Editing Douglas Adams

{{other people}}
{{short description|English author and humourist}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
| name          = Douglas Adams
| image         = Douglas adams portrait cropped.jpg
| caption       =
| birth_name    = Douglas Noel Adams
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1952|3|11|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Cambridge]], [[Cambridgeshire]], England
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2001|5|11|1952|3|11|df=yes}}
| death_place   = [[Montecito, California]], US
| resting_place   = [[Highgate Cemetery]], [[London]], England
| occupation    = {{flatlist|
* [[Author]]
* [[screenwriter]]
* [[essayist]]
* [[List of humorists|humorist]]
* [[satirist]]
* [[dramatist]]
}}
| alma_mater    = [[St John's College, Cambridge]]
| genre         = [[Science fiction]], [[comedy]], [[satire]]
|notablework =''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''
|signature= Douglas Adams Unterschrift (cropped).jpg
| awards        = [[Inkpot Award]] (1983)<ref>[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]</ref>
| website       = {{URL|douglasadams.com}}
}}
'''Douglas Noel Adams''' (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, screenwriter, essayist, humorist, satirist and dramatist. Adams was author of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', which originated in 1978 as [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)|a BBC radio comedy]], before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15&nbsp;million copies in his lifetime and generated [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)|a television series]], several stage plays, comics, [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (video game)|a video game]], and in 2005 [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)|a feature film]]. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in [[Radio Academy|The Radio Academy]]'s Hall of Fame.<ref name="radioacad">{{cite web|title=The Radio Academy Hall of Fame |url=http://www.radioacademy.org/hall-of-fame |work=The Radio Academy |access-date=8 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111205051058/http://www.radioacademy.org/hall-of-fame/ |archive-date= 5 December 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

Adams also wrote ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'' (1987) and ''[[The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul]]'' (1988), and co-wrote ''[[The Meaning of Liff]]'' (1983), ''[[The Deeper Meaning of Liff]]'' (1990), and ''[[Last Chance to See]]'' (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', co-wrote ''[[City of Death]]'', and served as [[script editor]] for its [[Doctor Who (season 17)|seventeenth season]] in 1979. He co-wrote the [[Monty Python]] sketch "[[Patient Abuse]]" which appeared in the final episode of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]''. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as ''[[The Salmon of Doubt]]'' in 2002.

Adams was an advocate for environmentalism and [[conservation movement|conservation]], a lover of fast cars,<ref name=TI>{{cite web|work=[[The Independent]]|title=Douglas Adams: Master of his universe|date=19 April 2005|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/douglas-adams-master-of-his-universe-495422.html}}</ref> [[innovation|technological innovation]] and the [[Macintosh|Apple Macintosh]], and a self-proclaimed "[[Atheism|radical atheist]]".

==Early life==
Adams was born on 11 March 1952 to Janet (née Donovan; 1927–2016) and Christopher Douglas Adams (1927–1985) in [[Cambridge]].<ref name=ODNB >Webb 2005b</ref> The family moved a few months after his birth to the [[East End of London]], where his sister, Susan, was born three years later.<ref name=Adams_xix>{{Harvnb|Adams|2002|p=xix}}</ref> His parents divorced in 1957; Douglas, Susan, and their mother moved then to an [[RSPCA]] animal shelter in [[Brentwood, Essex]], run by his maternal grandparents.<ref>Webb 2005a, p. 32.</ref>

===Education===
Adams attended Primrose Hill Primary School in Brentwood. At the age of nine, he passed the entrance exam for [[Brentwood School (Essex)|Brentwood School]]. He attended the [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|prep school]] from 1959 to 1964, then the main school until December 1970. Adams was {{convert|6|ft|m}} tall by age 12, and stopped growing at {{convert|6|ft|5|in|m}}. His form master, Frank Halford, said that Adams's height had made him stand out and that he had been self-conscious about it.<ref name=Adams_7>{{Harvnb|Adams|2002|p=7}}</ref><ref>Botti, Nicholas. [http://douglasadams.eu/interview-with-frank-halford/ "Interview with Frank Halford"]. ''Life, DNA, and H2G2.'' 2009. Web. Retrieved 13 March 2012. (Click on link at bottom for facsimile page from ''Daily News'' article, 7 March 1998.)</ref> His ability to write stories made him well known in the school.<ref name=Simpson_9>{{Harvnb|Simpson|2003|p=9}}</ref> He became the only student ever to be awarded a ten out of ten by Halford for creative writing — something he remembered for the rest of his life, particularly when facing [[writer's block]].<ref name=Adams_xix />

Some of his earliest writing was published at the school, such as a report on its photography club in ''The Brentwoodian'' in 1962, or spoof reviews in the school magazine ''Broadsheet'', edited by [[Paul Neil Milne Johnstone]], who later became a character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide''. He also designed the cover of one issue of the ''Broadsheet'', and had a letter and short story published in ''[[Eagle (comic)|The Eagle]]'', the boys' comic, in 1965. A poem entitled "A Dissertation on the task of writing a poem on a candle and an account of some of the difficulties thereto pertaining" written by Adams in January 1970 at the age of 17, was discovered in a cupboard at the school in early 2014.<ref>Flood, Alison (March 2014). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/19/lost-school-poems-douglas-adams-griff-rhys-jones "Lost poems of Douglas Adams and Griff Rhys Jones found in school cupboard"], ''The Guardian'', 19 March 2014. Accessed 2 July 2014</ref>

On the strength of an essay on religious poetry that discussed [[the Beatles]] and [[William Blake]], he was awarded an [[Exhibition (scholarship)|Exhibition]] in English at [[St John's College, Cambridge]], going up in 1971. He wanted to join the [[Footlights]], an invitation-only student comedy club that has acted as a hothouse for comic talent. He was not elected immediately as he had hoped, and started to write and perform in revues with Will Adams (no relation) and Martin Smith; they formed a group called "Adams-Smith-Adams". He became a member of the Footlights by 1973.<ref name="Simpson_30-40">{{Harvnb|Simpson|2003|pp=30–40}}</ref> Despite doing very little work — he recalled having completed three essays in three years — he graduated in 1974 with a 2:2 in [[English literature]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-75853|title=Adams, Douglas Noël (1952–2001), writer |year=2004 |language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/75853|access-date=10 June 2019}}</ref>

==Career==

===Writing===
After leaving university Adams moved back to London, determined to break into TV and radio as a writer. An edited version of the ''Footlights Revue'' appeared on [[BBC Two|BBC2]] television in 1974. A version of the Revue performed live in London's [[West End of London|West End]] led to Adams being discovered by [[Monty Python]]'s [[Graham Chapman]]. The two formed a brief writing partnership, earning Adams a writing credit in [[List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes#6. Party Political Broadcast|episode 45]] of ''Monty Python'' for a sketch called "[[Patient Abuse]]". The pair also co-wrote the "Marilyn Monroe" sketch which appeared on the soundtrack album of ''[[The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail|Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]''. Adams is one of only two people other than the original Python members to get a writing credit (the other being [[Neil Innes]]).<ref name=times>{{cite news|title=Terry Jones remembers Douglas Adams, 'the last of the Pythons'|newspaper=The Times|date=10 October 2009}}</ref>

[[File:DNA in Monty Python.jpg|thumb|Adams in his first ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus|Monty Python]]'' appearance, in full surgeon's garb]]

Adams had two brief appearances in the fourth series of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]''. At the beginning of episode 42, "The Light Entertainment War", Adams is in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while [[Michael Palin]] narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another but never gets started. At the beginning of episode 44, "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a [[List of recurring Monty Python's Flying Circus characters#Pepperpots|pepper-pot]] outfit and loads a missile onto a cart driven by [[Terry Jones]], who is calling for scrap metal ("Any old iron..."). The two episodes were broadcast in November 1974. Adams and Chapman also attempted non-Python projects, including ''[[Out of the Trees]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6150254.stm |title='Lost' gems from the TV archives |last=Young |first=Kevin |date=1 December 2006 |work=BBC News |access-date=9 May 2018 |language=en-GB }}</ref>

At this point Adams's career stalled; his writing style was unsuited to the then-current style of radio and TV comedy.<ref name=ODNB /> To make ends meet he took a series of odd jobs, including as a hospital porter, barn builder, and chicken shed cleaner. He was employed as a bodyguard by a Qatari family, who had made their fortune in oil.<ref>Webb 2005a, p. 93.</ref>

During this time Adams continued to write and submit sketches, though few were accepted. In 1976 his career had a brief improvement when he wrote and performed ''Unpleasantness at Brodie's Close'' at the [[Edinburgh Fringe]] festival. By Christmas, work had dried up again, and a depressed Adams moved to live with his mother.<ref name=ODNB /> The lack of writing work hit him hard and low confidence became a feature of Adams's life; "I have terrible periods of lack of confidence [..] I briefly did therapy, but after a while I realised it was like a farmer complaining about the weather. You can't fix the weather&nbsp;– you just have to get on with it".<ref name=Adams_prologue>{{Harvnb|Adams|2002|pp=prologue}}</ref>

Some of Adams's early radio work included sketches for ''[[The Burkiss Way]]'' in 1977 and ''[[The News Huddlines]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Simpson|2003|p=87}}</ref> He also wrote, again with Chapman, 20 February 1977 episode of ''[[Doctor on the Go]]'', a sequel to the ''[[Doctor in the House (TV series)|Doctor in the House]]'' television comedy series. After the [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)|first radio series of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide'']] became successful, Adams was made a BBC radio producer, working on ''[[Week Ending]]'' and a pantomime called ''[[Black Cinderella Two Goes East]]''.<ref>Roberts, Jem. ''The Clue Bible: The Fully Authorised History of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue from Footlights to Mornington Crescent'': London, 2009, p164-5</ref> He left after six months to become the script editor for ''[[Doctor Who]]''.

In 1979, Adams and [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]] wrote scripts for two half-hour episodes of ''[[Doctor Snuggles]]'': "The Remarkable Fidgety River" and "The Great Disappearing Mystery" (episodes eight and twelve).<ref>{{Harvnb|Roberts|2014|pp=129–130}}</ref> John Lloyd was also co-author of two episodes from the original ''Hitchhiker'' radio series ("Fit the Fifth" and "Fit the Sixth", also known as "Episode Five" and "Episode Six"), as well as ''[[The Meaning of Liff]]'' and ''[[The Deeper Meaning of Liff]]''.

====Work on ''Doctor Who''====
{{Main|Doctor Who}}
Adams sent the script for the ''HHGG'' pilot radio programme to the ''Doctor Who'' production office in 1978, and was commissioned to write ''[[The Pirate Planet]]''. He had also previously attempted to submit a potential film script, called ''Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen'', which later became his novel ''Life, the Universe and Everything'' (which in turn became the third ''Hitchhiker's Guide'' radio series). Adams then went on to serve as script editor on the show for its seventeenth season in 1979. Altogether, he wrote three [[List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989)|''Doctor Who'' serials]] starring [[Tom Baker]] as [[The Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]]:
* ''The Pirate Planet'' (the second serial in the ''[[The Key to Time|Key to Time]]'' arc, in ''[[Doctor Who (season 16)|season 16]]'')<ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Discontinuity Guide]] |last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul Cornell |last2=Day |first2=Martin |author-link2=Martin Day |last3=Topping |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Topping |year=1995 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-426-20442-5 |chapter=The Pirate Planet|chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/pirateplanet/detail.shtml }}</ref>
* ''[[City of Death]]'' (with producer [[Graham Williams (television producer)|Graham Williams]], from an original storyline by writer [[David Fisher (writer)|David Fisher]]. It was transmitted under the pseudonym "[[David Agnew]]")<ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Discontinuity Guide]] |last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul Cornell |last2=Day |first2=Martin |author-link2=Martin Day |last3=Topping |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Topping |year=1995 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-426-20442-5 |chapter=City of Death|chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/cityofdeath/detail.shtml }}</ref>
* ''[[Shada (Doctor Who)|Shada]]'' (only partially filmed; not televised due to [[strike action|industry disputes]], but was later completed using animation for the unfinished scenes and broadcast as "Doctor Who: The Lost Episode" on [[BBC America]] 19 July 2018)<ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Discontinuity Guide]] |last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul Cornell |last2=Day |first2=Martin |author-link2=Martin Day |last3=Topping |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Topping |year=1995 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-426-20442-5 |chapter=Shada|chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/shada/detail.shtml }}</ref>

The episodes authored by Adams are some of the few that were not novelised, as Adams would not allow anyone else to write them and asked for a higher price than the publishers were willing to pay.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skepticfiles.org/en001/drwhogde.htm |title=A 1990s Doctor Who FAQ |publisher=Skepticfiles.org |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> ''Shada'' was later adapted as a novel by [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]] in 2012 and ''City of Death'' and ''The Pirate Planet'' by [[James Goss (producer)|James Goss]] in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Elements of ''Shada'' and ''City of Death'' were reused in Adams's later novel ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'', in particular, the character of [[Professor Chronotis]]. [[Big Finish Productions]] eventually remade ''Shada'' as an audio play starring [[Paul McGann]] as the Doctor. Accompanied by partially animated illustrations, it was [[Doctor Who spin-offs#Webcasts|webcast]] on the [[BBC Online|BBC website]] in 2003, and subsequently released as a two-CD set later that year. An omnibus edition of this version was broadcast on the digital radio station [[BBC7]] on 10 December 2005.

In the ''Doctor Who'' 2012 Christmas episode "[[The Snowmen#Production|The Snowmen]]", writer [[Steven Moffat]] was inspired by a storyline that Adams pitched called ''The Doctor Retires''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Moffat |first=Steven|author-link=Steven Moffat|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-12-24/doctor-who-christmas-special-steven-moffat-matt-smith-and-jenna-louise-coleman-reveal-all |title=Doctor Who Christmas special: Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman reveal all |work=Radio Times |date=24 December 2012 |access-date=8 July 2013}}</ref>

====''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''====
{{Main|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' was a concept for a science-fiction comedy radio series pitched by Adams and radio producer [[Simon Brett]] to [[BBC Radio 4]] in 1977. Adams came up with an outline for a pilot episode, as well as a few other stories (reprinted in [[Neil Gaiman]]'s book ''[[Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion]]'') that could be used in the series.
[[File:Towelday-Innsbruck.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Towel Day]] 2005 in Innsbruck, Austria, where Adams first had the idea of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide''. In the novels, a towel is the most useful thing a space traveller can have. The annual Towel Day (25 May) was first celebrated in 2001, two weeks after Adams's death.]]

According to Adams, the idea for the title occurred to him while he lay drunk in a field in [[Innsbruck]], Austria, gazing at the stars. He was carrying a copy of the ''[[Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe]]'', and it occurred to him that "somebody ought to write a ''Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''".<ref>{{cite book | author=Adams, Douglas| editor= Geoffrey Perkins |others=Additional Material by M. J. Simpson|title=[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts]] | page = 10 | edition =25th Anniversary | publisher=Pan Books | year=2003 | isbn=0-330-41957-9}}</ref>

Despite the original outline, Adams was said to make up the stories as he wrote. He turned to [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]] for help with the final two episodes of [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Primary and Secondary Phases#The Primary Phase|the first series]]. Lloyd contributed bits from an unpublished science fiction book of his own, called ''GiGax''.<ref>Webb 2005a, p. 120.</ref> Very little of Lloyd's material survived in later adaptations of ''Hitchhiker's'', such as the novels and the TV series. The TV series was based on the first six radio episodes, and sections contributed by Lloyd were largely re-written.

[[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast the first radio series weekly in the UK starting 8 March 1978, lasting until April.<ref>[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/09/hhgttg_42/ “Grab a towel and pour yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster because The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is 42”]. ''The Register''. Retrieved 12 March 2020</ref> The series was distributed in the United States by [[NPR|National Public Radio]]. Following the success of the first series, another episode was recorded and broadcast, which was commonly known as the Christmas Episode. [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Primary and Secondary Phases#The Secondary Phase|A second series]] of five episodes was broadcast one per night, during the week of 21–25 January 1980.

While working on the radio series (and with simultaneous projects such as ''[[The Pirate Planet]]'') Adams developed problems keeping to writing deadlines that got worse as he published novels. Adams was never a prolific writer and usually had to be forced by others to do any writing. This included being locked in a hotel suite with his editor for three weeks to ensure that ''[[So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish]]'' was completed.<ref>Felch 2004</ref> He was quoted as saying, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."<ref name=Simpson_236>{{Harvnb|Simpson|2003|p=236}}</ref> Despite the difficulty with deadlines, Adams wrote five novels in the series, published in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, and 1992.

The books formed the basis for other adaptations, such as three-part comic book adaptations for each of the first three books, an interactive text-adventure [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (computer game)|computer game]], and a photo-illustrated edition, published in 1994. This latter edition featured a [[42 Puzzle]] designed by Adams, which was later incorporated into paperback covers of the first four ''Hitchhiker's'' novels (the paperback for the fifth re-used the artwork from the hardback edition).<ref>[http://www.iblist.com/series.php?id=2 Internet Book List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220065441/http://www.iblist.com/series.php?id=2 |date=20 February 2006 }} page, with links to all five novels, and reproductions of the 1990s paperback covers that included the [[42 Puzzle]].</ref>

In 1980, Adams began attempts to turn the first ''Hitchhiker's'' novel into a film, making several trips to Los Angeles, and working with Hollywood studios and potential producers. The next year, the radio series became the basis for a BBC television mini-series<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081874/|title=''The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy''|publisher=Internet Movie Database}}</ref> broadcast in six parts. When he died in 2001 in California, he had been trying again to get the film project started with [[Disney]], which had bought the rights in 1998. The screenplay got a posthumous re-write by [[Karey Kirkpatrick]], and [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)|the resulting film]] was released in 2005.

Radio producer [[Dirk Maggs]] had consulted with Adams, first in 1993, and later in 1997 and 2000 about creating a third radio series, based on the third novel in the ''Hitchhiker's'' series.<ref>{{cite book | author=Adams, Douglas | editor = [[Dirk Maggs]] | title=The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Scripts: The Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases | publisher=Pan Books | year=2005|isbn=0-330-43510-8 |pages=xiv | no-pp=true}}</ref> They also discussed the possibilities of radio adaptations of the final two novels in the five-book "trilogy". As with the film, this project was realised only after Adams's death. The third series, ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary to Quintessential Phases#The Tertiary Phase|The Tertiary Phase]]'', was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] in September 2004 and was subsequently released on audio CD. With the aid of a recording of his reading of ''Life, the Universe and Everything'' and editing, Adams can be heard playing the part of Agrajag posthumously. ''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'' and ''Mostly Harmless'' made up the fourth and fifth radio series, respectively (on radio they were titled ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary to Quintessential Phases#The Quandary Phase|The Quandary Phase]]'' and ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary to Quintessential Phases#The Quintessential Phase|The Quintessential Phase]]'') and these were broadcast in May and June 2005, and also subsequently released on Audio CD. The last episode in the last series (with a new, "more upbeat" ending) concluded with, "The very final episode of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' by Douglas Adams is affectionately dedicated to its author."<ref>Adams, ''Dirk Maggs'', Page 356.</ref>

====''Dirk Gently'' series====
[[File:Douglas Adams San Francisco.jpg|thumb|Adams in March 2000]]
Between Adams's first trip to Madagascar with [[Mark Carwardine]] in 1985, and their series of travels that formed the basis for the radio series and non-fiction book ''[[Last Chance to See]]'', Adams wrote two other novels with a new cast of characters. ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'' was published in 1987, and was described by its author as "a kind of ghost-horror-detective-time-travel-romantic-comedy-epic, mainly concerned with mud, music and quantum mechanics".<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Neil Gaiman|Gaiman, Neil]] | title=Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | edition=Second U.S. | publisher=Titan Books | year=2003 | page=169 | isbn=1-84023-742-2}}</ref> It was derived from two Doctor Who serials Adams had written. {{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

A sequel, ''[[The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul]]'', was published a year later. This was an entirely original work, Adams's first since ''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.'' After the book tour, Adams set off on his round-the-world excursion which supplied him with the material for ''Last Chance to See''.

===Music===
Adams played the [[guitar]] left-handed and had a collection of twenty-four left-handed guitars when he died (having received his first guitar in 1964). He also studied piano in the 1960s.<ref>Webb, page 49.</ref> [[Pink Floyd]] and [[Procol Harum]] had important influence on Adams' work.

====Pink Floyd====
Adams's official biography shares its name with the song "[[Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)|Wish You Were Here]]" by [[Pink Floyd]]. Adams was friends with Pink Floyd guitarist [[David Gilmour]] and, on Adams's 42nd birthday, he was invited to make a guest appearance at Pink Floyd's concert of 28 October 1994 at Earls Court in London, playing guitar on the songs "[[Brain Damage (song)|Brain Damage]]" and "[[Eclipse (Pink Floyd song)|Eclipse]]".<ref name="Mabbett-MM">{{Cite book |publisher= Omnibus Press |isbn= 978-1-84938-370-7 |last= Mabbett |first= Andy |title= Pink Floyd – The Music and the Mystery |location= London |year= 2010 }}</ref> Adams chose the name for Pink Floyd's 1994 album, ''[[The Division Bell]]'', by picking the words from the lyrics to one of its tracks, "High Hopes".<ref name="Mabbett-MM" /> Gilmour also performed at Adams's memorial service in 2001, and what would have been Adams's 60th birthday party in 2012.

===Computer games and projects===
Douglas Adams created an [[interactive fiction]] version of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (computer game)|HHGG]]'' with [[Steve Meretzky]] from [[Infocom]] in 1984. In 1986 he participated in a week-long brainstorming session with the [[Lucasfilm Games]] team for the game ''[[Labyrinth: The Computer Game|Labyrinth]]''. Later he was also involved in creating ''[[Bureaucracy (computer game)|Bureaucracy]]'' as a parody of events in his own life.

Adams was a founder-director and Chief Fantasist of [[The Digital Village]], a digital media and Internet company with which he created ''[[Starship Titanic]]'', a [[Software and Information Industry Association#CODiE Awards|Codie award]]-winning and [[BAFTA#Games Awards|BAFTA-nominated adventure game]], which was published in 1998 by [[Simon & Schuster]].<ref name="bbc.co.uk">BBC Online (no date) [https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/dna/biog.shtml "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: DNA (1952-2001)"] Accessed 9 July 2014</ref><ref>Botti, Nicolas (2009). [http://www.douglasadams.eu/en_adams_bio.php "Life, DNA & h2g2: Douglas Adams's Biography"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901131941/http://www.douglasadams.eu/en_adams_bio.php |date= 1 September 2014 }} Accessed 9 July 2014</ref> [[Terry Jones]] wrote the accompanying book, entitled ''[[Starship Titanic|Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic]]'', since Adams was too busy with the computer game to do both. In April 1999, Adams initiated the [[h2g2]] [[collaborative writing]] project, an experimental attempt at making ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' a reality, and at harnessing the collective brainpower of the internet community. It was hosted by BBC Online from 2001 to 2011.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/>

In 1990, Adams wrote and presented a television documentary programme ''[[Hyperland]]''<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0188677/ Internet Movie Database's page for ''Hyperland'']</ref> which featured [[Tom Baker]] as a "software agent" (similar to the assistant pictured in Apple's [[Knowledge Navigator]] video of future concepts from 1987), and interviews with [[Ted Nelson]], the co-inventor of [[hypertext]] and the person who coined the term. Adams was an [[early adopter]] and advocate of hypertext.

==Personal beliefs and activism==

===Atheism and views on religion===
Adams described himself as a "radical [[atheist]]", adding "radical" for emphasis so he would not be asked if he meant agnostic. He told [[American Atheists]] that this conveyed the fact that he really meant it. He imagined a sentient puddle who wakes up one morning and thinks, "This is an interesting world I find myself in – an interesting hole I find myself in – fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!" to demonstrate his view that the [[fine-tuned universe]] argument for God was a fallacy.<ref>Adams 1998.</ref>

He remained fascinated by religion because of its effect on human affairs. "I love to keep poking and prodding at it. I've thought about it so much over the years that that fascination is bound to spill over into my writing."<ref name=amath>{{cite journal |last=Silverman |first=Dave |title=Interview: Douglas Adams |journal=American Atheist |year=1998–1999 |volume=37 |issue=1 |url=http://www.atheists.org/Interview%3A__Douglas_Adams |access-date=16 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218084109/http://www.atheists.org/interview:__douglas_adams |archive-date=18 December 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

The evolutionary biologist and atheist [[Richard Dawkins]] invited Adams to participate in his 1991 [[Royal Institution Christmas Lectures]], where Dawkins calls Adams from the audience to read a passage from ''[[The Restaurant at the End of the Universe]]'' which satirizes the absurdity of the thought that any one species would exist on Earth merely to serve as a meal to another species, such as humans. Dawkins also uses Adams's influence to exemplify arguments for non-belief in his 2006 book ''[[The God Delusion]]''. Dawkins dedicated the book to Adams, whom he jokingly called "possibly [my] only convert" to atheism<ref name="TheGuardian">{{cite news|url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/roundupstory/0,,1939704,00.html |title=Observer, ''The God Delusion'', 5&nbsp;November 2006|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=5 November 2006 |access-date=1 June 2009 | location=London | first=Kim | last=Bunce}}</ref> and wrote on his death that "Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the [[mountain gorilla]] and the [[black rhino]] have lost a gallant defender."<ref name=Dawkins2001>{{cite news|last=Dawkins|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Dawkins|title=Lament for Douglas Adams|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/14/books.booksnews|access-date=29 December 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=13 May 2001}}</ref>

===Environmental activism===
Adams was also an [[environmental activist]] who campaigned on behalf of [[endangered species]]. This activism included the production of the non-fiction radio series ''[[Last Chance to See]]'', in which he and [[natural history|naturalist]] [[Mark Carwardine]] visited rare species such as the [[kakapo]] and [[baiji]], and the publication of a tie-in book of the same name. In 1992 this was made into a CD-ROM combination of [[audiobook]], [[e-book]] and picture slide show.

Adams and Mark Carwardine contributed the 'Meeting a Gorilla' passage from ''Last Chance to See'' to the book ''[[Great Ape Project|The Great Ape Project]]''.<ref>{{cite book | editor=[[Paola Cavalieri|Cavalieri, Paola]] | editor2=[[Peter Singer]] | title=The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity | edition=U.S. Paperback | publisher=St. Martin's Griffin | year=1994 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatapeprojecte00cava/page/19 19–23] | isbn=0-312-11818-X | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/greatapeprojecte00cava/page/19 }}</ref> This book, edited by [[Paola Cavalieri]] and [[Peter Singer]], launched a wider-scale project in 1993, which calls for the extension of moral equality to include all great apes, human and non-human.

In 1994, he participated in a climb of [[Mount Kilimanjaro]] while wearing a rhino suit for the British charity organisation [[Save the Rhino|Save the Rhino International]]. Puppeteer [[William Todd-Jones]], who had originally worn the suit in the London Marathon to raise money and bring awareness to the group, also participated in the climb wearing a rhino suit; Adams wore the suit while travelling to the mountain before the climb began. About £100,000 was raised through that event, benefiting schools in Kenya and a [[black rhinoceros]] preservation programme in [[Tanzania]]. Adams was also an active supporter of the [[Dian Fossey]] Gorilla Fund.

Since 2003, Save the Rhino has held an annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture around the time of his birthday to raise money for environmental campaigns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lifednah2g2.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/ninth-douglas-adams-memorial-lecture.html |title=The Ninth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture |publisher=Save the Rhino International |access-date=27 July 2011}}</ref>

===Technology and innovation===
Adams bought his first [[word processor]] in 1982, having considered one as early as 1979. His first purchase was a Nexu. In 1983, when he and Jane Belson went to Los Angeles, he bought a [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[Rainbow 100|Rainbow]]. Upon their return to England, Adams bought an [[Apricot Computers|Apricot]], then a [[BBC Micro]] and a [[Tandy 1000]].<ref name="Simpson_184-185">{{Harvnb|Simpson|2003|pp=184–185}}</ref> In ''Last Chance to See'', Adams mentions his [[Cambridge Z88]], which he had taken to [[Zaire]] on a quest to find the [[northern white rhinoceros]].<ref>{{cite book | author=Adams, Douglas and [[Mark Carwardine]] | title=Last Chance to See | edition=First U.S. Hardcover | publisher=[[Harmony Books]] | year=1991 | page=[https://archive.org/details/lastchancetosee0000adam/page/59 59] | isbn=0-517-58215-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/lastchancetosee0000adam/page/59 }}</ref>

Adams's posthumously published work, ''[[The Salmon of Doubt]]'', features several articles by him on the subject of technology, including reprints of articles that originally ran in ''[[MacUser]]'' magazine, and in ''[[The Independent#The Independent on Sunday|The Independent on Sunday]]'' newspaper. In these Adams claims that one of the first computers he ever saw was a [[Commodore PET]], and that he had "adored" his Apple Macintosh ("or rather my family of however many Macintoshes it is that I've recklessly accumulated over the years") since he first saw one at Infocom's offices in Boston in 1984.<ref>{{cite book | author=Adams, Douglas | title=The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time | edition=First UK hardcover | publisher=Macmillan | year=2002 | pages=90–1 | isbn=0-333-76657-1}}</ref>

Adams was a Macintosh user from the time they first came out in 1984 until his death in 2001. He was the first person to buy a Mac in Europe, the second being [[Stephen Fry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx6WPQkhUXI |title=Craig Ferguson 23 February 2010B Late Late show Stephen Fry PT2 |publisher=YouTube |date=21 June 2010 |access-date=27 July 2011}}</ref> Adams was also an "[[AppleMasters|Apple Master]]", celebrities whom Apple made into spokespeople for its products (others included [[John Cleese]] and [[Gregory Hines]]). Adams's contributions included a rock video that he created using the first version of [[iMovie]] with footage featuring his daughter Polly. The video was available on Adams's [[.Mac]] homepage. Adams installed and started using the first release of [[macOS|Mac OS X]] in the weeks leading up to his death. His last post to his own forum was in praise of Mac OS X and the possibilities of its [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]] programming framework. He said it was "awesome...", which was also the last word he wrote on his site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.douglasadams.com/cgi-bin/mboard/info/dnathread.cgi?2922,1 |title=Adams's final post on his forums at |publisher=Douglasadams.com |access-date=1 June 2009}}</ref>

Adams used email to correspond with [[Steve Meretzky]] in the early 1980s, during their collaboration on Infocom's version of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''.<ref name="Simpson_184-185"/> While living in New Mexico in 1993 he set up another e-mail address and began posting to his own [[USENET]] newsgroup, alt.fan.douglas-adams, and occasionally, when his computer was acting up, to the comp.sys.mac hierarchy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.douglas-adams |title=Discussions – alt.fan.douglas-adams &#124; Google Groups |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> Challenges to the authenticity of his messages later led Adams to set up a message forum on his own website to avoid the issue. In 1996, Adams was a keynote speaker at the [[Microsoft]] [[Professional Developers Conference]] (PDC) where he described the personal computer as being a modelling device. The video of his keynote speech is archived on [[Channel 9 (discussion forum)|Channel 9]].<ref>{{cite web |last = Adams |first = Douglas |title = PDC 1996 Keynote with Douglas Adams |work=[[channel9.msdn.com]] |publisher=Channel 9 |date = 15 May 2001 |url = http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/PDC/PDC-1996/PDC-1996-Keynote-with-Douglas-Adams |access-date =22 March 2013}}</ref>
Adams was also a keynote speaker for the April 2001 [[Academic conference|Embedded Systems Conference]] in San Francisco, one of the major technical conferences on [[embedded system]] engineering.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cassel |first=David |title=So long, Douglas Adams, and thanks for all the fun |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |publisher=Salon Media Group |date=15 May 2001 |url=http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/05/15/douglas_adams/index.html |access-date=10 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307080733/http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/05/15/douglas_adams/index.html |archive-date=7 March 2008 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Adams moved to [[Upper Street]], [[Islington]], in 1981<ref name="IPP">{{cite web|url=http://www.islington.gov.uk/Leisure/heritage/heritage_borough/bor_plaques/peoplesplaques.asp |title=Islington People's Plaques |date=25 July 2011 |access-date=13 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318001614/http://www.islington.gov.uk/Leisure/heritage/heritage_borough/bor_plaques/peoplesplaques.asp |archive-date=18 March 2012 }}</ref> and to Duncan Terrace, a few minutes' walk away, in the late 1980s.<ref name="IPP" />

In the early 1980s Adams had an affair with novelist [[Sally Emerson]], who was separated from her husband at that time. Adams later dedicated his book ''[[Life, the Universe and Everything]]'' to Emerson. In 1981 Emerson returned to her husband, [[Peter Stothard]], a contemporary of Adams's at [[Brentwood School (England)|Brentwood School]], and later editor of ''[[The Times]]''. Adams was soon introduced by friends to Jane Belson, with whom he later became romantically involved. Belson was the "lady barrister" mentioned in the jacket-flap biography printed in his books during the mid-1980s ("He [Adams] lives in Islington with a lady barrister and an Apple Macintosh"). The two lived in Los Angeles together during 1983 while Adams worked on an early screenplay adaptation of ''Hitchhiker's''. When the deal fell through, they moved back to London, and after several separations ("He is currently not certain where he lives, or with whom")<ref name=sfweekly>{{cite web|last=Bowers |first=Keith |title=Big Three |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/2011-07-06/calendar/big-three/ |work=SF Weekly |access-date=8 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110909083751/http://www.sfweekly.com/2011-07-06/calendar/big-three/ |archive-date= 9 September 2011 |url-status=live |date=6 July 2011 }}</ref> and a broken engagement, they married on 25 November 1991.

Adams and Belson had one daughter together, Polly Jane Rocket Adams, born on 22 June 1994, shortly after Adams turned 42. In 1999 the family moved from London to [[Santa Barbara, California]], where they lived until his death. Following the funeral, Jane Belson and Polly Adams returned to London.<ref>Webb, Chapter 10.</ref> Belson died on 7 September 2011 of cancer, aged 59.<ref name=timesobit>{{cite web |title=Obituary & Guest Book Preview for Jane Elizabeth BELSON |url=http://announcements.thetimes.co.uk/obituaries/timesonline-uk/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=153521790 |work=The Times |access-date=8 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404173415/http://announcements.thetimes.co.uk/obituaries/timesonline-uk/obituary-preview.aspx?n=jane-elizabeth-belson&pid=153521790&referrer=2282 |archive-date=4 April 2012 |url-status=live |date=9 September 2011 }}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==
[[File:Grave of Douglas Adams, Highgate.jpg|thumb|upright|Adams's gravestone, [[Highgate Cemetery]], North London]]

Adams died of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] due to undiagnosed [[coronary artery disease]] on 11 May 2001, aged 49, after resting from his regular workout at a private gym in [[Montecito, California]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2001-05-24/news/lots-of-screamingly-funny-sentences-no-fish/ |title=Lots of Screamingly Funny Sentences. No Fish. – page 1 |last1=Lewis |first1=Judith |last2=Shulman |first2=Dave |newspaper=LA Weekly |date=24 May 2001 |access-date=20 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010233102/http://www.laweekly.com/2001-05-24/news/lots-of-screamingly-funny-sentences-no-fish/ |archive-date= 10 October 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref> His funeral was held on 16 May in Santa Barbara. His ashes were placed in [[Highgate Cemetery]] in north London in June 2002.<ref name="Simpson_337-338">{{Harvnb|Simpson|2003|pp=337–338}}</ref> A memorial service was held on 17 September 2001 at [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] church, [[Trafalgar Square]], London. This became the first church service broadcast live on the web by the BBC.<ref>Gaiman, 204.</ref>

Two days before Adams died, the [[Minor Planet Center]] announced the naming of asteroid [[18610&nbsp;Arthurdent]].<ref name=MPC42677>{{Citation | date = 9 May 2001 | title = New Names of Minor Planets | periodical = [[Minor Planet Circular]] | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=[[Minor Planet Center]] | issue = MPC 42677 | url = http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2001/MPC_20010509.pdf | issn = 0736-6884 }}</ref> In 2005, the asteroid [[25924&nbsp;Douglasadams]] was named in his memory.<ref>[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6867061 Asteroid named after 'Hitchhiker' humorist: Late British sci-fi author honored after cosmic campaign] by Alan Boyle, NBC News, 25 January 2005</ref>

In May 2002, ''[[The Salmon of Doubt]]'' was published, containing many short stories, essays, and letters, as well as eulogies from [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Stephen Fry]] (in the UK edition), [[Christopher Cerf (musician and television producer)|Christopher Cerf]] (in the US edition), and [[Terry Jones]] (in the US paperback edition). It also includes eleven chapters of his unfinished novel, ''The Salmon of Doubt'', which was originally intended to become a new [[Dirk Gently]] novel, but might have later become the sixth ''Hitchhiker'' novel.<ref>
{{cite news
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-salmon-of-doubt-by-douglas-adams-650803.html
|title=The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
|work=The Independent |location=London
|access-date=2 August 2009
|last=Murray
|first=Charles Shaar
| date=10 May 2002
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/cover-stories-douglas-adams-narnia-chronicles-something-like-a-house-672250.html
|title=Cover Stories: Douglas Adams, Narnia Chronicles, Something like a House
|work=The Independent |location=London
|access-date=2 August 2009
|author=The Literator
| date=5 January 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801062359/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/cover-stories-douglas-adams-narnia-chronicles-something-like-a-house-672250.html|archive-date=1 August 2009 }}
</ref>

Other events after Adams's death included a [[webcast]] production of ''[[Shada (Doctor Who)|Shada]]'', allowing the complete story to be told, radio dramatisations of the final three books in the ''Hitchhiker's'' series, and the completion of [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)|the film adaptation]] of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. The film, released in 2005, posthumously credits Adams as a producer, and several design elements – including a head-shaped planet seen near the end of the film – incorporated Adams's features.

A 12-part radio series based on the [[Dirk Gently]] novels was announced in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dirkmaggs.dswilliams.co.uk/Dirk%20Maggs%20News%20%20new%20projects.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021209193312/http://www.dirkmaggs.dswilliams.co.uk/dirk%20maggs%20news%20%20new%20projects.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date= 9 December 2002 |title=Dirk Maggs News and New Projects page }}</ref>

BBC Radio 4 also commissioned a third Dirk Gently radio series based on the incomplete chapters of ''The Salmon of Doubt'', and written by [[Kim Fuller]];<ref>{{cite web|author=Matthew Hemley |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/24312/douglas-adams-final-dirk-gently-novel-to-be |title=The Stage / News / Douglas Adams's final Dirk Gently novel to be adapted for Radio 4 |work=The Stage |date=5 May 2009 |access-date=20 August 2009}}</ref> but this was dropped in favour of a BBC TV series based on the two completed novels.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2009/10/11/9767/bbc_plans_dirk_gently_tv_series|title=BBC plans Dirk Gently TV series|publisher=Chortle.co.uk|date=11 October 2009|access-date=11 October 2009}}</ref> A sixth ''Hitchhiker'' novel, ''[[And Another Thing... (novel)|And Another Thing...]]'', by ''[[Artemis Fowl (series)|Artemis Fowl]]'' author [[Eoin Colfer]], was released on 12 October 2009 (the 30th anniversary of the first book), published with the support of Adams's estate. A [[BBC Radio 4]] ''[[Book at Bedtime]]'' adaptation and an audio book soon followed.

On 25 May 2001, two weeks after Adams's death, his fans organised a tribute known as [[Towel Day]], which has been observed every year since then.<ref>{{cite news | last=Molloy | first=Mark | date=25 May 2016 | title=What is Towel Day? The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy creator Douglas Adams celebrated | work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/what-is-towel-day-the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-creator-do/ | access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref>

An Apple Macintosh SE/30 once owned by Adams can be seen on display at [[The Centre for Computing History]] in Cambridge.<ref>{{cite web| title=Apple Macintosh SE/30 (Douglas Adams) | work=The Centre for Computing History website | url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/41378/Apple-Macintosh-SE-30-(Douglas-Adams)/}}</ref>

In 2018, John Lloyd presented an hour-long episode of the [[BBC Radio Four]] documentary ''[[Archive on 4]]'', discussing Adams' private papers, which are held at [[St John's College, Cambridge]].<ref name="BBC-b09tbl2s">{{cite web|title=Don't Panic! It's The Douglas Adams Papers, Archive on 4 - BBC Radio 4|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09tbl2s|work=[[BBC]]|access-date=30 March 2018}}</ref> The episode is available online.<ref name="BBC-b09tbl2s" />

A street<ref>{{Coord|-27.5893269|-48.662225|type:landmark_region:BR|name=Travessa Douglas Adams}}</ref> in [[São José, Santa Catarina|São José]], [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]], [[Brazil]] is named in Adams' honour.<ref name="TDA">{{cite web|title=Travessa Douglas Adams |website=Cdef Blog |url=http://www.cdef.com.br/2015/11/02/travessa-douglas-adams/ |access-date=30 March 2018 |language=pt-BR |date=2 November 2015}}</ref>

In March 2021 [[Unbound (publisher)|Unbound]] announced a [[crowdfunding|crowdfunder]] for ''42: the wildly improbable ideas of Douglas Adams'', a book based on Adams' papers, edited by [[Kevin Jon Davies]].<ref name="brown">{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Mark |title=Douglas Adams' note to self reveals author found writing torture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/mar/22/douglas-adams-note-to-self-reveals-author-found-writing-torture |access-date=22 March 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=22 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" scope=col| Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" scope=col| Award
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" scope=col| Work
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" scope=col| Category
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" scope=col| Result
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" scope=col| Reference
|-
|1979
|scope=row| [[Hugo Award]]
|''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' <small>(shared with [[Geoffrey Perkins]])</small>
|[[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation|Best Dramatic Presentation]]
|{{nom}}
|
|}

==Works==
{{Refbegin|20em}}
* ''[[The Private Life of Genghis Khan]]'' (1975), based on a comedy sketch Adams co-wrote with [[Graham Chapman]] (short story)
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (1978) (radio series)
* ''[[The Pirate Planet]]'' (1978), a [[Doctor Who]] serial
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (1979) (novel)
* ''[[City of Death]]'' (1979), a Doctor Who serial
* ''[[Shada (Doctor Who)|Shada]]'' (1979–1980), a Doctor Who serial
* ''[[The Restaurant at the End of the Universe]]'' (1980) (novel)
* ''[[A Liar's Autobiography]] (Volume VI)'' (1980) authored by [[Graham Chapman]], with [[David Sherlock]], Alex Martin, [[David A. Yallop]] and Adams
* ''[[Life, the Universe and Everything]]'' (1982) (novel)
* ''[[The Meaning of Liff]]'' (1983 (book), with [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]])
* ''[[So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish]]'' (1984) (novel)
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (computer game)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (1984, with [[Steve Meretzky]]) (computer game)
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts]]'' (1985, with [[Geoffrey Perkins]])
* ''[[Young Zaphod Plays It Safe]] (short story)'' (1986)
* ''[[The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book|A Christmas Fairly Story]]'' {{sic}} (1986, with [[Terry Jones]]), and
* ''Supplement to The Meaning of Liff'' (1986, with [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]] and [[Stephen Fry]]), both part of
** ''[[The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book]]'' (1986, edited with [[Peter Fincham]])
* ''[[Bureaucracy (computer game)|Bureaucracy]]'' (1987) (computer game)
* ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'' (1987) (novel)
* ''[[The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul]]'' (1988) (novel)
* ''[[The Deeper Meaning of Liff]]'' (1990, with [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]])
* ''[[Last Chance to See]]'' (1990, with [[Mark Carwardine]]) (book)
* ''[[Mostly Harmless]]'' (1992) (novel)
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book)#Illustrated edition|The Illustrated Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic]]'' (1997), written by [[Terry Jones]], based on an idea by Adams
* ''[[Starship Titanic]]'' (computer game) (1998)
* ''[[h2g2]]'' (internet project) (1999)
* ''The Internet: The Last Battleground of the 20th century'' (radio series) (2000)
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future]]'' (radio series) (2001) final project for [[BBC Radio 4]] before his death
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc Parrots, the universe and everything]'' (2001)
* ''[[The Salmon of Doubt]]'' (2002), unfinished novel manuscript (11 chapters), short stories, essays, and interviews (also available as an audiobook, read by [[Simon Jones (actor)|Simon Jones]])
*  ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (2005) (film)
{{Refend}}

==TV writing credits==
{| class="wikitable"
|-  style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! Production
! Notes
! Broadcaster
|-
|''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]''
|
*"[[List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes#6. Party Political Broadcast|Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Liberal Party]]": [[Patient Abuse]] sketch (1974)
|[[BBC Two]]
|-
|''[[Out of the Trees]]''
|
*Television pilot (1976)
|BBC Two
|-
|''[[Doctor on the Go]]''
|
*"For Your Own Good" (1977)
|[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
|-
|''[[Doctor Who]]''
|
4 stories with 13 episodes (1978-1979, 1983):
*"[[The Pirate Planet]]" (1978, 4 episodes)
*"[[Destiny of the Daleks]]" (1979, 4 episodes) (co-written with [[Terry Nation]], uncredited)
*"[[City of Death]]" (co-written with [[Graham Williams (television producer)|Graham Williams]], 1979, credited as "[[David Agnew]]", 4 episodes)
*"[[The Five Doctors]]" (1983) (clips from his partially filmed but unaired script for 1980s "[[Shada (Doctor Who)|Shada]]")
|[[BBC One]]
|-
|''[[Doctor Snuggles]]''
|
*"The Great Disappearing Mystery" (1979)
*"The Remarkable Fidgety River" (1979)
|ITV
|-
|''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''
|
*Unknown episodes (1979)
|BBC Two
|-
|''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''
|
*6 episodes (1981)
|BBC Two
|-
|''[[Hyperland]]''
|
*Television documentary (1990)
|BBC Two
|-
|''[[Shada (Doctor Who)|Doctor Who: The Lost Episode]]''
|
*Television special (2018) (1980s unaired "[[Shada (Doctor Who)|Shada]]", with animated inserts of sections not completed in 1980)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-tvhighlights-20180719-story.html |title=Thursday's TV highlights: 'Doctor Who: The Lost Episode' on BBC America |last=Stockly |first=Ed |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=18 July 2018 |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref>
|[[BBC America]]
|}

==See also==
* [[List of animal rights advocates]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Notelist|3}}

== References ==
* Adams, Douglas (1998). [http://www.biota.org/people/douglasadams/ Is there an Artificial God?], speech at ''Digital Biota 2'', Cambridge, England, September 1998.
* {{cite book|last=Adams|first=Douglas|title=The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time|year=2002|publisher=Macmillan|location=London|isbn=0-333-76657-1}}
* Dawkins, Richard (2003). "Eulogy for Douglas Adams," in ''A devil's chaplain: reflections on hope, lies, science, and love''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
* Felch, Laura (2004). [http://www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2004_05_002057.php Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Neil Gaiman], May 2004
* Ray, Mohit K (2007). ''Atlantic Companion to Literature in English'', Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. {{ISBN|81-269-0832-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Simpson|first=M. J.|title=[[Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams]]|year=2003|publisher=Justin, Charles & Co.|location=Boston, Mass.|isbn=1-932112-17-0|edition=1st}}
* Webb, Nick (2005a). ''Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams''. Ballantine Books. {{ISBN|0-345-47650-6}}
* Webb, Nick (2005b). [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/75853 "Adams, Douglas Noël (1952–2001)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, January 2005. Retrieved 25 October 2005.
* Roberts, Jem (2014) "The Frood: The Authorised & Very Official Biography of Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" Preface Publishing. {{ISBN|009959076X}} [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1097370/the-frood "The Frood"]

==Further reading==
===Articles===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Herbert, R. (1980). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Book Review). Library Journal, 105(16), 1982.
* Adams, J., & Brown, R. (1981). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Book Review). School Library Journal, 27(5), 74.
* Nickerson, S. L. (1982). The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Book). Library Journal, 107(4), 476.
* Nickerson, S. L. (1982). Life, the Universe, and Everything (Book). Library Journal, 107(18), 2007.
* Morner, C. (1982). The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Book Review). School Library Journal, 28(8), 87.
* Morner, C. (1983). Life, the Universe and Everything (Book Review). School Library Journal, 29(6), 93.
* Shorb, B. (1985). So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Book). School Library Journal, 31(6), 90.
* The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Book). (1989). Atlantic (02769077), 263(4), 99.
* Hoffert, B., & Quinn, J. (1990). Last Chance To See (Book). Library Journal, 115(16), 77.
* Reed, S. S., & Cook, I. I. (1991). Dances with kakapos. People, 35(19), 79.
* Last Chance to See (Book). (1991). Science News, 139(8), 126.
* Field, M. M., & Steinberg, S. S. (1991). Douglas Adams. Publishers Weekly, 238(6), 62.
* Dieter, W. (1991). Last Chance to See (Book). Smithsonian, 22(3), 140.
* Dykhuis, R. (1991). Last Chance To See (Book). Library Journal, 116(1), 140.
* Beatty, J. (1991). Good Show (Book). Atlantic (02769077), 267(3), 131.
* A guide to the future. (1992). Maclean's, 106(44), 51.
* Zinsser, J. (1993). Audio reviews: Fiction. Publishers Weekly, 240(9), 24.
* Taylor, B., & Annichiarico, M. (1993). Audio reviews. Library Journal, 118(2), 132.
* Good reads. (1995). NetGuide, 2(4), 109.
* Stone, B. (1998). The unsinkable starship. Newsweek, 131(15), 78.
* Gaslin, G. (2001). Galaxy Quest. Entertainment Weekly, (599), 79.
* So long, and thanks for all the fish. (2001). Economist, 359(8222), 79.
* Geier, T., & Raftery, B. M. (2001). Legacy. Entertainment Weekly, (597), 11.
* Passages. (2001). Maclean's, 114(21), 13.
* Don't panic! Douglas Adams to keynote Embedded show. (2001). Embedded Systems Programming, 14(3), 10.
* Ehrenman, G. (2001). World Wide Weird. InternetWeek, (862), 15.
* Zaleski, J. (2002). The Salmon of Doubt (Book). Publishers Weekly, 249(15), 43.
* Mort, J. (2002). The Salmon of Doubt (Book). Booklist, 98(16), 1386.
* Lewis, D. L. (2002). Last Time Round The Galaxy. Quadrant Magazine, 46(9), 84.
* Burns, A. (2002). The Salmon of Doubt (Book). Library Journal, 127(15), 111.
* Burns, A., & Rhodes, B. (2002). The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Book). Library Journal, 127(19), 118.
* Kaveney, R. (2002). A cheerful whale. TLS, (5173), 23.
* Pearl, N., & Welch, R. (2003). The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Book). Library Journal, 128(11), 124.
* Preying on composite materials. (2003). R&D Magazine, 45(6), 44.
* Webb, N. (2003). The Berkeley Hotel hostage. Bookseller, (5069), 25.
* The author who toured the universe. (2003). Bookseller, (5060), 35.
* Osmond, A. (2005). Only human. Sight & Sound, 15(5), 12–15.
* Culture vulture. (2005). Times Educational Supplement, (4640), 19.
* Maughan, S. (2005). Audio Bestsellers/Fiction. Publishers Weekly, 252(30), 17.
* Hitchhiker At The Science Museum. (2005). In Britain, 14(10), 9.
* Rea, A. (2005). The Adams asteroids. New Scientist, 185(2488), 31.
* Most Improbable Adventure. (2005). Popular Mechanics, 182(5), 32.
* The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: The Tertiary Phase. (2005). Publishers Weekly, 252(14), 21.
* Bartelt, K. R. (2005). Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams. Library Journal, 130(4), 86.
* Larsen, D. (2005). I was a teenage android. New Zealand Listener, 198(3390), 37–38.
* Tanner, J. C. (2005). Simplicity: it's hard. Telecom Asia, 16(6), 6.
* Nielsen Bookscan Charts. (2005). Bookseller, (5175), 18–21.
* Buena Vista launches regional site to push Hitchhiker's movie. (2005). New Media Age, 9.
* Shynola bring Beckland to life. (2005). Creative Review, 25(3), 24–26.
* Carwardine, M. (15 September 2007). The baiji: So long and thanks for all the fish. New Scientist. pp.&nbsp;50–53.
* Czarniawska, B. (2008). Accounting and gender across times and places: An excursion into fiction. Accounting, Organizations & Society, 33(1), 33–47.
* Pope, M. (2008). Life, the Universe, Religion and Science. Issues, (82), 31–34.
* Bearne, S. (2008). BBC builds site to trail Last Chance To See TV series. New Media Age, 08.
* Arrow to reissue Adams. (2008). Bookseller, (5352), 14.
* Page, B. (2008). Colfer is new Hitchhiker. Bookseller, (5350), 7.
* I've got a perfect puzzle for you. (2009). Bookseller, (5404), 42.
* Mostly Harmless.... (2009). Bookseller, (5374), 46.
* Penguin and PanMac hitch a ride together. (2009). Bookseller, (5373), 6.
* Adams, Douglas. Britannica Biographies [serial online]. October 2010;:1
* Douglas (Noël) Adams (1952–2001). Hutchinson's Biography Database [serial online]. July 2011;:1
* My life in books. (2011). Times Educational Supplement, (4940), 27.
{{Refend}}

===Other===
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720193159/http://www.douglasadams.com/ |date=20 July 2011 |title=Adams's official web site }}, established by him, and still operated by [[The Digital Village]]
* {{TED speaker|douglas_adams}}
* [http://www.biota.org/people/douglasadams/ Douglas Adams speech at Digital Biota 2 (1998)] [http://www.biota.org/podcast/#DNA (The audio of the speech)]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/09/douglasadams Guardian Books "Author Page"], with profile and links to further articles.
* {{Worldcat id|id=lccn-n80-76765}}
* [http://www.vintagemacworld.com/iifx.html Douglas Adams & his Computer] article about his Mac IIfx
* BBC2 "Omnibus" tribute to Adams, presented by Kirsty Wark, 4 August 2001
* Mueller, Rick and Greengrass, Joel (2002). ''Life, The Universe and Douglas Adams'', documentary.
* Simpson, M.J. (2001). ''The Pocket Essential Hitchhiker's Guide''. {{ISBN|1-903047-40-4}}. Updated April 2005 {{ISBN|1-904048-46-3}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fpvbm Special edition of BBC Book Club featuring Douglas Adams], first broadcast 2 January 2000 on BBC Radio 4
* {{cite magazine |last=Bevan |first=William Ham |date=2019 |title=A Hitchhiker's Guide : It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes |url=https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/magazine |magazine=CAM : Cambridge Alumni Magazine |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Library resources box
 |by=yes
 |viaf=113230702
 |label=Douglas Adams}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{British Comedy Guide|people|douglas_adams}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Anthony Read]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=''[[Doctor Who]]'' script editor|years=1979–80}}
{{s-aft|after= [[Christopher H. Bidmead]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Douglas Adams}}
{{HitchhikerBooks}}
{{Dirk Gently}}
{{Infocom games}}
{{Inkpot Award 1980s}}
{{Authority control}}

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