''The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul'' is an

Above the Title Productions Above the Title was a UK independent radio production company based in London. The company produced drama, music, comedy and documentary programmes, principally for BBC Radio. It is perhaps best known for making adaptations for radio of the last ...

radio adaptation, dramatised by

Dirk Maggs David George Dirk Maggs (born St. Helier, Jersey, February 1955) is a British freelance writer and director. During his career as a Senior Producer in BBC Radio he made radio drama adopting a cinematic-sounding approach, combining filmic story c ...

and John Langdon of

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...

's ''

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul ''The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul'' is a 1988 humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams. It is the second book by Adams featuring private detective Dirk Gently, the first being ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency''. Adams had ...

''. Starring

Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is known in particular for his television work, including ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' and '' Harry & Paul'', and for the creation and ...

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan ...

John Fortune John Fortune (born John C. Wood; 30 June 1939 – 31 December 2013) was an English satirist, comedian, writer, and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series ''Bremner, Bird and Fortune''. Early life Fortu ...

and Stephen Moore, it started broadcasting on 2 October 2008 on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. The title is a quotation from the Adams novel ''

Life, The Universe and Everything ''Life, the Universe and Everything'' (1982, ) is the third book in the six-volume ''Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' science fiction "trilogy of five books" by British writer Douglas Adams. The title refers to the Answer to Life, the Unive ...

'', where it says of the immortally annoyed Wowbagger:

Changes between the novel and the radio adaptation

In adapting the story for six half-hour episodes,

rescheduled the novel's convoluted plot: The adaptation is an

inverted detective story An inverted detective story, also known as a "howcatchem", is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator. The story then describ ...

, shuffling the importance of characters: elevating the Draycotts, turning Neil Sharp into Kate Schechter's landlord and former ''Pugilism and the Third Autistic Cuckoo'' member with the now returned Richard McDuff. Cleaner Elena is inadvertently kidnapped by Nobby the Pawnbroker, after the battle with a ravenous fridge. On the audio trailer, Susan Way sells ''Way Forward Technologies'' to Sirius Cybernetics, Richard McDuff is detained by the

Vogon The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''—initially a BBC Radio series by Douglas Adams—who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an interga ...

catchphrase "resistance is useless", and the I-Ching Calculator has the ' Guide activation' sound, and is obtained from Nobby. Examples of updating to bring the story into the 21st century (the book was written in the 1980s) include the explosion now being at

Heathrow Terminal 5 Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Terminal 5 is currently used exclusi ...

(with a new joke about lost luggage), this now being explained as "freak indoor

Global Warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

", various price increases, the introduction of mobile phones, e.g. text messages replacing telegrams, a discussion about only audio purists still using

gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

s and the removal of American Kate's frustration at the unavailability of

pizza delivery Pizza delivery is a service in which a pizzeria or pizza chain delivers a pizza to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone, or over the internet, in which the customer can request pizza type and size, and other items to be ...

in the UK (now thankfully ancient history). Kate awakes earlier in the hospital and sees Mr Rag taking away Thor and the soft drinks machine, and when she visits the Woodshead clinic she mentions Thor directly, rather than dropping many hints. When Dirk meets Sally Mills, he does not steal the book, as it proffered instead. Sally also remarks that the I-Ching calculator allows Dirk a way around obeying The Great Zaganza prediction that "everything you decide today will be wrong". Episode 4 contains a telephone conversation where Richard MacDuff explains to Dirk that the motherboard of the I-Ching calculator was rubbish and is better put to use as an ultimate talking multi-media hand-held device. Hitchhiker's sound effects are used (as in the first series visit to the Mothership) and there is also a potentially familiar Sirius Cybernetics functionary. In addition, the double-bass player's obvious question is changed from "I bet you wished you played the piccolo" to "how do you get it under your chin?", and Dirk forgets to ask Kate to phone him "before doing anything impossible".

Episodes

# Aired 2 October 2008: Dirk Gently loses a secretary and Odin sells his soul. # Aired 9 October 2008: Inspector Gilks makes a discovery and Dirk breaks a nose. # Aired 16 October 2008: Dirk buys a nifty gadget and Kate visits an iffy clinic. # Aired 23 October 2008: Thor drops a Clanger in Sharp's Flat. # Aired 30 October 2008: Dirk outwits an Eagle and the Draycotts find an eager nitwit # Aired 6 November 2008: Thor succeeds in losing his temper and Dirk fails to save himself

Cast

The returning characters are: * Richard MacDuff - Billy Boyd * Detective Sergeant Gilks - Jim Carter * Janice Pearce -

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

Dirk Gently Dirk Gently (born Svlad Cjelli, also known as Dirk Cjelli) is a fictional character created by English writer Douglas Adams and featured in the books ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'', ''The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul'' and ''The ...

* Constable Luke, RAF Pilot 1 - Wayne Forester New characters: * Nurse Sally Mills -

Morwenna Banks Tamsin Morwenna Banks (born 20 September 1961) is a British comedy actress, writer and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show '' Absolutely'', and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film ''The Announcemen ...

* Simon Draycott -

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

Rupert Degas Rupert Joel Degas (born 17 August 1970) is an Anglo-Australian actor. He is best known for his voice work in animation and audiobooks. Since the 1980s, he has worked in audiobooks, film, podcasts, radio productions, television, theatre, and vid ...

* Nobby Paxton -

Michael Fenton Stevens Michael Fenton Stevens (born 12 February 1958) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for being a founder member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees and the voice behind the ''Spitting Image'' 1986 number 1 hit "The Chicken Song". He also starred ...

* Dr Standish -

* Geoff Anstey, Bates -

Jon Glover Jonathan Philip Glover (born 26 December 1952) is an English actor. He has appeared in various television programmes including '' Play School'', '' Survivors'', the Management consultant in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''Casualty' ...

* Elena -

Sally Grace Sally Grace (born 10 September 1951) is an English actress who has worked extensively on radio and television and in animation. Life and career Grace was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, and trained at the Guildhall School of Music ...

* Mysterious Vagrant, Vagrant King, Green Hairy Monster, Viking Announcer - Philip Jackson * Kate Schechter - Laurel Lefkow * Viking Announcer - Gary Martin *

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

, Sirius Cybernetics functionary - Stephen Moore * Neil Sharp, RAF Pilot 2 -

Philip Pope Philip R. J. Pope is a British composer and actor. He is best known for role as Tony Angelino in Only Fools And Horses. He was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford. Performer Pope appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festiv ...

* Cynthia Draycott -

Jan Ravens Janet "Jan" Ravens (born 14 May 1958) is an English actress and impressionist, known for her voice work on ''Spitting Image'' and '' Dead Ringers''. Early life Ravens grew up in Hoylake, then in Cheshire, on the west side of the Wirral with he ...

* Toe Rag - Michael Roberts * Tsuliwaensis -

Susan Sheridan Susan Haydn Thomas (18 March 1947 – 8 August 2015) better known as Susan Sheridan, was an English voice actress. Her roles included Noddy in '' Noddy's Toyland Adventures'', Princess Sylvia in '' Muzzy in Gondoland'', Trillian in the BBC rad ...

* Sarah Montague -

Sarah Montague Sarah Anne Louise Montague, Lady Brooke (born 8 February 1966),''Who's who'' is a British journalist and presenter of the BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme ''The World at One''. For 18 years, prior to April 2018, she was a regular presenter ...

* Announcer - John Marsh

Production

* Music composer -

* Executive Producer -

Sioned Wiliam Sioned Wiliam (born 1962) is a Welsh comedy producer and executive. A former controller of comedy for ITV, she became the commissioning editor of comedy for BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra in March 2015 and served in the post for seven years.Jake ...

* Producers - Jo Wheeler and

Awards

The adaptation of ''The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul'' won ''The Comedy.co.uk Award'' for "Best British Radio Sitcom of 2008".

References

External links

audio trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul, The BBC Radio comedy programmes British radio dramas Dirk Gently 2008 radio programme debuts