Dirk Gently: Series 1 (2012)

TV series review: Dirk Gently: Series 1 (2012), directed by Tom Shankland

The pilot episode of Dirk Gently left me cold, but as a big fan of everything Douglas Adams, the news that they were making a whole series (well, okay, only three episodes) was still more than welcome.

And this time it actually worked - hooray! What I really didn't like about the pilot and wanted them to have done differently ... was done differently. That is, they weren't trying to adapt either of the two books, they just took the character of Dirk Gently (Stephen Mangan) and let him do his own thing. Have plots specifically written for this series. Thank you!

Okay, they've still got Richard MacDuff (Darren Boyd) as his bemused sidekick, which is a step away from the books, but in keeping with the pilot episode, and I don't really mind, to be honest. At least they're not trying to be creative with the books and make a complete mess of it.

Janice the surly secretary (Lisa Jackson) is back, and Richard's other half Susan (Helen Baxendale) shows up in the periphery too. And then there's DI Gilks (Jason Watkins), who, for lack of a better way of putting it, is to Dirk and Richard what DI Lestrade is to Holmes and Watson in Sherlock. Sort of.

The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams (2002)

Book review: The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams (Pan Macmillan, 2002), foreword by Stephen Fry

The Salmon of Doubt comprises ten chapters of the novel on which Douglas Adams was working at the time of his death in May 2001, along with an astonishing collection of pieces recovered from his beloved Macintosh computer.

The plot of The Salmon of Doubt is as intriguing as its title and sees Dirk Gently simultaneously on the trail of half a cat and an actor whose sudden appearance is perhaps not as random as it seems. Starring alongside the pizza-addicted detective are Thor Norse God of Thunder, Dave of DaveLand and a highly confused rhinoceros called Desmond. Other fictional stories include 'Young Zaphod Plays It Safe', featuring the intergalactic star of the Hitchhiker series, and 'The Private Life of Ghengis Khan', written with Graham Chapman, in which the emotional needs of a barbaric marauding killer are revealed.

Non-fiction pieces range from an earnest twelve-year-old Douglas's letter to Eagle magazine, through insights into a teenage mind full of adoration for the Beatles and loathing for short trousers, to lectures reflecting Adams's exceptional understanding of our natural, technological and philosophical worlds. Here too are articles on subjects as diverse as religion, the 'little dongly things' making a mess of computers, the letter Y and Douglas's love affair with two dogs in New Mexico.

For fans and new readers alike, The Salmon of Doubt is the ultimate smorgasbord of the insanities, urbanities and wondrous workings of life, the universe and everything.

The loss of Douglas Adams was a blow to a lot of us. For the people who knew him, it was a lot worse (of course) than for us fans, so when this book came out, it was welcome. Not because it had the bits so far of the new Dirk Gently novel he was working on, but because it's a celebration of his life. From his love of scifi and computers to his love of music and endangered species ... and his radical Atheism.

Some great news and a reading update

First things first: They're making Good Omens into something for the telly. A miniseries, hopefully, as opposed to a TV movie. It's due in 2013, according to IMDb. If you don't know what Good Omens is, you've missed a terribly great novel, written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It's about a young Antichrist, an angel and a demon who have decided humanity isn't all that bad actually, and Armageddon. Or prevention thereof. And it's hysterically funny. One of my favourite books.

Secondly, news are that BBC have commissioned four new episodes of Dirk Gently. Hopefully this time, they'll make it completely standalone from the novels, so we won't have the problems that the pilot had. Fingers crossed!

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already noticed I changed my username slightly the other day. It used to be the_squeee, it's now TheSqueee (case optional). I thought back when I got the account, the version without the underscore was taken, which is why the underscore was there in the first place. Either I was wrong or someone changed their username too. Either way, I wanted to get rid of the underscore and was elated to find it was so easy. Which solved the problem of what else to have as a username, as all the other ones I could think of were taken already.

Dirk Gently (2010)

TV movie review: Dirk Gently (2010), directed by Damon Thomas

So, back in August, when I saw the BBC were going to turn Douglas Adams's holistic detective Dirk Gently into a TV-show, I was terribly delighted. What a brilliant idea! Douglas Adams is one of my favourite writers and the sheer genius of that man never ceases to amaze me. In mid-December, safely tucked away on BBC4 where it was sure not to grab too much attention, it was broadcast.

Before this, I had found out who was going to play the major parts in it, but that was just about it. It would have been a good idea for me to have read more about this production beforehand, because then I perhaps wouldn't have minded so much. Before the Hitchhiker's Guide movie came out, I read someone's thorough review of it, and was glad that I did, because I went to the cinema already knowing everything that had been changed, so that I didn't have to sit there going "but ... that's not right!" over and over until finally, "this sucks!"

The stars of the first on-screen Dirk Gently

The BBC have revealed who will be starring in their upcoming Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency adaptation.

And it is: Stephen Mangan as Dirk Gently. Don't know the name, but recognise the face.

Mr. Holistic Detective
(Love the glasses!)

Darren Boyd as Richard Macduff, the computer programmer. Again: no idea, see the pic: Oh him!

The owner of a stuck sofa

Helen Baxendale as Susan Way. Rachel off of Cold Feet! :) Unless they don't bugger up the script to be completely different from the book, she doesn't die in this. Yay!

Yes, she has been in more things than Cold Feet.
But that's the one we all know her from.

There is nothing on IMDb yet (gasp), so that's actually all I know when it comes to casting so far. But oh, I'm all excited! :D Would love to find out who will portray Gordon Way and the old professor as well, but I guess time will tell.

The filming has started in Bristol this week, and the show will air some time this winter on BBC4. And I can't wait!!! The Dirk Gently books are fab. They're not Hitchhiker's Guide, because Douglas Adams did manage to write more than that series of books (although he did try his best not to). They're quirky (obviously), funny (obviously) and mind-bending philosophical conundrums. Superb stuff! :)

BBC Four - today, you are too awesome for words

BBC Four have done a press release regarding the schedule for the autumn 2010 / winter 2011 season. And I'm thrilled! Delighted! Amazed! As happy as can be!

1. There's the first ever filmed adaptation of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. It might not have been made clear here just yet, but I'm a huge fan of Douglas Adams and Dirk Gently is one of those things that tend to get over-looked because of the vastly more successful Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Dirk Gently! On the telly! :D

Holistic detective Dirk Gently,
as played by Harry Enfield in the 2007 BBC radio production

2. They're also adapting not one but TWO of DH Lawrence's novels! Hooray! Women in Love and The Rainbow, which are combined somehow, apparently, and will star Rosamund Pike. DH Lawrence! Now, how's that for timing? :D