Do not go Gently into that good night...
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I have to admit to being a little disappointed by this long-awaited audio version of Adams' peerless (unless you count the sequel 'The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul') late 80s sci-fi/fantasy/drama/comedy novel. I have to be honest and say that Harry Enfield was miscast in the title role - his smug tones are not at all how I envisaged the underhand but essentially likeable Dirk - I also found the constant contemporary references that the audio version has added to the original novel ('Asbo'), rather annoying - in the same way that the current incarnation of Doctor Who's Timelord insists on littering his talk with references to 'Teletubbies', 'Eastenders' etc.
These grumbles aside I found the rest of the cast to be perfectly...well, cast - Billy Boyd in particular captures hapless computer programmer 'Richard' precisely as he is whirled along by events far beyond his comprehension. I'm not sure why Dirk's receptionist, Janet, needed to have her (extremely minor) role in the novel fleshed out, as she adds little to the story but this is not a major concern as she can be ignored.
Overall, the package is very impressive; I guess it's never going to be how you imagine it, especially after twenty years or so. Hopefully they'll serialise 'Teatime' - with some minor improvements it could be awesome.
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Dirk Gently
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A bit like the Hitchikers guide, I sort of missed the post grad humour. Its a bit like Pratchett in that its a bit twee and nice. I was reading Small Mercy by Tom Dawes round about the same time and found that the better book, similar humour but a bit grittier. Hey ho
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Loved it
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Like many others I was less than convinced about the casting of Harry Enfield, but with persistence I grew to love him. I liked Dirk Gently as a character because, like Ford Prefect, he had an infuriating habit of appearing to know everything without ever having gone through a learning process - despite knowing that Dirk went to Cambridge too my mind seemed to brush it aside almost as a formality!
Something about the way Harry Enfield delivered complex lines in an almost simplistic way reinforced the idea that, like Ford, he was several steps ahead of everyone, one felt guilty needing to hear them again and it was clear that Dirk Gently had a very sharp mind indeed.
I loved the odd homage to Douglas Adam's magnum opus, for example, the sound of the lift opening in the last episode, which was taken from the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I only wish Adams had lived to hear it. He would have adored it. I did.
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This was always going to be difficult ...
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While H2G2 III-V had it's key characters and central cast for continuity, Dirk (both of them) had to work from the ground up for this outing. And they do. To be honest, I wouldn't have had Harry Enfield (wonderful though he is) at the top of my list, but as it turns out, he does a rather splendid job. And yes, there are a few touches missing - the odd line I was listening out for - but I'm more than happy to be happy with this, and embrace it as part of Adams' Radio 4 canon. Billy Boyd, Andrew Sachs, Olivia Colman and Felicity Montagu are all superb (do bears...), and play against many of the hugely talented and versatile voice actors from the recent Hitchhikers series. Oh, and Jim Carter is perfect as Gilks. I look forward to the next series.
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"Shada" does the better job
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It's fairly common knowledge that some parts of the storyline and some characters were first used by Adams for his Doctor Who script of "Shada", which is available both from the BBC online as a webcast and from BigFinish on CD. Comparing those two productions where possible and taking into account the impact of the humor of certain dialogues I must say, that the BigFinish/Doctor Who incarnation beats Dirk Maggs/Gently by far. Dirk Gently by itself is a wonderful book. There are parts of the radio play that live up to the book. But on the whole it failed to go that last extra mile for me. But I can't wait until my copy arrives to see if there is again some extra material on CD that didn't make it in the broadcast version. For the moment, after the concluding episode on the air tonight, 3 stars.
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