By James Thrift, Douglas Adams' Brother

As a young boy, I used sit in the bedroom down at the end of the corridor watching Douglas tap away at his typewriter, occasionally stopping to gaze out of the window, the odd wry grin followed by furious typing. Hitchhikers was being born for the first time.

As the years progressed that scenario was oft repeated as Hitchhikers was born into each new medium, the books, TV series, album, stage production and computer game. The typewriter became an Apple Mac, the bedroom became Islington, and some would say the gaps between the wry grins became longer, but sadly for Douglas despite writing numerous screenplays, the jewel in the Hitchhikers crown evaded him, the movie.

Now 20 years after Douglas leapt onto that first plane to Hollywood, the family having decided that we really did want to see this film made, the movie is finally here, it’s finished, the world premiere is on Wednesday, the global release only a week or so away.

I saw the finished product last week, I must say it was nerve racking going into the screening knowing what Douglas wanted to achieve with the film, how he envisaged dealing with this, how he wanted to portray that, and wondering if it was ever going to live up to that expectation.

I needn’t have worried, the only un-Douglas thing about this film is that it was finished on time.

The story is unequivocally Hitchhikers, but in true Douglas style it is Hitchhikers with a difference, new characters, new plots. Don’t expect to be spoon fed a new rendition of the radio/book/tv/stage/cereal packet version, you ain’t gonna get it. What you’re going to get is a film that is funny, hilarious at times, evocative, visually stunning, and something that Douglas would have loved.

The characters are bang on the mark, Zaphod is so hip it hurts and Arthur is, well Arthur. Polly and I ended up arguing over who gets to keep Marvin, well we were till Warwick made it clear we’d have to fight him first, methinks he became a bit attached to his character!
The visual effects are simply outstanding, the Vogons, the Heart of Gold, I know Douglas wanted big, but wait till you see the Magrathean factory floor!

As a family we are going to walk up that red carpet with an enormous amount of pride, masked only by the sadness that the big man’s not here to see it.