The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Quintessential Phase

Hitchhiker's Guide BBC Radio Series #5

by Douglas Adams

Panic! It's the last installment of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with a brand new full-cast dramatization of Mostly Harmless, the final book in Douglas Adams' famous "trilogy in five parts." While frequent flyer Arthur Dent searches the universe for his lost love, Ford Prefect discovers a disturbing blast from the past at. The Hitchhiker's Guide HQ. Meanwhile, on one of many versions of Earth, a blonder, more American Trillian gets tangled up with a party of lost aliens having an identity crisis. A stolen ship, a dramatic stampede, and a new and sinister Guide lead to a race to save the earth. . .again.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Drama

3 pages, Library Binding

First published June 20, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch "Patient Abuse" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.
Adams was a self-proclaimed "radical atheist", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation, and the Apple Macintosh.

Reviews

[kimyunalesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best of the bunch,I laughed a lot and got the hang of things.Everything somewhat came together,loads of explanation also surprises quite like instellar in a way of travel,loops,planet jump of sorts.I pretty much enjoyed this a bit sad it's over.The Radioplay production sounds a lot of fun!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
While this is still fun you can feel that the series is really trying at this point

[Ian Lepine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stylistically speaking, this is as good as anything Adams ever wrote. A lot of people, however, object to the plot. The book upon which this is based is called Mostly Harmless, but it is anything but. The radio adaptation, however, pretends the ending was all an elaborate joke and gives us several happy endings connected inter-dimensionally. While the last few minutes of this radio play (not written by Adams, as I understand) are funny enough, it does feel like a betrayal to the original story.
Mostly Harmless IS supposed to be that devastating. Arthur Is supposed to *spoiler* lose Fenchurch because of a stupid bureaucratic clause, and everyone is supposed to die horribly so that Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz can put a tick inside a box. That's just the universe.

But apart from that, the Quintessential Phase has some great bits, like the whole Sandwich Maker fit in Lamuella, and perhaps the most beautiful couple in all of literature, Arthur and Fenchurch.

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Fenchurch, when are you off work?"
"Shortly after the apocalypse"
"Do you wanna go fly with me then?"
"Always"
I'm not crying, you're crying.
This one actually profited from the fast pace and is still one of my favorites of the series in general.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guide ver 2.0 idea is great, plural worlds is goin back to the whole DoctorWho other dimensions roots which is fine.... but then the Trisha/Trillian and Random plots were the weakest of the bunch

[Pinar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriyi böylece bitirmiş olduk. Son kitap en eğlencelisiydi sanki. 10. gezegen Rupert, Arthur'un kızı Random Frequent Flyer Dent, bir bilim olarak astroloji..

[Daniel Bensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The radio play was not nearly as good as the book. A lot got cut, and the tacked-on happy ending didn't work. I mostly listened to it because I love the theme music and so I can read and enjoy the book that much sooner. I owe this book a lot, from the way I appreciate a sandwich to the way I visualize the higher dimensions. What is it that's printed on the world-destroying tool wielded by petty-minded villains? "Panic."

[Michael P. Clemens · Rating 2 out of 5]

The final entry into the radio plays shows just how far afield Adams got from his original silly little radio drama about Arthur Dent. This very abbreviated phase introduces a number of Big Ideas inspired by the original work -- the notion of a probability continuum, most notably, and "plural zones" -- and it's a shame that Adams didn't get a chance to incorporate all these ideas right from the start, as they would have certainly led to some direction in the otherwise flabby middle episodes of the series.

This phase doesn't have much urgency to the plot, and rushes through large swaths of story to reach the ending... or non-ending, as it turns out, as all the characters come back out for one final bow. This is, perhaps, as satisfying an ending as you could expect from a storyline that's taken the listener through multiple dimensions and character iterations: there isn't one pat ending, because there isn't one single storyline, but a whole great mishmash posing as a coherent story. The quintessential phase is an attempt to reign in all the scattered particles of story and put a neat bow on it. It doesn't quite work.

The neatest ending, however, would have been not to end at all and to leave the story back at the end of the original Hitchhiker's story -- Arthur and Ford, exploring a strange, unexplainable universe with only a trusty towel and a battered Guide to lead them.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, well, well. This adaptation of the final, fifth book, Mostly Harmless, in the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, is the perfect ending. The book was widely criticised at the time of its release due to its darker feel compared to the previous 4 books. Well, the radio series makes up for this with an extended, alternative, ending.

As for the plot; Fenchurch has disappeared, the guide has been taken over and is due to be upgraded, Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian/Tricia, all in seperate parts of the universe, if not in separate parallel universes, are trying their best to cope, fight back, and/or just live their lives as a sandwich maker. How the many strings, across many times and dimensions, are pulled together, is pure genius!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this via Audible.

The Quintessential Phase is the last part of the adaptation of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy into a radio production. It also feels like it is the most-changed of all the three phases that were produced after the author's death. The cast and crew knock things out of the park as always, and it was fantastic to listen to. If you enjoyed everything up until this point you'll like this as well.

If you've read the books, you may recall that the last one is darker overall than the rest of the series, especially the end. This is where most of the changes come in, wrapping everything up with a much happier bow and leaving things open for Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing...

This is another solid recommendation, and the whole series is great and worth a listen for anyone and everyone.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best and most quotable in the history of the universe.

"More popular, certainly more successful than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, better selling than Fifty-Three More Things to do in Zero Gravity, and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes and Who is this God Person Anyway?" (quote Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

I highly recommend. I've read it (the series) about 3 times and it never gets old.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Post listen review:

Totally incoherent, rather plotless, completely insane and fully and thoroughly entertaining. My only complaint is that it is too short.

Pre-listen guess

Woohoo! Douglas Adams is (ok was) a genious at being funny! Finally something decent to listen to.

[Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Totally different ending than the book. Huge plot twists.

[Denise みか Hutchins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've gotten this far in the radio series, there's no reason to stop! This installment was not only just as humorous and mind-bending as all the previous ones, it even ended in such a way as to patch up the heart that the Quandary Phase broke 💖 I honestly had happy tears in my eyes at the end. It was so moving! And with all the probability and multiversal stuff that's been thrown around since the very beginning, it was perfectly believable, even if it was different from the original novel.

This ends the material I had some familiarity with (even if I had forgotten most of it). Next, the Hexagonal Phase, which I have absolutely no idea about. I haven't read the book it's based on yet (though I do have it ready in my library!), all I know is that it was posthumously written by another author. I'm actually quite looking forward to it!

[February · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as things go, this entry into the radio series took quite a different turn at the end then the book it at least mirrors at the start (one Mostly Harmless), and while I'm not sure how I feel about the altered ending (up to you to be familiar with either), I have to say that overall this radio play was enjoyable. It went by much faster than my varied attempts almost two decades ago to read Mostly Harmless. Do love this cast, and it was a fun listen.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arguably the most life affirming entry into the Hitchhiker’s Guide saga, that while lacks Adams’ absurdist stylisations, instead going for such harder sci-fi (which, had been behind each progressive entry), it no less takes Adams’ world view of the probability of life, existence and the fact that we are here now and we should live in it, to the utter extreme and just love it, because in one dimension or another, we will find our way. It’s endearing more than its predecessors, though maybe not as funny, and production-wise feels more over produced, but its heart is all there, and really sings when it counts.

[Thomas Firth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written. Douglas Adams spent so long making the original radio series 1-2 truly work on radio. These post-series 2 continuations contain the worst writing eg. Characters saying contrived dialogue to explain what is happening visually. It’s like the most amateurish way of writing for radio and is such a shame. Since these are adaptations of novels there were serious narrative problems with scenes that don’t work on radio. They needed to change more of the events to adapt them properly. The actor that replaces Peter Jones as the book sounds way too perky too. Such a shame.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't read the book this one is based on, but I uhhh have heard things. No spoilers, but the ending has been changed dramatically; it sounds like Adams regretted the original ending later on, though, so I don't mind the changes, and I like happy endings better anyway.
If you wanted to stop here, you absolutely could, but I'm going to try out the 6th one. I think I trust Maggs to make it gel with the rest?

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had I fully realized it was a radio play I might have passed on checking it out. It turned out to be entertaining, but less than my full cup of tea.

[Gary Mcfarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great you like herring sandwiches and want to find out what actually happened to Elvis.

[Sytze Hiemstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it's not genuine Adams, this is a fun conclusion to the guide.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story and adaptation: 4.5/5
Sound quality of available radio play (from audible): 3/5

[sch · Rating 3 out of 5]

2021 Jul. Redeems the Quandary phase, whose rating I am upgrading from 2 to 3. Apparently they were originally released at the same time, once "fit" per week for eight weeks in a row.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fabulous production and performance with a satisfying conclusion. An improvement over my memory of the final novel.

[Rachel Kieltyka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the originals, but how could it be?

[Eirik Gumeny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the changes made from "Mostly Harmless" to this actually enhance the story. I might even like the radio play adaptation more than the original book in this case.

[Pammi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a mind fuck of a ride!
I loved them all!!!!

[Andrew Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

🥘

[kelli-Anne Cerini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't love this one as much as the rest of the series, hard to follow.

[Proma · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎧