From the opening bass slap of a cracking version of Pink Floyd’s One of These Days, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Radio Show Live! was a fantastic evening. At its heart is a good chunk of the original cast plus very able support, enhanced by a band, live Foley artists, a wonderfully animated Marvin constructed from audio equipment, and a Guest Book (Clive Anderson in Woking, other books to include Phil Jupitus, Terry Jones and Neil Gaiman).

The first half follows the fairly common-across-versions tribulations of Arthur losing his house and planet and the resulting journey to Magrathea; I can’t get the jingle of Sirius Cybernetics out of my head at the moment, hence the post title, after singing along to it, conducted by a Nutrimatic Drink Dispenser. The second half is a touch disjointed, chucking in random (and indeed Random) elements of the latter books/phases, though a pleasing wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey device fits everything into such canon as is possible within Adams’ stated aims that each adaptation should contradict the previous one, and any lack of cohesiveness is made up for by set pieces like the mixing of a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and the cast busting some deeply funky moves to the 1981 disco classic Marvin.

Two Sub-Etha thumbs firmly up; if you’re a Hitchhiker’s fan and can get to one of the shows you really should. If you can’t, and you’re in the UK, each show is available for £9.99 for 7 days. I’m rather tempted to get one with a different Book for a bit of a change, but can’t decide which one…