Now approved at A395282

This is the story of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, perhaps the most remarkable, certainly the most sucessful book ever to come out of the great publishing house of Ursa Minor¹ - or at least the voice who played it.

'And Peter Jones as the Book', is how the credits always finished for the Radio show the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. What a dry voice it was, a voice that you couldn't possible Panic to, so on 8 March 1978, the legendary voice was first heard as "The Book".

Peter Jones was born at Wem in Shropshire, on 12 June 1920. He left what he'd called 'a tenth-rate public school' to join the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton. His first job in showbusiness lasted just five minutes.

However undeterred by this early failure he made his first broadcast in a production of Arnold's Bennett's 'The Card, and so that voice was first heard by a mass audience. He made his West End ² stage debut during the Second World War. His most famous appearance³ on Televison was as Mr. Fenner, the long suffering factory boss in 'The Rag Trade' which had an audience of 14 million in the 1960's.

However Peter will best be remembered for his radio performances. Whether improvising on a subject and trying to peak for Just a Minute or as the quizmaster on 'Twenty Questions'. However the voice that still makes sure you 'Don't Panic' was his performance as 'The Book' in the 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.