323:. Mangan already knew the novel and the author's works, stating in a press release "I've been a fan of Douglas Adams ever since the Hitchhiker's radio series which I used to record as a child and listen to over and over again in my bedroom. It's such a thrill to now be playing one of his brilliant characters. Dirk is a chaotic, anarchic force of nature with a totally unique take on the world. He is described as 'lazy, untidy, dismissive and unreliable'. I've absolutely no idea why they thought I'd be right for the role." Cast alongside him were
373:, when trying to escape an angry Richard), and the date on which Mrs Jordan's first cat, George, walked into her house. Recalling the equipment that he and Richard found in a warehouse near Susan's house, Dirk deduces that Gordon Way had developed a time machine to go back and save his relationship with Susan before it went wrong, with Mrs Jordan's cat getting into the machine with him and being sent back to the past (meaning that Mrs Jordan's two cats were actually the same cat).
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288:: the disappearance of a cat, and the simultaneous disappearance of millionaire Gordon Way. Although time travel is involved in the solution, the novel's entire St Cedd's College / Electric Monk / Coleridge strand is omitted, although key words relating to these elements do appear on Dirk's whiteboard when it is first seen, though they are never subsequently referred to. The setting is updated to 2010, with
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248:, although it updates the detective to the present day and focuses on only a few of the original novel's characters and plot threads. Critical reception to the pilot was generally positive, and in March 2011 BBC Four announced that it had commissioned a three-part series of one hour-long episodes, the first continuing drama series produced for the channel.
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The pilot episode gained 1.1m viewers (3.9% share) on BBC Four, which was over three times the channel's slot average. Critical reception for the pilot was largely positive. Several mentioned that it was only a loose adaptation of the novel, although the general consensus was that the essence of the
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On spotting clues suggesting the presence of the missing cat, they follow it into a nearby warehouse and encounter a bizarre machine. However, an explosion destroys the machine before they can investigate. It later transpires that the warehouse belongs to their fellow university alumnus, Gordon Way,
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noted that "Although Adams's more ambitious concepts are sidelined in favour of a more prosaic - if nonetheless enjoyable - sci-fi mystery, Overman captures at least some of the wit and whimsy of his distinctive comic voice" going on to suggest "This modestly-budgeted pilot suggests potential for a
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noted that the adaptation played with the idea of inexplicable situations: "Purists may grumble this isn't the Dirk Gently they wanted to see, but it's more accessible and practicable. And while Dirk Gently is certainly another gimmicky detective series (yawn), its details are unique and engrossing
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was cooler about the adaptation, although he praised Mangan's performance: "Given the talent and style on display, it should have been a scream. In fact it all seemed a little moth-eaten. Though set in the modern day, it was staggeringly old-fashioned...You could overlook these faults, however, for
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stated "Personally I hope Dirk Gently gets made into a full series. The programme shows promising glimpses, has a strong cast and
Misfits already proves Overman can write. And a BBC4 adaptation feels like a good fit – Gently being exactly the kind of playground-of-the-imagination curio the BBC made
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Gordon, it is revealed, was killed in the past by Mrs Jordan after he saw her with her husband's dead body (Mrs Jordan having killed her husband when he began to mistreat the 'new' cat). Mrs Jordan subsequently commits suicide after tricking Dirk, Richard and Susan into leaving her so that she will
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The episode opens with private investigator Dirk Gently asking the elderly Mrs Jordan for payment in his ongoing search for her missing cat Henry. Leaving Mrs Jordan's house, he witnesses his old friend
Richard McDuff breaking into her neighbour's house. It transpires that Richard was attempting to
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stated "Coming to it fresh, it's a neat story about aforementioned missing cat and time travel, with a smattering of quantum physics and the fundamental connectedness of things. With a lovely performance from Doreen Mantle as the old lady/murderer. Stephen Mangan's good in the title role, too – a
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published two reviews. Alice-Azania Jarvis was extremely positive, writing "...there wasn't very much you could fault about the production at all. Right down to the quirky camerawork and youthful, poppy soundtrack (who would have thought the
Hoosiers could be so right in any situation?), the
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not have to go to prison. At the episode's conclusion, Dirk has tricked
Richard, via hypnosis, into investing his redundancy money into Dirk's firm, allowing Dirk to go to Barbados on an "investigation" while Richard is left as Dirk's new partner in the detective agency.
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the joy of
Stephen Mangan's performance as the titular gumshoe. With his alarmed-spaniel eyes and jutting-jawed stroppiness, his geography teacher elbow-patches and Medusan hair, he radiates mess...His ineptness as a sleuth provided some fine comic moments."
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is hired by an old lady to investigate the disappearance of a cat, a case that gives him a new fridge and re-acquaints him with two old friends from university. Together they uncover a plot involving time travel, unrequited love, depression and murder.
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is not a direct adaptation of Adams's novel, but uses certain characters and situations from the novel to form the basis of a new drama centred on Dirk. Stephen Mangan, writing a BBC blog on the programme stated "In my opinion,
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on 16 December 2010 and was repeated a number of times during the next month. The pilot gained a commission on 31 March 2011 for a three-part series of one hour-long episodes to be broadcast on BBC Four in 2012.
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was also positive, although he noted "At times it felt forced, with a sense of trying slightly too hard when a touch more subtlety would have brought out the essential
Adamsian eccentricity." Dan Owen of
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Dirk soon deduces that events all seem to connect with 5 December 1994, as that is the date where Susan broke up with Gordon because he missed a date (due to Dirk accidentally running Gordon over in his
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replacing the answering machine messages in the book. There are changes to the characters too, one notable one being that Susan is Gordon's ex-girlfriend rather than his sister.
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Shooting commenced early in
October 2010 in Bristol. The director was Damon Thomas and the producer was Chris Carey. Although it was commissioned by the BBC, it was produced by
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teeny bit irritating perhaps, but then Mangan is a teeny bit irritating. So is Dirk Gently, though – it's perfect. Funny too. Quite funny." James
Donaghy, also writing in
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enough to shrug off the genre's clichés. In some ways it's a pastiche of whodunits, taking the genre's often tenuous explanations to an outrageous extreme."
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steal a laptop belonging to his girlfriend Susan
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director, Damon Thomas, got it pretty spot-on. The result was a pleasingly festive-feeling adventure; part
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a millionaire computer expert (and Susan's former suitor at college) who has gone missing.
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The comedy-drama is a loose adaptation of plot elements from Adams' 1987 novel
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as Gordon Way, Miles Richardson as Dr Gerstenberger and Billy Boyle as Harry.
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is the first broadcast episode of the BBC Four television series inspired by
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are unfilmable as written...too much happens, there are too many ideas".
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with The Welded Tandem Picture Company. The pilot was first broadcast on
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Dirk Gently on BBC4: would Douglas Adams have recognised his creation?
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The pilot concentrates on two relatively minor plot strands in
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Titlescreen of the pilot, based on Gently's painted whiteboard.
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Douglas Adams's holistic detective Dirk Gently arrives on BBC4
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Dirk Gently: Douglas Adams's detective finally cracks TV
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29:Episode of Dirk Gently
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665:20 December
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559:Dirk Gently
439:Arthur Dent
325:Darren Boyd
321:Dirk Gently
258:ITV Studios
238:Dirk Gently
215:Darren Boyd
211:Dirk Gently
184:Dirk Gently
77:Directed by
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1042:Categories
954:Television
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618:10 October
501:References
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428:Doctor Who
333:Green Wing
310:Green Wing
252:Production
209:detective
201:and stars
122:2010-12-16
85:Written by
381:Reception
348:as Ruth,
294:voicemail
191:'s novel
72:Episode 1
782:Archived
758:Archived
489:See also
482:Sherlock
316:Episodes
262:BBC Four
219:sidekick
207:holistic
152:—
149:Previous
95:Story by
66:Episode
992:Related
940:Theatre
601:listing
431:, part
425:, part
217:as his
158: →
147:←
120: (
49:episode
875:Novels
133:1 hour
1026:Shada
969:Pilot
915:Radio
766:Metro
661:. BBC
454:Metro
290:email
37:Pilot
946:Dirk
829:IMDb
667:2010
644:2010
620:2010
479:and
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177:The
156:Next
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