Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy writer Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently is being adapted as a one-off BBC pilot
The BBC has just announced its intention to adapt Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for the small screen, in a one-off pilot scheduled to appear on BBC4.
The hour long dramatisation will mark the novel's first stand-alone appearance on television, having previously aired in a 1992 BBC radio adaptation starring Harry Enfield and a 2006 stage production starring Scot Burklin.
A less well known pair of novels than Douglas Adams' magnum opus, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and its associated follow-ups, the Dirk Gently books nevertheless display the author's trademark wit.
Dirk Gently (real name Svlad Cjelli) is a portly private detective who specialises in his own odd form of crime solving, which more often than not involves a considerable amount of guess work and running up vast expense accounts under flimsy pretexts.
The Dirk Gently script is being written by Misfits and Vexed creator Howard Overman and, as you'd normally expect from a pilot, the BBC will be looking to commission a full series should it prove to be an audience success.
There's no word yet as to who will star as Dirk Gently, and an air date is unlikely to appear for some time yet. More news on this as it comes in.