Writer Douglas Adams is best known for his four part trilogy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (a radio drama, collection of novels, TV series and feature film) in addition to serving as acting script editor for Doctor Who in 1978. During the 80’s a strong following developed, attracted to his unique vision and sense of humor. One of his lesser known creation, Dirk Gently, has been adapted for TV by Howard Overman (Misfits) and Damon Thomas (The First Men In The Moon, Crooked House).
Looking like a bumbling mad version of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes comes Stephen Mangan (Green Wing, Hyperdrive) as the detective Dirk Gently. Based on two of Douglas Adams’ three novels featuring the holistic detective, the series has finally received a BBC trailer.
Mangan is very excited about the project: “I’ve been a fan of Douglas Adams ever since the Hitchhiker’s radio series which I used to record as a child and listen to over and over again in my bedroom. It’s such a thrill to now be playing one of his brilliant characters. Dirk is a chaotic, anarchic force of nature with a totally unique take on the world. He is described as ‘lazy, untidy, dismissive and unreliable’. I’ve absolutely no idea why they thought I’d be right for the role.”
http://www.youtube.com/v/aBOl1OW7nnM?fs=1&hl=en_US
No word on a US release as yet.
The Daily P.O.P. 
I understand Douglas Adams took a lot of ideas for ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency from his unbroadcast Dr. Who story ‘Shada.’ Not read Dirk Gently, but I am sure it is good.
I am not a huge fan of Douglas Adams. I love ‘City of Death’ and like ‘Pirate Planet’ but he was always better at humour and ideas rather than straight science fiction. The particular season of Dr. Who that he script edited had some really badly made stories, such as ‘Creature from the Pit’ and ‘Horns of Nimon’.
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The detective in City of Death is sort of like Dirk Gently. As for the Pirate Planet, I can’t find anything nice to say about it. It is the start of the silly period of Baker’s era. City of Death is better.
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I agree on series 17 being poor with very few exceptions. Adams just didn’t really mix well with Who for some reason and that series brought out what I consider the ‘worst’ in Baker’s performance; hammy over-blown silliness.
The one thing I can say about Pirate Planet is that it has the best moment of outrage from the Doctor I have ever seen. The bit where he explodes ‘what’s it for!’ at the Captain is just amazing. But the rest? It’s a very rough road. I’m actually planning a long review of Key to Time in the near future.
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I will be looking forward to reading your reviews on the Key to Time.
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Just started reviewing Key to Time tonight. Please feel free to let your thoughts known.
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I’m a huge fan of the Key to Time. For all the faults of Season 15 and Season 17, Season 16 is the point where the Graham Williams era came together. Even the Power of Kroll is not nearly as bad as some people make out.
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I’d be interested in reading your thoughts on my Ribos Operation review.
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The Pirate Planet has some great dialogue.
It also has some clever touches such as the nurse gradually becoming a more prominent character and the Captain turning out to be a lot cleverer than he appears.
The Captain and the very camp Mr. Fibuli are such a brilliant double act that one could be forgiven for thinking they were written by Robert Holmes.
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I read the Hitchhiker’s Guide books… but never read Dirk Gently, though I’m sure I bought at least one of them.
If this show makes it to BBC America I’ll be sure to take a look though.
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