Green Wing and Free Agents star Stephen Mangan is to play the lead role in BBC4#39s adaptation of the late Douglas Adams Dirk Gently#39s Holistic Detective Agency
Mangan will be joined by Darren Boyd as his sidekick Richard MacDuff and Cold Feet and Friends actor Helen Baxendale, as MacDuff#39s girlfriend Susan
Adapted by the Baftawinning writer Howard Overman – who is also behind Misfits, Vexed and Merlin – Dirk Gently#39s Holistic Detective Agency follows the exploits of Adams#39s chaotic character as he uses his unusual methods to solve crimes
Mangan said quotI#39ve been a fan of Douglas Adams ever since the Hitchhiker#39s radio series which I used to record as a child and listen to over and over again in my bedroom It#39s such a thrill to now be playing one of his brilliant characters
quotDirk is a chaotic, anarchic force of nature with a totally unique take on the world He is described as #39lazy, untidy, dismissive and unreliable#39 I#39ve absolutely no idea why they thought I#39d be right for the rolequot
The Dirk Gently books have formed the basis of a play and a BBC Radio 4 series but have never before been filmed for TV版
Adams#39s agent, Ed Victor, said quotFor all the years I represented the late, great Douglas Adams, the most substantial frustration for both of us was that we couldn#39t get films made either of Hitchhiker or Dirk
quotDouglas once said, memorably, that #39getting a film made in Hollywood was like trying to cook a steak by having a bunch of people come into the room and breathe on it#39 Well, we did eventually get a film made in Hollywood of Hitchhiker and, tragically, Douglas didn#39t live to see it Nor will he see this adaptation of Dirk – but it#39s worth bearing in mind that Douglas always thought Dirk would make a better film than Hitchhiker and I feel sure that this new TV版 drama with a terrific script by Howard Overman will prove his pointquot
Shooting begins this week in Bristol on the 60minute drama, which is being made by I TV版 Studios in association with the Welded Tandem Picture Company
The Dirk Gently production is to be directed by Damon Thomas – who also directed BBC4 drama The First Men in the Moon – and will air early next year
