Terry Jones - Starship Titanic [Drama]

A tale of interstellar skulduggery, romance and unhinged robots based in Douglas Adams's universe.

Michael Palin stars in Terry Jones's comic novel adapted by Ian Billings.

Far off in the centre of one of the less well-chartered quadrants of the universe, a vast civilisation is preparing to launch the most technologically advanced starship ever - Starship Titanic.

While the galaxy's media looks on, it unfortunately undergoes SMEF (Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure) and disappears. Leovinus, the designer of the ship, uncovers shoddy workmanship, poor cybernetics and a series of increasingly eccentric robots. The owners, Scraliontis and Brobostigan, were intent on destroying the ship and claiming the insurance.

Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, four humans are inspecting a property they intend buying, only to see it crushed under the re-materialising Starship. This disaster is swiftly followed by an invitation from an over-attentive robot to come aboard, and Lucy, Dan and Nettie are catapulted into a series of increasingly bizarre encounters.

Stylistically emulating the work of the great Douglas Adams in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the late Terry Jones weaves a fabulously mad and comic tale

With a special guest appearance by Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Encyclopedia Galatica - Michael Palin

Scraliontis - Simon Jones

Leovinus - Nicholas Boulton

Brobostigan - Nicholas Boulton

Dan - Rupert Degas

Hackett - Rupert Degas

The Parrot - Rupert Degas

The Journalist - Philip Pope

The Gondolier - Philip Pope

Nettie - Alana Ramsey

The Computer - Alana Ramsey

The LiftBot - Ian Billings

The Engine Room Door - Ian Billings

Loss Adjuster One - Ian Billings

Lucy - Rebecca Yeo

Loss Adjuster Two - Rebecca Yeo

Nigel - Tom Alexander

The Gondolier - Tom Alexander

The Bomb - Tom Alexander

Titania - Laura Lithgow

Music by Philip Pope.

Director: Dirk Maggs

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2021.

Michael Palin stars in the Terry Jones/Douglas Adams sci-fi comedy.

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

A tale of interstellar skulduggery, romance and unhinged robots based in Douglas Adams's universe. Starring Michael Palin.

[LISTEN NOW]

Episodes

SeriesFirst
Broadcast
RepeatedComments
DRAMADRAMA2021121920241221 (BBC7)
20241222 (BBC7)