The six episodes that make up the first series of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy stands proudly next to Desert Island Discs, The Archers and Shipping Forecast as one of the most iconic representatives of British radio and just as timeless. But the fact is, the audiobook is even better.
Gulp! Did you really just read that? How can anything be better than those landmark six radio episodes? Even the television series only managed to be AS good as the original, so how can this audiobook (which you’ve probably never heard of) possibly be better?
Firstly, Douglas Adams manages to be even more hilarious in prose. Though purists beware because I am reviewing an abridgement (which must be sacrilegious in certain quarters). The book of the radio episodes takes some of the bits from the radio play to alter them slightly or re-work them work better, the narrated abridgement occasionally follows suit. It’s all done in the service of presenting an adaptation suitable for the printed page or, the case of the audiobook, not exceed the runtime of the cassette tapes.
Stephen Moore, voice of Marvin the depressed android, reads this audiobook. He’s got a warm voice that suits the off the wall humour. The jokes all hit the right beat, and he has a surprising range. Moore gives a different cadence to almost every character, instantly evoking the radio versions, but also giving us something fresh. I think having one of the original cast members on board was a really smart idea and gives these readings a kind of official status. And though it might be blasphemous to say this, he’s almost better than Peter Jones at being the voice of the Guide.
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