<br />

it failed to Catch the magic of the previous phases, in humor and in story

0 of 3 people found this review helpful