Fit the Seventeenth was the seventeenth episode or 'fit' of the radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the fifth in the Tertiary Phase.
Story summary[]
The episode opens with a Guide entry on Silastic Armorfiends, the first species ever to shock a computer. They asked a gigantic supercomputer called Hactar to design and build an ultimate weapon. He designed it, but introduced a flaw when building it, as he said that any possible consequence of not setting it off would be better than the consequence of setting it off. The Silastic Armorfiends destroyed him, and the asteroid he was built on.
Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Trillian and Slartibartfast arrive on the asteroid where the Wikkit Gate is, but are too late to stop the proceedings. They watch, hidden by the Somebody Else's Problem field, as the Krikkit robots open the gate and reveal the planet Krikkit. They then notice that Zaphod Beeblebrox is also on the ship of the robots. He explains that the robots knocked him out, but didn't kill him and he doesn't know why. He returns to the Starship Bistromath with them.
On the ship, Arthur reveals that he saved two items before they left the asteroid - The Wooden Pillar of Nature and Spirituality and the Gold Bail of Prosperity, or the Ashes and the Infinite Improbability Drive. He returns the drive to Zaphod, so that he can fix the Heart of Gold. Zaphod leaves for his own ship. He offers Trillian the chance to come with him, but she declines.
The other four land on Krikkit, noticing many buildings floating far above the surface, and are soon approached by Krikkiters, who ask whether they are aliens, and want to learn about the balance of nature.
The leader of the group explains to Trillian about their bomb which can destroy everything that exists. Trillian persuades him to take her to his leader, in one of the floating buildings.
Meanwhile, Zaphod sneaks on to one of the floating buildings, which houses the remains of the ship that crashed on Krikkit and immediately sees that it is a fake. He hears some Krikkit officers talking about how the robots are becoming depressed, and then hears Marvin reciting a short, depressed tune.
Cast and characters[]
- The Book and narrator - William Franklyn
- Arthur Dent - Simon Jones
- Ford Prefect - Geoffrey McGivern
- Trillian - Susan Sheridan
- Zaphod Beeblebrox - Mark Wing-Davey
- Slartibartfast - Richard Griffiths
- Marvin - Stephen Moore
- Eddie the Computer - Roger Gregg
- Krikkit Officer - Dominic Hawksley
- Dispatcher - Bob Golding
- Krikkiter One - Michael Fenton Stevens
- Krikkiter Two - Philip Pope
- Announcer - John Marsh