Douglas Adams

Author of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, polymath Douglas Adams was a pioneer of science fiction, comedy, technology and environmental activism. We're on a journey with Douglas Adams - diving into the broad questions of life, the universe and everything at a time when we are all asking questions of ourselves and our place on Earth - and our fear of destroying it. Campaigning for endangered species and the coming storm of climate change, he was years ahead of his time. Optimistic about the infinite possibilities that computers will bring, obsessing with the art of writing, while exploring parallel dimensions and artificial intelligence, his philosophy and ideas are meaningful, and visionary.

A retrospective documentary looking at Graham Williams' three-year tenure as Doctor Who producer.

A 30-minute documentary looking at the writing and production of The Pirate Planet.

An in-depth examination of the complete production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).

A 45-minute look at the making of City of Death, and in particular, the contribution of writer and script editor Douglas Adams.

A celebration of Douglas Adams, the genius behind The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy who died in May 2001, aged just 49. First heard on radio in 1978, Hitch-Hiker turned Adams and his intergalactic cast of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Robot into a worldwide cult, the books selling in their millions and enthralling fans from every continent. But Adams was as full of contradictions as the galaxies he created in Hitch-Hiker - a writer who found writing torture, a techie who was ill at ease with the modern world, a sci-fi fanatic who adored PG Wodehouse, and a giant of a man who forgot the extent of his own body and would shut his own legs in the car door. With excerpts from the TV version of Hitch-Hiker and contributions from his many friends including Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, Clive Anderson and Griff Rhys Jones, this documentary explores Life, the Universe and Douglas Adams and finds that the answer is more than 42.

Douglas Adams was the best-selling British author and satirist who created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In this talk at UCSB recorded shortly before his death, Adams shares hilarious accounts of some of the apparently absurd lifestyles of the world's creatures, and gleans from them extraordinary perceptions about the future of humanity.

In November, 1999, Apple brought together a group of people under its AppleMaster program to teach them to use their new digital video editing software. As part of the class, Douglas Adams shot and edited a makeshift music video based on a song by his friend Margo Buchanan, and starring his daughter, Polly. John Cleese guest stars.

Dennis Potter, Esther Dyson, William Gibson and other techno-thinkers appeared in this award-winning three-part documentary series which examined social changes brought about by new information technologies, along with other issues and dilemmas facing society in the 21st Century.

A documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of Doctor Who, featuring new interviews, rare archive footage and recently discovered material.