Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a hybrid genre combining science fiction and comedy. It was a series written by Douglas Adams and aired in 1978. I particularly enjoyed this radio drama as I hadalready seen the feature film and read the books which were later adapted after the radio drama was an absolutely huge success.

I found that in this particular drama the sound effects were absolutely vital to the piece as it enhanced the location and let our imaginations run (which is a key component when thinking of radio dramas). As the drama is set in space, we hear futuristic and unusual sounds that we would automatically associate with space and science-fiction.

Another convention used heavily in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is the use of voice and accents. They are a very effective tool when there is no visual to focus on. An example of this is when the 'Vogons' are speaking, the antogonistic characters in the drama speaks with a more upper-class accent with a ruthless tone presented into their voice. This is a complete contrast in comparison to the demolition workers with their regional accents which implies their lower class status and perhaps are seen as more vunerable.