On a windy afternoon a new researcher showed up and stated that he was 'Trying to interview a human'.

After a little chasing around a likely candidate was found!

 "
Now if you want to know the answer to the ultimate question of life the universe and everything, then you can do worse then listen to the radio tonight.

The HitchHikers Guide To The Galaxy is returning to its original home, twenty six years after the show was first broadcast but The torch has been carried on on the web by some thing called h2g2 which is on BBC's huge mega site and Jim Sangster from h2g2 is on the line now to tell us something about it. It is a bit of a success has it not been Jim?

The whole franchise of The Hitchhikers has been fantastic. It started off as a radio series then it became a tv series, then a book. It's been a novelty towel, it's been a game. And now we've got the new radio series with the mostly original cast and, yes, it's going quite well.

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It has kind of gone out from that original idea of the answer to the life the universe and everything into all sorts of different colours. I mean, looking at your website and people post in the most extraordinary sort of explanations of things.

That's right, yes. I mean the idea for h2g2 is a sort of real live version of the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. I mean fans know that it's written in the books that earth was just lifted out as mostly harmless. So the idea that Douglas Adams had when he set up h2g2 was to sort of redress the balance and look at the real history, the science and the culture and everything about earth.

 "
And this is a sort of community of people who can sort of log in and say whatever they like - well, within reason, whatever they like?

Yes. We've got people from all over the world. Lots of college students from Ohio, teachers in Hong Kong, you know, people from all over the world. They just want to join in and help in creating this guide.

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And does it still refer back to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

It does in a way, I mean we sort of perpetuated the metaphor of the whole guide thing, but we're not really a fan site; we're not looking for recipes for 'gargle blasters' or 'vogon poetry'. Although some people do that as part of the wider community aspect of it.

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And it's now built up a huge archive?

A massive archive. I mean, we've sort of an edited version which consist of seven thousand entries but we've also got thousands of other entries on all matters from, say, life, the universe and everything.

 "
Well thanks for joining us Jim Sangster. I know you'll be glued to the radio for tonight, but thanks for joining us for what is h2g2. The time is now six minutes to five.

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Sites | HitchHikers local | HitchHikers Cult |
HitchHikers Radio

Articles | HitchHikers Comedy | Ask Douglas Adams | Search HooToo

External | Registered Radio

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Bill Whiteford interviewed
Jimster

Transcript by Traveller in Time

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