Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

by James Goss, Arvind Ethan David

After The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams went on to create Dirk Gently, a detective with a belief in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, a unique relationship with the laws of probability, and a love of cats and pizza. In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Dirk finds himself on the trail of a gruesome murderer who is somehow involved with the works of Coleridge, quantum physics, and the enigmatic study of the Cambridge Professor of Chronology. Ultimately, the stakes of the case are far greater than a single murder, but go to the fate of life on Earth. Confused? Don't be - everything is connected.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Comics, Plays

122 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2016

About the author

James Goss has written two Torchwood novels and a radio play, as well as a Being Human book. His Doctor Who audiobook Dead Air won Best Audiobook 2010. James also spent seven years working on the BBC's official Doctor Who website and co-wrote the website for Torchwood Series One. In 2007, he won the Best Adaptation category in the annual LA Weekly Theatre Awards for his version of Douglas Adams' novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Reviews

[Molly G · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel's (of course!) better, and the radioplay adaptation may be the best, but consider how mind-bogglingly brilliant those are to gauge where that leaves the play. In a word: FANTASTIC. Entertaining in its own right, makes sense, captures all the essences, a few wonderful media-specific innovations by the playwrights, and a really, really impressive adaptation of a very unlikely source. Kind of want to do a production of it. (Maybe just 'cause I play cello.) The nonfiction story snippet this edition shares of the playwrights' history with the work and Adams himself is also delectable.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember seeing a production of this at the Oxford Playhouse many years ago. I enjoyed it alot and for a while I've been thinking about getting in touch with the authors about reviving it. So I was delighted to find the script has been published at last.
It's a clever adaptation of a complicated novel. The only real casualty is the Electric Monk, but I can appreciated the authors' reason for excluding it's sub-plot. It keeps a lot of Adams' best jokes and moves at a fair pace. My only criticism would be that the final scene is very abrupt, more than I remember and I can see an audience feeling a bit non-plussed.
But hopefully now the script is out there, more productions will finally appear.

[Tania Rook · Rating 4 out of 5]

12 years before Friends did The One With The Cop, Richard MacDuff created a computer program to try and figure out how to unstick the sofa blocking his hallway. This is 1987. Julian Assange is just getting started seeing what computers can do and he is way ahead of the game. And that is the gift that is a Douglas Adams' story. You might forget how the professor got the salt shaker into the ancient pot to amuse a bored child, but every so often you'll see a sofa and get an image in your head of MacDuff's program, endlessly rotating his couch and being unable to determine how to budge it at all.

And if that isn't enough for you, this book also contains the best pizza cock block in all of history. It's like the biscuit scene from So Long and Thanks For All The Fish (1984), but with pizza.

[寿理 宮本]

Noted as a placeholder for when I read the book, though I can't for the life of me remember enough to write a proper review (or even rate it). I couldn't even get beyond the first episode of the show, but not really for lack of interest so much as I just don't as a habit watch shows except on our one streaming service (which the show is not on). Just a matter of I don't sit in front of the DVD/Blu-Ray player long enough to watch shows, because I feel like I'd rather be doing something else, and when I *do* watch shows, it's over a meal or when at the gym (yay, WiFi).

[Gothica Noctua · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great adaptation of Douglas Adams' novel, minus the Electric Monk. I love the character of Dirk as a semi-supernatural troublemaker in the opening scenes. The American drama parody was great, as was Michael Wenton-Weakes' monologue. I hope to see a staging in the future, and I especially look forward to the musical number!

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent effort to stage a novel that is virtually impossible to perform on the stage. Sadly, they had to cut some of my favourite passages to achieve this. Still worth a look for fans of Douglas Adams, and I shall certainly keep an eye out for any future stage production.

[Reha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

[Biff · Rating 4 out of 5]

we love some silly nonsense

*noises from the horse in the bathroom*

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This script effectively makes Douglas Adams's madness possible on stage. It would take a special type of audience to be able to follow the plot, but even those who can't follow it would be able to enjoy the many visual gags and humorous exchanges, assuming they are staged properly.

[I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely absurd. Still utterly confused by the horse, but I wouldn’t expect it to become any clearer.