The Red Lion as seen in the first episode of the TV series.
The Red Lion was the name of the pub close to Arthur Dent 's house , in the village of Cottington. It was possibly his local pub, one that he frequented. It was the name of the pub in the 1981 television series.
Ford Prefect and Arthur used it for stocking up on necessary protein restoratives and muscle relaxants (six pints of bitter and four packets of peanuts) before their journey through Hyperspace to the Vogon ship, which they hitch-hiked onto using the Electronic Thumb.
Arthur and Ford and the interior of The Red Lion, in the TV series.
Ford referred to this pub as 'the saloon bar The Red Lion'. A saloon was a room where, for an an extra fee, singing, dancing, drama, or comedy was performed and drinks would be served at the table. The pub shown does not seem to offer any form of entertainment, so it may be possible that Ford wasn't familiar with the correct terminology. Otherwise, the pub could have shown entertainment at other times, or it could have just been a slip of the tongue or improvised phrase, as this doesn't seem to appear in the original script for the episode.
This local pub was named The Horse and Groom in all other versions of the story.
Appearances[]
Television[]
Behind the scenes[]
The pub in 2017.
The name of the pub was changed for the television adaption to the name of the pub used for the setting: The Red Lion Pub, or The Red Lion Inn, Haywards Heath, Sussex.
The inside has been seriously remodeled since the early 1980’s, but the outside remains very similar.