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496 hitchhikers2 lp uk front

The front cover of the original 1980 UK release of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, with cover art by English art design group Hipgnosis.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Part Two: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe or The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, as it was released in the US, was the sequel to the double LP The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was originally released in 1980 in the UK, and in 1982 in the United States and Canada.

496 hitchhikers2 lp uk rear

The back cover of the original 1980 UK release of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, with cover art by English art design group Hipgnosis.

Plot[]

The script for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe mostly follows Fit the Fifth and Fit the Sixth, but includes a song by the backup band in the restaurant ("Reg Nullify and his Cataclysmic Combo"), and changes the Haggunenon sequence to one involving the band "Disaster Area".

Cast[]

Most of the original cast returned, except for Susan Sheridan, with Cindy Oswin taking her place.

Behind the scenes[]

As the result of a misunderstanding, the second record was released before being cut down in a final edit that Douglas Adams and Geoffrey Perkins had both intended to make. Perkins has said, "[I]t is far too long on each side. It's just a rough cut. [...] I felt it was flabby, and I wanted to speed it up."

496 hitchhiker ad nme 7.2

An advert for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe in UK magazine NME.

The Simon & Schuster Audioworks re-release of this LP was also abridged slightly from its original release. The scene with Ford Prefect and Hotblack Desiato's bodyguard is omitted.

As with the first LP, copyright issues meant that the music used during the first radio series was either replaced, or in the case of the title it was re-recorded in a new arrangement. Composer Tim Souster did both duties (with Paddy Kingsland contributing music as well), and Souster's version of the theme was the version also used for the eventual television series.

Notes and references[]

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