I’ve tried and I’ve tried but….

….I know I’ll never get into The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Yes, I can appreciate that Douglas Adams was a genius. And John Lloyd, his collaborator on The Meaning of Liff (which really is genius), is a great friend of mine but this stratospherically successful series has always left me cold. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Radio 4 commissioned a new series with in all-star cast including John as The Book. They’re all brilliant, as is the production so I tried again but no. The reason is simple – it’s science fiction and I cannot bear science fiction. Like someone who’s allergic to mushrooms, I only have to see or hear intergalactic spacecraft or aliens with pointy heads and I come out in hives. What’s more I’ve neither been nor ever picked up a hitchhiker. And the only sort of Galaxy I really like is this.