Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, the BBC’s audio drama adaptation, directed by Dirk Maggs. With Maggs directing it, how could it go wrong? It doesn’t. As one might expect, the production is essentially perfect, from the music, to the effects, to the adaptation itself. The acting, in particular, is superb. I couldn’t really imagine Gently sounding any other way: a sort of less edgy Dr. Xander Crowe. It had been long enough since I read the book that the story seemed fresh to me. Indeed, I had forgotten that Adams, the “radical atheist”, had included his interest in biodiversity in the story. Like the Hitchhiker’s Guide productions, this is an audio drama must.

—03 Jun 2008