A pilot show of "Dirk Gently" the Holistic Detective was recently shown on BBC4 and probably available as a torrent on a TV site somewhere. It's very well done, has a fridge, an old Austin Princess, a missing cat and something strange in a bathroom. A full series begins filming next year. The style is similar to the recent Sherlock production (I think it was BBC Wales). It's written around the book by Douglas Adams and uses characters and ideas but doesn't follow the book, much in the same way Mr Adams treated Hitch Hikers. It's a clever adaptation that rewards repeat viewing to spot all the references littering the background.

It's still available on iPlayer of you're eligible to view it.

As an aside, podcast Current Geek considered Sherlock to be the best TV show of the year even though only three stories were made.

Still keeping with BBC Wales, the Doctor Who spin-out series Torchwood series 4.0 see Independence Day actor Bill Pullman join the show as a villain. I don't watch TV much but I like a bit of thoughtful sci-fi. Next year looks like it will have a few more highlights.

I do hope the filming of "The Hobbit" movie won't be a problem for Martin Freeman to reprise his role in the next series of Sherlock.

Dirk Gently was very good. I was a bit skeptical as I'm a big fan of the two books. Of course the story in the first book is completely impossible to film, but the makers did a good job of borrowing elements of the book and writing something that could be made into a program. Flexman is right, keep your eyes open for references to the book. There are also very funny bits, written in places where the program deviates from the book and brings it up to date.

Helen Baxendale is still a complete baaaaaabe!

More please!

(Yes it's on iPlayer, and shown on freeview this week).

I loved those 2 books and was always sad he was unable to write more before his death.

I laughed out loud when the accident report determined the airline check-in desk exploded because it was "fundamentally fed up with where it was."



The Jedi Master

Have you read 'The Salmon of Doubt', Jedi?

The final 1/3rd contains a few chapters of the last, unfinished Dirk Gently story. And the rest of the book is a cracking good read.

I saw the book in stores years ago, but I didn't know that was in there!



The Jedi Master

Mr Adams being a BBC script editor for many years would re-write for the intended medium. The books were a re-write of the radio series, same for the later TV series.

Chris Broucher was another script editor and writer, he also worked on Doctor Who along with Adams, talked about some of the processes involved in writing. The way BBC studios worked would influence how they were written to economise, methods of production would shape the stories. Interior scenes were shot in video, exterior on film.

If Mr Adams were alive to craft a TV treatment of Dirk Gently it would most certainly be different from his books. That's just the way he was, a perfectionist who couldn't leave things alone.

LOL, you know George Lucas is often condemned for treating his stuff the same way.



The Jedi Master