Almost, but not quite, the original version
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As with previous releases on vinyl etc, this is NOT the original radio show. Episodes 1-4 sound like they have been re-recorded, from the voices and the technical sound I'm guessing this was done at the time of the third series. The script, the sound effects and music all contain differences - I've compared it to my original (very old) cassette recordings off the radio and the CD version is definitely different - cleaner maybe but somehow rather "flat".
Maybe the BBC lost the original recordings as they did with so many other radio and TV shows? Maybe the quality was thought to not be good enough? Maybe they thought they could improve the original sound effects with newer technology? Whatever the reason, claiming this as the original is not quite true. BBC, if you have the originals you should include them as an "extra", or release them seperately.
From episode 5 this sounds like it is the original in every respect.
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Pass me my Babel Fish
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I was absolutely captivated by the original radio version of HHGTTG as a young teenager in the late 70's and I was delighted to rediscover the pan-galactic magic with these CDs. Douglas Adams was quite simply a genius. I took my sons (9 & 12) to see the movie a few months ago and after that they were keen to hear the radio originals. We keep the CDs in our car and they are absolutely brilliant for long journeys - you really can listen to them again and again, which is ideal if your vehicle does not have an Infinite Improbability Drive. And don't forget to listen out for the little joke at the end of the credits after each episode.
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Still one of the most entertaining radio plays of all time
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This is the true way to experience the Hitchhikers guide. It is perhaps one of the most entertaining and hilarious radio plays of all time. It is wonderful to be able to get hold of the radio plays that I had not managed to hear when they first came out and it gave me a whole new opportunity to fall back in love with Marvin, Arthur and Ford. In the same way as the books allow the readers imagination to run away with themselves so the radio plays continue to enhance this. For people who do not like reading this is one of the best ways to get into Douglas Adams' classic......and for those that do like reading - well this is like welcoming an old friend home
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The original and best...but incomplete!
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I first heard the Guide when it was broadcast back in the late 70's, and bought the LPs from Original Records when they were released, but looked forward to getting the original broadcasts on CD when the BBC got round to issuing them.
So! when they came out, I bought!. There is an edit....confirmable by checking against the remains of an off-air cassette recording, and the scripts (not the novels!) as published by Pan Books.
When they arrive on Magrathea in Fit the Third, the background music is recognisable to all Pink Floyd fans...in the show, but not on these CDs, Arthur says "Do you know this robot can hum like Pink Floyd?" and asks if Marvin can do anything else, whereupon Marvin bursts into "Rock and Roll music" by the Beatles....
A small point but one for which I deduct a star....Douglas Adams remarked in the script book that he was convinced there wouldn't be a second radio series, with the resulting end of this first series....but there was. He then deliberately left the second series open for a third to continue the story....and there wasn't. We can only regret that, since the TV series and the books took such a different course to the radio show, and never took up the challenge of the second radio series.... Buy these CDs, and the second series CDs, and listen to the continuation that should be on BBC R4 soon....
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Mostly Genius
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Two Words. 'Mostly Genius'
I have read, watched, listened, played and laughed to all the different forms of the guide that I can find, And every time it has been a fantastic journey across the Galaxy with Arthur, Ford, Zaphod and Trillian. It has been said before that the radio series is the best and most pure version of the guide, and this I will not dissagree with. If you like Sci-Fi, Comedy, or Breathing, you should love this series.
****** It should be 6 stars!...
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