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Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Ryan Lambie
Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy writer Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently is being adapted as a one-off BBC pilot
Published on Aug 25, 2010
The BBC has just announced its intention to adapt Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for the small screen, in a one-off pilot scheduled to appear on BBC4.
The hour long dramatisation will mark the novel's first stand-alone appearance on television, having previously aired in a recent BBC radio adaptation starring Harry Enfield and a 2006 stage production starring Scot Burklin.
A less well known pair of novels than Douglas Adams' magnum opus, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and its associated follow-ups, the Dirk Gently books nevertheless display the author's trademark wit.
Dirk Gently (real name Svlad Cjelli) is a portly private detective who specialises in his own odd form of crime solving, which more often than not involves a considerable amount of guess work and running up vast expense accounts under flimsy pretexts.
The Dirk Gently script is being written by Misfits and Vexed creator Howard Overman and, as you'd normally expect from a pilot, the BBC will be looking to commission a full series should it prove to be an audience success.
There's no word yet as to who will star as Dirk Gently, and an air date is unlikely to appear for some time yet. More news on this as it comes in.
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Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By johnbobshaun 1 August 26, 2010 07:03:32 AM
The Enfield adaptation was waaay more recent than that.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By Interference 1 August 26, 2010 08:06:25 AM
'as you'd normally expect from a pilot, the BBC will be looking to commission a full series should it prove to be an audience success.'
And as you'd normally expect from the BBC, the more interesting projects are shoved away in unfindable slots on a channel no one watches. I mean, come on. BBC4 having an 'audience success'?
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By Interference 1 August 26, 2010 08:06:25 AM
'as you'd normally expect from a pilot, the BBC will be looking to commission a full series should it prove to be an audience success.'
And as you'd normally expect from the BBC, the more interesting projects are shoved away in unfindable slots on a channel no one watches. I mean, come on. BBC4 having an 'audience success'?
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By Interference 1 August 26, 2010 08:07:00 AM
Posted, twice? Great job. However, I am looking forward to this remake of City of Death.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By coversnail 1 August 26, 2010 11:39:58 AM
Will be interesting to see this, can't really remember the Dirk Gently story, hasn't stuck in my mind unlike Hitch-Hikers.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By Utini42 1 August 26, 2010 12:36:17 PM
The radio series was awesome. I'm wondering if the BBC isn't so much adapting the book of the same title than developing an original story using the title as a name for the potential series. It IS the name of Dirk's business.
UNLESS, the pilot would be part 1, ending with a cliffhanger, like the recent 'Sherlock.'
I, for one, am looking forward to this!!!
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By geekygirlUK 1 August 26, 2010 01:17:22 PM
I missed the radio series!!!
:o( Will have to look out for the TV pilot - I LOVE Dirk Gently! Although I do remember The Long Dark Teatime of The Soul better.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By FonceFalooda 1 August 26, 2010 01:39:41 PM
There were a couple scenes from the book filmed for the South Bank Show a while back (like 1992!), and they worked nicely. I'd love to see a whole show like that. (Took 'em long enough!!!!)
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By theshadowalker 1 August 26, 2010 05:06:03 PM
Slightly off-topic, here, but I still kind of wish that the creative team behind Farscape would do a new H2G2 series (and there's probably enough, genuine DNA material in the various books and scripts for several years worth of production.) I mean, it certainly couldn't be any worse than that tone-deaf movie that was churned out a few years ago...and was easily one of the worst adaptations I've sever seen. It's right up (down?) there with the recent Land of the Lost...or that stupid Watchers movie that turned the novel's heroes, a wounded veteran and his girlfriend, into an annoying teenager and his mother!
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By Interference 1 August 26, 2010 08:28:08 PM
Man I hate farscape. Muppets in Space! And I rather like the Hitch-hikers film, it's got lots of charm. I think if it was made clear to people how much was actually DNAs idea, there'd be a lot less bitching about it.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By theshadowalker 1 August 26, 2010 09:39:07 PM
The H2G2 movie was, indeed, based on DNA's unfinished script. And the problem with that is the word "unfinished." That, and the underwhelming efforts of Karey Kirkpatrick. I mean, did DNA really dump the infamous mindfuck that was executed on Mr. Prosser in favor of that lame "Free beer!" bit? Personally, I'd guess that was Kirkpatrick's tinkering with the material. And a proactive, heroic Arthur Dent? WTF? What happened to the Arthur who was "utterly unable to cope or think of anything"? Also, Marvin seemed less suicidally depressed, as he's usually portrayed, than just wearily sarcastic. And, yes, many events changed from one H2G2 translation to another...but such core material generally remained. Besides, why did the movie keep setting up DNA's jokes (like the bit about how the dolphins were considered to be smarter than man)...while repeatedly leaving out the proverbial punch-lines (that is, WHY the dophins were considered to be smarter)? That's the main reason why, IMO, the movie was so tone-deaf.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By Friction 1 August 28, 2010 05:12:27 PM
The problem as i see it with Hitchhikers adaptations, is that Douglas wrote a nigh on perfect beautiful comedy and then spent the rest of his life fucking around with it (especially in book form). `The major issues with the film were perhaps to much reverence for Adams' new additions to the hitchhiker story. Also more importantly what was really overlooked was that the film should be funny. I thought fair amount of the design was quite good though, particularly the vogons. It seems muppets in space work for me.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By rottenjohnny 1 August 31, 2010 01:43:45 PM
I enjoyed the Dirk Gently book, but Adams cannibalised pieces of this for Doctor Who - City of Death and Shada (apparently). CoD is one of the all-time greats, and I haven't seen the trouble plagued Shada, but I feel that much of the plot will be too over-familiar to stand out.
Re: Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency coming to BBC
Posted By PrisonerTom 1 September 5, 2010 09:27:36 PM
Shada? Dirk Gently was a reheat of Adams Shada script. And the beeb did an online animation with McGann. Bloody repeats! And do we really need more of Adams sub python footlights smug silly names flogging the same one trick pony? The man is so over rated.
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Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
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