Hitchhikers Guide star Peter Jones dies

Apr 10, 200034 posts by 18 posters
34 posts
Shez

Peter Jones, who was the voice of "The Book" in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, died today aged 79.

I'll leave it to others to comment on his numerous other roles and achievements.

-Shez.

Neckties strangle clear thinking. -- Lin Yutang Take a break at the Last Stop Cafe at <URL: http://www.xerez.demon.co.uk/>
Mike Swift↩ Shez

In article , Shez writes

Sad news, I've been off work for the last 3 weeks with broken ribs and as daytime TV is so crap I got my copy of HHGttG out again, bad move as laughing was very painful.

The voice of Peter Jones *is* the book in my head even though the others are long forgotten.

Mike

Michael Swift We do not regard Englishmen as foreigners. Kirkheaton We look on them only as rather mad Norwegians. Yorkshire Halvard Lange
Shez↩ Mike Swift

Mike Swift of nest of swifts writes:

Yes, it's hard to imagine anyone else speaking the lines, his measured delivery gave the narration just the right balance between detachment and meaningfulness.

I think Hitchhikers Guide will give him immortality in a way he won't get from his more long term work such as his appearances on Just A Minute; as once you've listened to Hitchhikers Guide his voice is never forgotten, coming back to you whenever you think of the series. And of course being a drama series it's gone worldwide on cds and tapes in a way a panel game simply wouldn't.

Having said that, I find Arthur Dent very memorable too, and indeed the other main characters too. The series was very well cast and produced.

-Shez.

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. Take a break at the Last Stop Cafe at <URL: http://www.xerez.demon.co.uk/>
Mike Swift↩ Shez

In article , Shez writes

I still see all the others as I read but the voices have gone, and I agree the casting was spot on, or maybe it's just the rose coloured specs again.

Mike

Michael Swift We do not regard Englishmen as foreigners. Kirkheaton We look on them only as rather mad Norwegians. Yorkshire Halvard Lange
Simon Brown↩ Mike Swift

Me, I'm feeling depressed.

--- Simon Brown, 7031 Laax, Switzerland www.sysgem.com

"Mike Swift" wrote in message news:[email]...

Yak↩ Simon Brown

Simon Brown wrote in message news:8ctli7$6qngu$[email]...

Me too. Today already took a turn for the pants, and now it most definitely has taken a turn for the *big* pants :-(. I remember me and my dad fortuitously happening across the original first-run broadcasts of HHGTTG and just being delighted and amazed and totally into it. Baah. :-(.

"Ford... d'you know this robot can hum like Pink Floyd?"

*sigh*...

\ (:-) - Yak (bring on the pants, I can take it :-]) /

Mike Plowman↩ Yak

On Tue, 11 Apr 2000 01:54:59 +0100, "Yak" wrote:

He'll be greatly missed. I can remember hearing the first episode of HHGTTG on the radio while laid in my pit on a Sunday morning and being astounded at what I'd stumbled upon.

The only bright start on the horizon may be that we'll get a long overdue rerun?

Mike Plowman.Kidlington, UK Coronation Street Visual Updates http://www.csvu.net " There was life before Coronation Street but it didn't amount to much." Russel Harty
Dom Robinson↩ Mike Plowman

In article

Or a DVD release, since the PAL laserdiscs never materialised.

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Nick Cooper↩ Dom Robinson

On Tue, 11 Apr 00 19:52:45 GMT, [email] (DVDfever Dom) wrote:

In episodes, with the uncut #2 would be nice.

Nick Cooper 625-Online - classic British television: http://www.625.org.uk Lost in France (& Belgium) - Two weeks in Normandy, the Somme & Flanders:
J. P. Gilliver (John)↩ Nick Cooper

In article , on Wed, 12 Apr 2000,

[]

What was cut from #2? (Was it the equivalent of the poet[ess?]'s name that was changed in the radio version?)

(YNASATDD)

[] Use my works address ([email]) for a (much!) faster response! [* Send to G6JPG@soft255 - not nospam - if I'm posting or replying to a post. *]

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A.N.Other↩ J. P. Gilliver (John)

There was a 90 second section after they landed on Magrathea when Marvin hummed Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Also Sprach Zarathustra(sp?) in close succession. I'll leave it to your imagination which two were cut for cost reasons ;-) Shame really, because that clip is what got me into Floyd in the first place.

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Shez↩ Phill Harvey-Smith

I think it was that quiet bit at the very beginning of Wish You Were Here.

-Shez.

"Life, loathe it or ignore it, you can't like it." -- Marvin, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Take a break at the Last Stop Cafe at <URL: http://www.xerez.demon.co.uk/>
Phill Harvey-Smith↩ Shez

[email] (Shez) wrote in :

Then that is perfectly understandable, and actually the album that got me into floyd, before that all I'd heard was "We dont need no education" (the meaning of which totally escaped all those that protested at the song's seemingly rebellious nature). Anyway WYWH, one of the most beautiful poinigent(sp)? songs I ever heard.

Phill.

A.N.Other↩ Phill Harvey-Smith

I'm just a stirrer at heart ;-)

And the specific piece of music used in HHGTTG was indeed the opening fade in from Shine on you Crazy Diamond.

========================================= By the age of 35, the average person will have seen 150,000 TV ads. That's 75,000 minutes, or two months of your waking life watching adverts. ========================================= Please remove YOUREARWAX to email

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Phill Harvey-Smith↩ A.N.Other

[email] (A.N.Other) wrote in :

Heheheh mind you the descussions on here recently will probably get their attention anyways.....

Ah yeah that's what I thought, though whoever it was that said it was "Wish You Where Here" was partly right as Shine is on the album WYWH, probably my fave Floyd album of all time, yeah even over Dark Side, and The Wall :)

Phill.

Steve Brooks↩ Phill Harvey-Smith

Phill Harvey-Smith wrote in message news:[email]...

fade

"Wish

my

Agreed (though I also think 'Animals' is rather under-rated.)

A friend once told me that 'Shine on..' is, in fact a very, very slow blues. If I listen to the first few sections I can sort of hear what he meant.

SB
Phill Harvey-Smith↩ Steve Brooks

[email] (Steve Brooks) wrote in :

Yeah Animals isn't a bad album either....am I the only Floyd fan in existance that actually likes "The Final Cut" ????

Yeah I can kinda see what he means.

Phill.

Phill Harvey-Smith↩ Phill Harvey-Smith

In article ,

Guess I should have expected this on a.t.d :) another Floyd fan that *likes* TFC :) though I tend to go for "Southhampton Dock"/"The Final Cut" as most liked tracks :)

Phill.

Steve Brooks↩ Phill Harvey-Smith

Phill Harvey-Smith wrote in message news:[email]...

I didn't mention that one - it's so universally reviled - but, actually.. It has it's moments.

I was a teenager in the late 70s, during that period when to admit a liking for Pink Floyd was a form of social suicide. I'm still a bit wary about mentioning them.

SB
Dom Robinson↩ A.N.Other

In article

No, I liked it when I heard it in Norway in 1992 while interrailing (my mate and I stayed at his g/f's house since she hailed from that country). She had the CD and I played it a lot.

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J. P. Gilliver (John)↩ Dom Robinson

In article , on Tue, 11 Apr 2000, DVDfever

Hm? It did appear on six CDs (though I think that has been withdrawn). Oh, you mean the TV series - and you say the PAL ones, so did they appear in some other format (SECAM or NTSC)? ISTR they did appear on VHS, though I think a little cut. [] Use my works address ([email]) for a (much!) faster response! [* Send to G6JPG@soft255 - not nospam - if I'm posting or replying to a post. *]

J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL(+++)IS-P--Ch+(p)Ar+T[?]H+Sh0!:`)DNAf **http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC.htm for a guide to UK PC part prices** A waist is a terrible thing to mind.
Dom Robinson↩ J. P. Gilliver (John)

In article "J. P. Gilliver (John)" writes:

Encore were going to release the PAL laserdiscs of the series (the full uncut version is already available on video), but it got put back for two years and by that time the PAL LD market was almost dead, so it'd cost far more to produce than the money they'd make back on it.

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Jessica L.↩ J. P. Gilliver (John)

The videos do exist in NTSC format, they're just a bit difficult to find. I do know however that you can buy the PAL version, as well as the six CD set of the audio series (and other fun goodies) at http://shop.douglasadams.com/. Share and enjoy!

--J.
.----< Jessica M. Liotta ~ icq 3234499 ~ http://fly.to/maleboge >----. "I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal." -- Zaphod Beeblebrox -- '---------------< Weirdo, Toy Fiend, General Oddity >----------------'
J. P. Gilliver (John)↩ Yak
[]

Definitely. (Sorry to <aol></aol>, but I couldn't add anything to that.) [] Use my works address ([email]) for a (much!) faster response! [* Send to G6JPG@soft255 - not nospam - if I'm posting or replying to a post. *]

J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL(+++)IS-P--Ch+(p)Ar+T[?]H+Sh0!:`)DNAf **http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC.htm for a guide to UK PC part prices** A waist is a terrible thing to mind.
Mark A↩ Simon Brown

Don't talk to me about life...

Regards

Mark

Martin Sylvester↩ Mark A

Mark A wrote in message news:[email]...

Here I am, brain the size of a planet...

Martin.

I do not intend to imply that any views expressed above represent the policy of any organisation, nor do I warrant any information to be accurate. URL: http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/martin/ for: Daria books/video; Parish of St Peter & St Paul, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, UK; Catholic books.
Matthew Malthouse↩ Martin Sylvester

In article , "Martin Sylvester" wrote:

} Mark A wrote in message } news:[email]... } > Simon Brown wrote: } > > } > > Me, I'm feeling depressed. } > } > Don't talk to me about life... } } Here I am, brain the size of a planet... } } Martin. ^

A typo?

Matthew

Ecce Eduardus Ursus scalis nunc tump-tump-tump occpite gradus pulsante... http://www.calmeilles.demon.co.uk/index.html
Martin Sylvester↩ Matthew Malthouse

Matthew Malthouse wrote in message news:[email]...

LOL! No, Prefectly correcv! 8-)

Martin.

I do not intend to imply that any views expressed above represent the policy of any organisation, nor do I warrant any information to be accurate. URL: http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/martin/ for: Daria books/video; Parish of St Peter & St Paul, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, UK; Catholic books.
A.N.Other↩ Shez

I've spent years now hoping that Douglas Adams would finally get round to recording a third radio series of HHGTTG. This was mooted to have been "Life, the Universe and Everything", but like so many of DA's projects it never came to fruition. Sadly, now that Peter has left us, it could never be the same without him. Let's hope we have a run of old ISIHACs to remember him by {:-(

Giles.

By the age of 35, the average person will have seen 150,000 TV ads. That's 75,000 minutes, or two months of your waking life watching adverts. Please remove YOUREARWAX to email
Martin Sylvester↩ Shez

Shez wrote in message news:[email]...

May he rest in peace.

If ever there was a perfect casting decision, it was PJ as The Book.

There's an obit at the BBC site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/newsid%5F708000/708353.stm

Martin.

I do not intend to imply that any views expressed above represent the policy of any organisation, nor do I warrant any information to be accurate. URL: http://www.sylvesternet.freeserve.co.uk/martin/ for: Daria books/video; Parish of St Peter & St Paul, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, UK; Catholic books.
Tim Hall↩ Martin Sylvester

On Tue, 11 Apr 2000 08:26:02 +0100, "Martin Sylvester" wrote:

There was an interview with Douglas Adams on Front Row (I think) following the sad news. He explained how they came to cast Peter Jones as the Book. It went something like, "what we need for the Book is someone with a voice like ummm....Peter Jones. Who do we know like that? Ah, yes, Peter Jones."

Tim

Matthew Codd↩ Shez

Just wanted to say I felt a real pang of sadness when I heard. As "The Book", Peter's voice brought just the right mix of wisdom, irony and weariness. That role is his ticket to immortality. Of course, having never met, communicated with or even seen the man, he remains as real to me now as he ever was. If you see what I mean...