History of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Timeline

The first novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was first published in 1979, initially in paperback, by Pan Books, after BBC Publishing had turned down the offer of publishing a novelisation, an action they would later regret.

In The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (published in 1980), Zaphod is separated from the others and finds he is part of a conspiracy to uncover who really runs the Universe.

Image source: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

A hardback edition was published by Harmony Books, a division of Random House in the United States in October 1980, and the 1981 US paperback edition was promoted by the give-away of 3,000 free copies in the magazine Rolling Stone to build word of mouth.

In Life, the Universe and Everything (published in 1982), Ford and Arthur travel through the space-time continuum from prehistoric Earth to Lord's Cricket Ground.

Image source: Life, the Universe and Everything

In So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (published in 1984), Arthur returns home to Earth, rather surprisingly since it was destroyed when he left.

Douglas Adams and Geoffrey Perkins collaborated on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts, first published in the United Kingdom and United States in 1985.

Image source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

A short story by Adams, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe", first appeared in 1986, in The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book, a special large-print compilation that raised money for the then-new Comic Relief charity in the UK.

In 1990, Adams himself recorded an unabridged edition for Dove Audiobooks, later re-released by New Millennium Audio in the United States and available from BBC Audiobooks in the United Kingdom.

Image source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel)

Finally, in Mostly Harmless (published in 1992), Vogons take over The Hitchhiker's Guide (under the name of InfiniDim Enterprises), to finish, once and for all, the task of obliterating the Earth.

Image source: Mostly Harmless

A photo-illustrated edition of the first novel appeared in 1994. Also by arrangement with Dove, ISIS Publishing Ltd produced a numbered exclusive edition signed by Douglas Adams in 1994.

To tie-in with the 2005 film, actor Stephen Fry, the film's voice of the Guide, recorded a second unabridged audiobook edition. Del Rey Books also re-released the series with new covers, and as of 2005 the first novel has sold over 14 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.

It was announced in September 2008 that Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl, had been commissioned to write the sixth instalment entitled And Another Thing..., using Adams' concept but none of the plot ideas from The Salmon of Doubt.

Image source: And Another Thing... (novel)

The sixth book, And Another Thing..., written by Eoin Colfer during 2008–09, was published by Penguin Books in the UK and Hyperion in the US in October 2009. In 2009, a Flash game was also made to promote it.

The first of three early professional productions was performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London between 1 and 19 May 1979, starring Chris Langham as Arthur Dent and Richard Hope as Ford Prefect. Langham later returned to Hitchhiker's as Prak in the final episode of 2004's Tertiary Phase.

The second stage show was performed throughout Wales between 15 January and 23 February 1980.

The stage show also featured a band, who performed the songs "Share and Enjoy", the Krikkit song "Under the Ink Black Sky", Marvin's song "How I Hate The Night", and "Marvin", which was a minor hit in 1981.

A 1981 BBC television series adaptation, produced with Alan J. W. Bell, first aired on BBC 2 in January and February 1981.

Image source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)

Pre-production began in 2003 after several years of setbacks, and segments of the books were adapted as part of the BBC's The Big Read survey and programme, broadcast in late 2003.

Image source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)

After a quarter of a century since the first book was published, filming began on 19 April 2004, with post-production beginning in early September 2004. Martin Freeman plays Arthur in the film.

After a London premiere on 20 April 2005, the big-screen adaptation was released on 28 April in the UK and Australia and on 29 April in the United States and Canada.

The film was released on DVD (Region 2, PAL) in the UK on 5 September 2005, and single-disc widescreen or full-screen editions (Region 1, NTSC) were made available in the United States and Canada on 13 September 2005.

A new television series for Hulu was announced in July 2019, set to premiere in 2021. Production was slated to begin in summer 2020 and air on Fox in international markets, but a production outlet claimed the series began production in May 2021. In July 2026, Cuse confirmed the series was dead as he and the writing team were unable to crack the story for television.

Sometime between 1982 and 1984 (accounts differ), the British company Supersoft published a text-based adventure game based on the book, which was released in versions for the Commodore PET and Commodore 64.

Image source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (video game)

Officially, the TV series was followed in 1984 by a best-selling "interactive fiction", or text-based adventure game, distributed by Infocom.

In 1993, DC Comics, in conjunction with Byron Preiss Visual Publications, published a three-part comic book adaptation of the novelisation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This was followed up with three-part adaptations of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe in 1994, and Life, the Universe and Everything in 1996.

There was also a series of collectors' cards with art from and inspired by the comic adaptations of the first book, and a graphic novelisation (or "collected edition") combining the three individual comic books from 1993, itself released in May 1997.

Two asteroids, 18610 Arthurdent and 25924 Douglasadams, were named after Arthur Dent and Douglas Adams, as both had been discovered shortly after Adams' death in 2001.

Towel Day, an annual event celebrating the series, was started in 2001, two weeks after Adams' death. Later towel promotions include those made by Pan Books, Touchstone Pictures / Disney for the 2005 movie, and ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, the official appreciation society.

Image source: Towel Day