Product Description

Many are familiar with Douglas Adams's classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, but few know that these books started out as a multi-part series performed on BBC radio. This installment, part four, is a robust radio dramatization of So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. The Earth has miraculously reappeared and Arthur Dent is in love with the otherworldly Fenchurch, but Ford Prefect has an idea that might burst Arthur’s happy little bubble. What is really going on with Arthur’s dream girl, where have all the dolphins gone, and what was their departing message to mankind?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186599 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-25
• Formats: Audiobook, CD, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio CD

From Publishers Weekly
This quick little addition to the series, far more subdued than the previous "phase," is paradoxically a better introduction for newcomers to Adams's often imitated brand of satire. Arthur Dent, the series' protagonist and straight man, returns home to a destroyed and rebuilt Earth (identical to the one he left but for the lack of dolphins) and promptly falls in love. The object of his clumsy affections is Fenchurch, a young woman who had been on the verge of comprehending the secret to eternal contentment when Earth was destroyed. In order to recover her lost revelation, Fenchurch and Arthur (and some of his old hitchhiking friends) seek out God's final message to his creation, written in fire on the top of a mountain in a distant part of the galaxy. The story is straightforward by series standards and depends little on previous (and, as yet, unreleased) episodes of the radio program; the humor is decidedly low-key and the running time surprisingly short. All of this allows easy access for first timers, but won't leave a big impression on fans, especially after the promise of the perfectly zany Tertiary Phase. (Nov.)
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From AudioFile
Based on SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH, this BBC production follows Arthur Dent, the last survivor of Earth, who has discovered that humanity has merely been relocated to an alternate Earth. After getting the hang of traveling the universe, Dent returns to Earth to resume his life, but, of course, the universe is never that simple. This episodic radio comedy certainly delivers the continuity of the original series from the 1970s. Simon Jones masterfully reprises his role as Dent as if 25 years hadn't passed. With other voices from the original and slightly updated sound effects, this audiobook delivers all the guilty pleasures that made this series popular so long ago. L.E. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Quandary Phase *indeed*!
Hi there! Don't panic, I'm just going to give you enough information to tell you that, if you already own the primary, secondary, and tertiary phases of this, as I do, then you're going to want this, *but* be advised that this is probably the weakest of the sets so far, which is why I'm only giving it four stars instead of five.

Also, you ought to know that, unlike the first three sets, this one is only two discs, or four episodes, long, and that the person credited as "Christian Slater" is not really Christian Slater, but instead . . . Well, if you're a fan of audiobooks as I am, you'll recognize his voice instantly. He's actually very well cast, since he is in fact in California, and his initials are . . . Actually, his initials would give the whole game away. So I won't tell you that either. But he's done a lot of readings of his own work, and recently, he's done a lot of other readings also, for authors as disparate as Ursula K. LeGuin and Orson Scott Card. There. So now you should know.

I'm certainly glad that "they" decided to finally finish this series, even though poor Douglas Adams has been gone for so very long now. And also, I'm rather astonished that not only Jane Horrocks (a personal favorite of mine) but also Bill Patterson and Stephen Fry would join in on the fun. I'm glad to have gotten this, and look forward to the exciting conclusion (even though, of course, I've already read the books)!

Arthur Dent falls in love after re-discovering Earth
Douglas Adams' THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: QUANDARY PHASE provides 4 episodes on 2 cds as it returns with a new, full-cast dramatization of SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH, the fourth book in Adams' 'trilogy in five parts'. The Earth has reappeared, Arthur Dent has found it, and all seems well - until he falls in love. You can't go wrong backed with a full-cast performance from the BBC.

The Original is still better
As a fellow fan of HHGG, allow me to share with you my copy of ALL 12 of the Original BBC series broadcasts from 1980 in an MP3 format. The original audio is even better than the book or this bland, confusing audio sequal. (Zephod's heads are in stereo in the original.) I have posted the 30 minute episodes of the Original series (which are NOT available anywhere else) on my Hotmail Skydrive space at:

http://cid-0493e421824a27f2.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/HitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy

Enjoy!