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Children's reading lists

9 of the best Irish children’s books and authors

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Features

Puffin authors share the best books they received for Christmas

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Best kids’ books for superhero fans

And Another Thing...

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase

The long-awaited sixth series of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – the wittiest and most epic adventure yet!

Douglas Adams (Author) 
Douglas Noel Adams was born on 11 March 1952 in Cambridge. On leaving school, he won a scholarship to study English at Cambridge, where he joined the Footlights and later set up his own successful revue group, Adams-Smith-Adams. 
 
In 1977 Douglas met BBC Radio 4 producer Simon Brett, who felt that Douglas' style of humour should have its own show. Having been inspired by a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Europe, Douglas came up with a draft for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The worldwide phenomenon spawned by the radio series includes five novels, a book of scripts, two LPs, a television series, a computer game and two stage plays. 
 
In addition to Hitchhiker's, Douglas' work included two Dirk Gently detective novels and two humorous place-name 'dictionaries', The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff (both co-written with John Lloyd) as well as Last Chance to See, an account of a global search for rare and endangered species which he co-wrote with Mark Carwardine. 
 
His last series for Radio 4 was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future, a look at the advances mankind was likely to make in future years. He died suddenly of a heart attack, aged 49, in May 2001. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy feature film was produced in 2005, whilst both Stephen Mangan and Samuel Barnett have portrayed Dirk Gently on television in recent years.

The brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast series based on And Another Thing… the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker’s Guide “trilogy”. 
 
Winner of the 2019 Audie Award for Science Fiction. 
 
Forty years on from the first ever radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and friends return in six brand new episodes, in which they are thrown back into the Whole General Mish Mash in a rattling adventure involving Viking Gods and Irish Confidence Tricksters, with our first glimpse of Eccentrica Gallumbits and a brief but memorable moment with The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal. 
 
Starring John Lloyd as The Book, with Simon Jones as Arthur, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson and Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Jim Broadbent as Marvin the Paranoid Android and Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch, the cast also includes Samantha Béart, Toby Longworth, Andy Secombe, Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn, Jon Culshaw and Professor Stephen Hawking. 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018, the series is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. This edition also includes over 50 minutes of unbroadcast bonus material. 
 
Listeners are reminded that the relaxed attitude to danger provided by Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses is no substitute for running around, screaming. 
 
Music by Philip Pope 
Production research by Kevin Jon Davies 
Written and directed by Dirk Maggs 
Based on the novel And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer, with additional material by Douglas Adams 
Recorded at The Soundhouse Ltd. by Gerry O'Riordan 
Sound Design by Dirk Maggs 
Produced by Dirk Maggs, Helen Chattwell and David Morley 
A Perfectly Normal Production for BBC Radio 4

Douglas Adams

Eoin Colfer

Full Cast

Peter Jones

Geoffrey McGivern

Mark Wing-Davey

Susan Sheridan

Stephen Moore

Jim Broadbent

Simon Jones

Don't panic! This brand new collector's edition box set contains the only audiobooks you'll ever need on your galactic travels - the complete BBC radio productions of Douglas Adams's legendary saga. Included are: 
 
The two original series, the Primary and Secondary Phases, remastered by Dirk Maggs with vibrant sound and music and including a 55-minute feature programme, Douglas Adams's Guide tothe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and a fascinating 50-minute interview with Douglas Adams 
 
Extended editions of the Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases, directed by Dirk Maggs and featuring over 1½ hours of material not heard on BBC Radio 4 
 
The concluding Hexagonal Phase, with a further 50 minutes of extra unbroadcast content 
 
A special bonus disc featuring Douglas Adams's appearance on BBC Radio 4's Bookclub, in which he talks to James Naughtie and a group of readers about comedy, sci-fi, the creation of his characters and his influences 
 
Grab your towel, pour yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and get set for over 20 hours of unmissable radio adventure! 
 
Audio updated in 2020.

Eoin Colfer

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Complete Radio Series

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