In what I am sure is a massive coincidence, the BBC have chosen this week to start a repeat run of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy TV series, and also started the final radio series based on the fourth and fifth books of the ‘trilogy’.

If you missed the first episode, the website is hosting both the broadcast version, and also a version in Dolby 5.1 Surround for those with a suitable set up. As with the other radio series, the new recordings will be available on CD once the series has finished.

Since after this there are no more books, a fairly stellar guest cast has been assembled. In addition to the original cast, the guest star list includes Stephen Fry (who also plays the book in the movie version), Bill Patterson, Griff Rhys-Jones, Miriam Margolyes, and even Jackie Mason and Christian Slater from the USA! Whilst I’ve heard pretty mixed reviews about the movie, I’ll be avidly listening to the final series as it airs over the coming weeks.