Do "Doctor Who" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” Share the Same Continuity?

Happy Towel Day all you hoopy froods. It's Towel Day: a day to reminisce about the wonderful contributions of the late great Douglas Adams. While Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is his best known work, he also worked on Doctor Who for a bit. And even outside of his time on the show there are enough connections that it's worth asking: are these two sci-fi properties in the same continuity?
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[@Eruvadhril]

Me upon reading the title: "Friend, Doctor Who barely shares its *own* continuity."

[@jeckjeck3119]

Truest words.

[@Ben-vf5gk]

I'd rather Doctor Who share the same continuity with Hitchhikers than EastEnders.

[@Scroteydada]

Why remind us

[@Ben-vf5gk]

@@Scroteydada If it's going to haunt my dreams, it's going to haunt everyone else's :P

[@lemiken4560]

Watch out for two bald headed Sontarans called 'Phil' and 'Grant'. : /

[@SpectrumStorms]

'Madam, what year is this?'

[@fatjabba17]

Wow, a love of Hitchhikers so deep that you mentioned Hell Bent without even twitching!

[@sezzac155]

You could have said "Of course they do, it's a big universe." And I wouldv'e gone "Yep. Sounds legit." But I liked how you elaborated your points anyway.

[@di7770]

My head canon is that Douglas Adams was friends with the Doctor.

[@greyladybast]

Headcanon accepted

[@Silverwind87]

The Doctor DID once visit a universe where Doctor Who was a fictional show. He even suggested who they should cast as himself. Also in the original VHS release of Shada, an old Tom Baker mentions talking to Douglas Adams, who wrote the story. Of course, we don't know if Tom Baker was playing the Doctor or himself when narrating. Who... ☝👃knows?

[@MagicMartin666]

How did you fail to mention that "The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe" opens with an enormous slab-like thing hanging above Earth the way that bricks don't?

[@nomnomnom55555]

Wait what?

[@pointystories582]

42

[@FlyingAce1016]

Could also be a 2001 reference

[@adrianhalpert1442]

The Vogons should make an appearance next season of Dr. Who, threatening the Earth with their poetry!

[@greyladybast]

I would give good money to see 13's face when presented with that! And can you imagine how Yaz would react? Lol!

[@simonbeaird7436]

@@greyladybast I can just imagine 13 and Yaz strapped into the poetry appreciation chairs, with a Vogon about to give them a couple of stanzas. It's not a pretty sight....the Vogon I mean.

[@eclecticdog2k901]

I notice no one's mentioning the similarity between Hitchhiker's "God's last message" and Doctor Who's "message carved onto the oldest cliff in the universe"? They're not the same thing, but very similar concepts...I feel like it deserves a mention. :-)

[@forestcampbell8962]

I know not the answer to this question,however i will say the answer is 42.

[@SirStrangefolk]

Funny that, since Doctor Who has an unanswered question at its core. "The first question, the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight. Doctor Who?". Coincidence? Yes, almost certainly.

[@beterbomen]

You should be carful with that answer. If both the question and the answer are known at the same time, the universe will disappear and be replaced by something even more mysterious.

[@blackearthdreams]

Sir Strangefolk / I can’t help but express admiration for your username, Sir. :-)

[@jamespreston6862]

@@beterbomen Some say it already has.

[@Silverwind87]

@@SirStrangefolk Transitive property!

[@dhi_holo9341]

This all makes a lot of sense, but the biggest thing I want to comment on is the perception filter. It makes so much sense that a "higher intelligence" race like the Time Lords would give it a more scientific name, whereas species who don't know that kinda stuff would give it a more goofy name Humans do it within themselves (kids and adults can refer to the same thing by different names just because that's the norm, ie dollie vs doll), so it makes sense

[@BobsiPringlez]

Writing an essay about the first Hitchhiker’s novel, Red Dwarf, Dark Star and Rick and Morty for my English Literature Masters right now! This is the quality content that I will allow myself to procrastinate with

[@greyladybast]

I wanna read that essay!!!

[@gallohalt]

there is a tardis in a couple of shots of the hanger from red dwarf

[@DOCTOR_SONG]

Ha ha ha! I always know where my towel is . now if i could just get a proper cup of tea ill be set.😎👍

[@robinchesterfield42]

Just as long as you don't tie up the entire ship's computer during an emergency to make it...

[@Jedi_Spartan]

11:18 Arthur may not have even needed to be the one to transition from one parallel world to another since in Rise of the Cybermen, the Doctor says it was easy to go between parallel worlds back in the days of the Time Lords so he could have been the one to go to the hitchhiker's guide parallel world. Also I think that there's an 8th Doctor Big Finish story where he goes to a parallel world so Series 2 isn't his first time in one.

[@ErinTheFennec]

There are quite a few 8th Doctor stories set in the Divergent Universe after he had to exile himself to remove Zagreus from the main universe. Probably some examples of smaller timeline divergences in other stories but they're not sticking out off the top of my head.

[@eyeofhorus3286]

@@ErinTheFennec inferno?

[@callisto8413]

@@eyeofhorus3286 YES. I was about to point out the Third Doctor did that in Inferno. Sorry, been rewatching the Second Doctor lately...

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

@@callisto8413 Third. :P

[@jackjordan5833]

Also turn left featured a parallel universe, albeit through Donna’s choice, not a whole different universe from conception.

[@InaZeaAnaZazi]

Question, could the "The Infinite Improbability Drive" be a precursor for a TARDIS 'drive' with its way of traveling nigh impossible distances and also not actually traveling those distances (the Tardis is not all that good at flying, see 'The Runaway Bride')?

[@tc-2000]

Not the first time a BBC extended universe has been suggested. Terry Nation also created a classic sci-fi show that was huge in the UK Called Blake’s 7. And he wanted the cliffhanger of series two to be that Blake had stumbled onto a Dalek invasion. The producer David Maloney hated the idea. But B7 could have been in the DW universe. But yes, lots of evidence to show HHGTG is. I’d agree to that. If you don’t know Blake’s 7 - awesome show. Made by Terry Nation and many of the great Doctor Who writers, actors and directors worked on. As well as Dudley Simpson did the music. Look up rough guide to Blake’s 7 for an intro.

[@SuperFunkmachine]

big finish did work on linking them.

[@greyladybast]

Blakes 7 is a show that would absolutely SHINE with a decent modern reboot. It's abso-bloody-lutely perfect for this day and age! Now, who wants to play Cast the Blakes 7 reboot with me?

[@lizst427]

Used to watch B7; loved it. Tho devastated by ending. Never thought about who created what back then.... Some fine connections to be made.

[@AxelWedstar411]

Then there's the time the TARDIS appeared on Red Dwarf.

[@Galvion1980]

@@AxelWedstar411 I still insist that the cat people of NewNew(NewNew...) York were a hommage to Cat from Red Dwarf. I have fought people on this.

[@grumpyoldman3458]

Trillian (Sandra Dickinson) is the 10th Doctor's mother in law IRL, but I don't think that's canon.

[@theneonchimpchannel9095]

She was also married to the 5th Doctor and is the mother of the actress who played Jenny (The Doctor's Daughter).

[@HereComesPopoBawa]

AND Peter Davison played the sentient pig they were eating for dinner at Milliways in the TV miniseries!

[@ChrisCarline]

My initial reaction to this question was "No! I appreciate there are a few references here and there, but..." Now I'm not so sure..!

[@theunamiable]

"Who was it said Earthmen never invite their ancestors round to dinner?" -- the Doctor, Ghost Light.

[@menwithven2862]

When I’m show runner (yes when it must happen) I’m going to have a extra in a alien market place walking around in a Dressing gown. Also in the VNAs the law of HP Lovecraft gets made canon. Not as a book but these gods all exist in Doctor who.

[@koscheib5199]

Depending on whether or not you consider Big Finish audios canon, but River visits the Restaurant at the End of the Universe in one of her adventures, it is a significant setting for that story.

[@Galvion1980]

Douglas Adams was a total genius. He wrote a lot for Doctor Who during the Tom Baker-era. He came up with the brilliant budget-saver of the invisible space ship.

[@kevinedie4119]

My Favourite Theory in Doctor Who is that the Doctor's Name is 42

[@anthonymorgan5822]

I’m not sure if HHGttU shares a universe with Doctor Who, but that sounds like the perfect excuse to re-read the books.

[@dylanmaxey2531]

How have I not seen this? You brought me such giddy joy with this, Hitchhiker's Guide is one of my great Rules to FOllow for Life books. Read it as a young teen in the 1970's and it fast took over as one of my favorite re-read series. I'm 60yo now and I NEVER travel without my towel, use S.E.P. as a defense mode, Sunglasses I pretend can black out vision, and reference Vogans regularly at poetry slams. Glad to see others intense love for it.

[@gozerthegozarian9500]

I, for one, had always taken Ten's line "Very Arthur Dent...now that was a nice man!" as final and definite proof for the Doctor living in the Hitchhiker-universe/Hitchhiker taking place in the Whoniverse. I have fought with people over this!

[@almighty9539]

Doctor who: *episode called 42* me: oh my god, hitchhiker's guide reference, yes Doctor Who: *does not have hitchhiker's guide refrence* me: what, how?! Doctor who: *written by Chris chibnall me: CHIBNALL!!!!!

[@peterbrazukas7771]

lol I'm picturing you as Captain Kirk with that scream of CHIBNALL!!

[@jonathan.palfrey]

The Doctor always manages to save the Earth somehow, but when the Vogons showed up, there he wasn't. As you say yourself, Arthur Dent may have reached the Whoniverse at some point in his travels, but he probably grew up and had his initial adventures in a different universe. One can't really expect even a Time Lord to save an infinite number of parallel Earths from every peril they run into throughout history; especially given the frequency of such perils as observed in Doctor Who…

[@cheshirecat2140]

This is my favorite video you have ever done!! I love this idea so much I am making it my head canon from now on!!!

[@LightLMN]

Another lovely near-connection exists through the Dirk Gently series. Specifically, through Professor Chronotis being a repurposed Time Lord character from Shada. And considering that the unfinished Dirk Gently novel had him trailing an out of work actor who may or may not have been Ford Prefect... :D

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

Dirk also has his towel ready for Richard, and l believe Susan knows precisely where hers is, also.

[@Sunnucksboi]

I started this video like “no”. But now... I’m not so sure... does this mean that the pig in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe is an alternate fifth Doctor?

[@stevetayler9518]

🤣

[@lotemnahshony-spitz9532]

Eight's audio Human Resources features a device that resembles the infinite improbability drive quite a bit

[@JJungleJapeson]

Brian Williams: "What sort of a man doesn't carry a trowel?" Remove the R in trowel and he's Arthur Dent. He also plays ARTHUR Weasley, a father. Brian is the FATHER of Rory, played by ARTHUR Darvill. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

[@Galvion1980]

Illuminati confirmed!

[@Keleigh3000]

@@Galvion1980 And Half-Life 3!

[@DoctorWhoAdventures]

AMAZING!!! Genius video!! :o Happy Towel Day!!! :D

[@benw4409]

*laughs in Pirate Planet*

[@HereComesPopoBawa]

MOONS OF MADNESS!!!

[@RachelReiss]

Well, of course the Doctor always knows where his (or her) towel is--his pockets are bigger on the inside than the outside, so he carries it with him!

[@Emperor_mtn_Dew]

very impressed about how you dont cut anything

[@FlyingAce1016]

This is so cool! Love that the connection between the two.

[@dcauchi64]

Hi. I just watched another u tuber that mentions a episode of doctor who which did not go into production, and the story goes along the lines of the doctor having to defend the earth in court from getting bulldozed. I found it interesting after watching your video yesterday. Keep up the great work I love you show.

[@bucwhovian8305]

How about the start of The Ghost Monument? Seems a lot like the way Arthur and Ford were rescued by the heart of gold.

[@twebible]

I don't know if you believe in serendipity but I am a new convert! I started to watch hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy today not knowing that today is towel day. I paused the video to begin cooking dinner and saw your video on my phone. No lie, right before hitting the pause button I had the same thought that the two might be connected. Happy #towelday 🧣

[@theneonchimpchannel9095]

Yes. Although not before Douglas Adams' time on Doctor Who. I don't recall there being any reference to Doctor Who in Htchhiker's Guide (maybe in the books or the later radio series that were recorded after Adams' death). Also, what if the jump off point for one of the parallel universes was that in one, the Earth was destroyed by the Vogons while in the other, The Doctor showed up and saved the day just in time. Actually...Simon Jones is still acting and as the 2005 movie version proved, no one else can play that role. What if they were to do a cross over. Maybe Big Finish could get onto it. Have the Vogons invading while Arthur is lying in front of the bulldozer. Just as Ford arrives, we hear the TARDIS in the background. Just as the Vogon captain is making his speech, The Doctor materializes on the ship (with Arthur and Ford, Ford is probably an old friend) and is able to out smart the Captain. The Earth is saved but it causes a tear in the fabric of time. Maybe Arthur and Ford end up stuck between realities and The Doctor has to get them back. I could see Tom Baker being willing to be part of that, especially now that he's working for Big Finish anyway.

[@Monty-in-gumboots]

www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-doomsday-contract-2217

[@nomnomnom55555]

There's also some massive connections to Star Wars, that if true would mean that at the very least, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Back to the Future, ET, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy all take place within the same multiverse if not the very same universe.

[@DillonExner]

Doctor Who doesn’t just share a universe with Hitchhiker’s Guide; it shares a universe with EVERYTHING. It’s…timey-wimey.

[@FrostyMac]

Not entirely sure how well this holds up in-canon beyond the whole earth getting destroyed thing, but I kinda love it

[@Seal0626]

Doctor Who definitely shares a universe with Dirk Gently, there was a time traveller on the stairs who opened their door to help get a sofa up the stairs when there wasn't enough manoeuvring room with it shut.

[@purpleraider8105]

So I've only The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy movie a while ago so I don't have to much passion for this topic, however you're excitement for this theory throughout this video was fantastic to see

[@ChrisSchwally]

A theater production of Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency made sure to hide a blow up TARDIS in one of the scenes lol

[@JL0ndon]

I just want to see an episode of doctor who where she comes across a bunch of dolphins from earth who left, and they have dinner and at the end of the episode she gets up and says “so long, thanks for all the fish!”

[@MancPeteYT]

Not to mention there are several mentions of Alterian Dollars throughout Classic Who, Big Finish Who, and (though I may be mistaken) New Who.

[@mrshannonite4016]

Right now there's a Vogon Construction ship hanging in the air just like how a brick doesn't.

[@cathyn7640]

This was so much fun!

[@Stephen-Fox]

I read Clara's TARDIS looking like a diner flying through space as a visual nod to Sapphire and Steel's ending rather than Hitchhiker's Guide, myself.

[@liamwithington8950]

This has inspired me to get the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy books and start reading it so thank you

[@natsmith303]

I would sooner say that, of the versions of HHGTTG, the movie is the most likely to be in continuity with DW. For one, the Magratheans actually get their new Earth up and running by the end. More importantly, in the background Shada is visible as an unfinished planet of theirs.

[@ZipplyZane]

And that is also the perfect loophole for how there could still be an Earth after all versions of Earth were destroyed in Book 5. It's the backup copy Earth.

[@TonksMoriarty]

I always thought the implication of the first of the Earth's he found was that it was the reconstructed Earth he came from

[@johnydl]

I'm not convinced. I love both series, but.... I think what we understand of galactic politics in the H2G2 universe kind of doesn't align with the DW universe, The Shadow Proclamation a mercenary police force is a far cry from a full bureaucracy of Vogons and a galactic president. Time Travel is easy in H2G2 in even in modern earth times, in DW it takes billions of years before we see another race (humans) develop reliable timetravel (vortex manipulator) Then there's the way parallels work, DW is whole parallel dimensions but H2G2 are plural areas which are mutable and change, but the rest of the universe is seemingly not. There is for example only one planet Kricket. My head Cannon for all the cultural references in DW is that the Tardis's telepathic circuits work on the audience. The doctor mentions something that he's done or someone he's met that doesn't have to make sense in the universe to anyone but the doctor, but there's a cultural reference that exists in our universe so the name is translated to better give us the image that the doctor is trying to portray in Galafreyan. So there may well be an earthling who travels space in a dressing-gown, but that doesn't mean it's the same Author Philip Dent as from the H2G2 stories we know.

[@MrLegendofLP]

I like the Telepathic Circuits affecting the audience theory, it makes too much sense.

[@FutureCatNZ]

Yeah, the peculiarly British bureaucracy of the H2G2 universe is definitely a strong argument against it being the Dr Who universe. I think you're on to something with your theory about the TARDIS translating for the audience - that would also explain all those obviously made from bubble wrap monsters of old Who - the TARDIS knew humans couldn't cope with the reality of their true forms, so translated them into bad costumes so we would understand 😁

[@johnydl]

I think it goes further than just the monsters, I think it'd also explain the way the older incarnations of the doctor were a little misogynistic because that's what the era was expecting, and it'd mean if they ever decided to refilm some of those stories both versions of events would be canonical because well the tardis translated for different audiences. It also allows you to "forgive" certain pandering to certain audiences as the tardis wasn't translating for you, but for the era the show is in as a whole. *shrug* Doctor Who never has bad stories only bad translations XD

[@ZipplyZane]

I'm not averse to that theory about how the cultural references work. It's a fun version. However, I do not think you are correct about how parallel dimensions work in H2G2. It's not that areas like Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha are the only areas where parallel universes exist. It's just that they are places where the fabric separating the universes is weak. If you travel in hyperspace in those areas, you can easily wind up in a different universe. (That is, BTW, why making a hyperspace there is absolutely stupid.) Also, there are definitely references the Doctor makes that are definitely Earth references. He knows about Harry Potter from JK Rowling (though maybe the version he knows isn't transphobic), about Agatha Christie, Shakespeare, Dickens, Van Gogh, etc, and he references them to his Companions. He's clearly not talking about something for Gallifreyan history, or else what his Companions said wouldn't match. It's clear he knows a lot about the history and culture of Earth--and why wouldn't he? It's his second home and the planet he defends most often. I still think the translation circuit translating Gallifreyan cultural references to the audience in the same way it does everything else makes perfect sense, but clearly that's not always what's happening.

[@retroactivejealousy-worldl1805]

Well you convinced me. Nice work

[@marionbaggins]

I watched the Hitchhiker's movie before watching a single episode of Doctor Who. And after I saw Hitchhiker's 42 became my Pennant favorite number!!!

[@JackChristmas]

I'm firmly on team "Very Arthur Dent - now there was a nice man" as being a joke, because if Arthur Dent is a real person from The Doctor's perspective, then it would make no sense to reference him like that without any elaboration, because nobody would understand what he was talking about, because Arthur Dent isn't famous or anything in the Hitchhiker's universe. Also, does Hitchhiker's take place in the same universe as Dirk Gently? (Thor is in both, at least.) Because if it is, and we assume that Shada is canon in Doctor Who, then surely only Shada or Dirk Gently 1 could happen in the same timeline.

[@scouttyra]

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey spacey wacey.

[@HereComesPopoBawa]

Not that gushing about personal obsessions to other baffled people has ever been a problem for the Doctor before!

[@emmamacfarlane8137]

Also there's evidence that Blake's Seven takes place in that multiverse as well, and there was an intention in later seasons to bring in the Daleks.

[@Stormandfire]

I read the title and went 'yes, of course they are'. There's couches that appear in nowhere spaces in both (in Doctor Who it's mostly confined to audio and prose stories), the whole man by himself in a house who keeps the universe going, alien species that are planetary architects. The real question is whether they share a universe because both series use British sci-fi (comedy) tropes and thus have similar tastes in world building or because of their shared history with Douglas Adams (and subsequent fans of him in the case of Doctor Who). Like there's a specific flavour of deconstruction and reconstruction of tropes that Douglas had that's shared with Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones that Doctor Who flirts with but at the same time Douglas Adams' work was early enough in Doctor Who's history that it could be formative enough that it still lingers in the series' skeleton. (And certainly people who've worked on modern Who have been fans of Adams and deliberately slipped in things.)

[@robinchesterfield42]

HELL YES! I can absolutely see that. The overall writing style and sense of dry/dark absurdity is definitely present in both (more so in Hitchhiker's, but not only) and I mean come on DOUGLAS ADAMS WROTE FOR WHO. He was also the script editor for an entire season. Ford Prefect and the fourth Doctor have done EXACTLY the same weird alien mannerisms at each other at times, and... And then there's the Oolon Colluphid reference in Classic and the Arthur Dent mention in NewWho, and...well, we see so many different points of the timeline and so many different aliens in the Whoniverse, I could EASILY see the two fitting together. Okay so sure the Earth never quite got actually blown up in _our_ timeline in Who (the surface life kinda got wiped out by massive volcanism in around 1970 in an alternate universe in "Inferno", however) but damn various aliens sure TRIED... How 'bout the Slitheen trying to take apart the Earth for parts? Businesslike, purely money-driven practical "bulldozing" of a planet? Hmmm...

[@alexisfuckingdead3925]

I've got another interesting link that basically proves that hgttg and dw share one universe, hear me out so remember Clive? from the first episode of new who? he had a site where he gathered info about the doctor (u can still find it btw) and on this site there is like a page where ppl who met the 9th doctor or just the Doctor write abt their experience. you see where I'm going with this? I recently looked through all those sightings let's say and there's one that just made me laugh out loud. there's a message there that says: "This rather odd man was lying down in front of a bulldozer in front of my house" ©️Arthur Dent so like I'm pretty positive that they exist in the same universe lmao

[@Freak80MC]

I've never seen anything related to Hitchhiker's, but I'm reminded of a fan theory I once read that said that the Doctor's name is actually 42

[@ilovecatweazle]

Would a towel with 42 on it make it one of the most impressive things in the universes?

[@gunlovingliberal1706]

I always assumed that since Douglas Adams worked on Doctor Who and then wrote The Hitchiker's Guide, the two universes were the same in his mind.

[@jasonhebedead1710]

There's also the Quatermass franchise, which features a government programme known as the Rocket Group. They're sort of like a British Nasa. They're referenced along with Bernard Quatermass in the McCoy serial Remembrance of the Daleks. Also there's a reference to Clara in the BBC's Dracula. Addams other creation Dirk Gently comes from the Shada serial I believe? Blake's 7's been mentioned elsewhere on this comments section and the TARDIS has also made some appearances on some futuristic Iron Maiden covers, along side the Eddie character-mascot.

[@AubreySciFi]

I love the Hitchhikers Guide series, So much fun. Loved the books, the radio plays, and the BBC TV series. The movie was great fun as well. I've always thought that the Oolon Coluphid reference in Destiny of the Daleks meant that, at the very least, the Hitchhikers and Doctor Who universes were in close proximity to each other.

[@richardackland7463]

Really enjoyed this video! I always liked the idea of them being intertwined. I haven't read the books in ages so correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't there a connecting transport service between universes in the fourth book?

[@Redboots]

I chose douglas adams as my author study last year and my favourite thing about him is that he PLAYED LIVE ONSTAGE WITH PINK FLOYD... not to fanboy too much but damn! also for that author study I wrote a crossover between the third doctor and hitchhiker's and a year later I'm still writing it

[@detectivesquirrel2621]

The diner Clara flies off in could also be a reference to the end of Sapphire & Steel.

[@BestBFam]

I was reading HGTTG today and had no idea there was a special day for it! How improbable.

[@donnalevasseur4818]

This was such a fantastic uplifting video . A great departure from all the whiny gloomy gus ones others have put out . My brother agrees with you since he is a huge Douglas Adams fan and I never thought DW and Hitchhiker's were connected now I have to research this a bit deeper Thanks and stay safe.

[@BiPaganMan]

It's also worth noting that DNA used parts of Shada and City of Death for Dirk Gently

[@andymccurdy5029]

it is a shared universe, tennent on his first episode references arther dent when hes in his bath robe

[@timewalker4653]

I made a stupid theory when i read Hitchhikers Guide for the first time, In Hitchhikers there is an answer with no question (42), and In Doctor Who there is a question with no answer (Doctor Who?), my Stupid theory is, Is the Doctor's Name 42?

[@modmaker7617]

"42" is the the meaning of the Universe in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Doctor in during Matt Smith's 11th Dr run it was revealed that he/she is the reason for the Big Bang happening. The Doctor caused the Universe to exist. Your theory makes sense.

[@Nimmo1492]

No, the Doctor's name is Ix/Ford Prefect/only pronounceable in an obscure Betelgeusian dialect . The small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse is called Gallifrey, and Arthur was, at one point, his companion. The Electronic Thumb is, in fact, a sonic screwdriver. This is now my headcanon.

[@DOCTOR_SONG]

Oh i could tell you but you dont really want to know

[@MancPeteYT]

They do rhyme... ;) :P

[@kmsbean]

There is a question: What do you get if you multiple six by nine?

[@simonbeaird7436]

It's a cool idea, but I'm not sure the Universe would survive Captain Jack Harkness meeting Zaphod Beeblebrox. The egos would exceed critical mass!😁

[@DWandLoZfan_and_Knuckles]

In the novelization of Shada, when The Ancient and Worshipful Law of Gallifray was stolen, a copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was left in it's place. Depending on how canon novelizations are, this means the book(s) exist in the Doctor Who Universe.

[@tcshack701]

When you did the review of “Orphan 55” [S12, E3] I commented that it might be one of the 14 other “New Earth(s)” [S2, E1] Perhaps that would explain Arthur Dent finding so many.

[@valentine1980]

If so (and I like to think they do) then the Fifth Doctor's attire is some dark, messed up sh*t.

[@theluvyoumake]

When my child was a teenager he asked me what was the answer to life the universe and everything of course I answered 42.

[@skleefeld]

I've considered a step further -- Zaphod Beeblebrox is himself an incarnation of The Doctor! 1) Zaphod picked up Trillian on Earth and whisked her off planet in a multi-dimensional starship. Not unlike how The Doctor picked up everyone from Ian and Barbara to Sarah Jane to Rose. 2) Said starship was actually stolen, much like the TARDIS. 3) Zaphod was still hunted down for various crimes, despite being President of the Galaxy. Not unlike how The Doctor has been tracked down despite being President of Gallifrey. 4) Zaphod's had his appearance radically changed and used an assumed name. ("He only had the two arms and the one head and he called himself Phil, but...”) Not unlike The Doctor's regenerations and going by names like John Smith and James McCrimmon. 5) The Doctor (Peter Davison) was married to Trillian (Sandra Dickinson). 6) Where else would The Doctor have met Arthur Dent besides aboard the Heart of Gold? Zaphod (both his three arms and two head appearance, and his two arms and one head self) could be another pre-Hartnell iteration of The Doctor!

[@pettytyrant2720]

Adams never threw a good idea away, but tended to rework them. The first Dirk Gently book is an amalgimation of two 4th Doctor stories, City of Death and the unfinished Shada. In the novel the Professors apartment/time machine is a disguised TARDIS in all but name. And as he has forgotten both where he got it and how it works, and who he himself is, its easy to place the Gently novels in tthe Whoverse too and the Professor as an old Time Lord, as he has exactly same personality and 90% of same dialogue as the old Time Lord Professor in Shada. Also in the radio adaptaion of the 2nd Gently book, by the same team who did the Hitchhikers radio plays, Marvin makes an appearence with some disguised Vogons. Linking all three. So Hitchikers, Gently and Who all appear to be one big universe! In the Pirate Planet 4 has some lines of dialogue whose rythmn will be familar to Hitchhikers fans, such as - "I'll never be cruel to an electron in a particle accelerator again." The official original DVD boxset release of Hitchhikers has an animated title screen that begins with the TARDIS flying across the screen, giving the impression they are indeed the same universe. As a side note Ford is based on the Doctor, but the Doctor if they had no moral compass or desire to save the universe but just wanted to have a good time, nevertheless he plays the Doctor role in the narrrative with Arthur as his companion. As you mention the SEP field and Perception Filter are all but identical in function and use, I'm not quite sure if Adams came up with the Who version first or if Who borrowed it from Adams. In expanding it further the TARDIS also makes a cameo in a Red Dwarf episode in a shot of Starbug exiting Red Dwarf. The two universes, Who and Hitchhikers, do work rather well together however- kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4jRkGSvhKujnLc

[@almighty7621]

The 1981s Ford Prefect is basically the best Doctor that we ever had

[@HeavenlyImaginings]

Happy towel day you hoopy frood

[@Tim.Weaver]

"Share and enjoy!"

[@natbarmore]

Earth maybe wasn't destroyed as depicted at the beginning of HHGTTG, but that might've been a cover story. We know that they moved Earth half-way across the galaxy at an unknown time that is after Peri leaves Earth, but not more pinned down than that (The Mysterious Planet). But it's not like people haven't been teleported away to safety the instant before a disintegration before (Arc of Infinity, Bad Wolf). So, yes, maybe parallel timelines (after all, somehow Earth is back in place after The Mysterious Planet so that End of the World can happen), but the Vogon destruction isn't by any means a deal-breaker on reconciling the two.

[@Monty-in-gumboots]

Big Finish about to do an audio adaptation of a lost Tom Baker story called The Doomsday Contract. The start of the plot summary is "Earth - a small, insignificant planet. Entirely devoid of intelligent life. At least that’s according to the legal documents. The Doctor, Romana, and K9 find themselves at the center of a most unusual trial. An intergalactic corporation wants to bulldoze the planet for a development project."

[@Pordrack]

And if you look at the movie, the Point of view gun could use the same kind of technology as the sphere of Skagra or as the thing that Cassandra O'Brien use to possess Rose. The Electronic Thumb could use a technology similar to the Sonic Screwdriver, as it is used to hack a Ship's Door at the end of Book 3. And iirc, in an old and obscure Comic book the third Doctor learns how to fly using a book, kinda like Arthur Dent in the third book.

[@geekgroupie42]

just started to get into this channel... and i gotta say you are very nice looking!

[@Addy0302]

I just watched Rings of Akhaten, how did I miss that?

[@gregf9160]

Tardis’s have a perception filter. You see it, but as soon as you do you just walk right past it, ergo “a somebody else’s problem field”. Unless you actually know what it is, you just mentally shrug it off. I have often seen these (and other) parallels with Doctor Who and HHGTTG. Yeah. The Bistromathic Drive is pure genius. And reminds me of Block Transfer Mathematics which is the basis for Tardis physical structure and existence in the ‘normal’ universe.

[@samuelbarber4154]

In Hitchhiker's, the Earth is demolished in contemporary times, whereas in Doctor Who, the Earth, at least the original Earth, is destroyed in the year 5,000,000,000. So it's more, I think parallel universes. Arthur, likely during his travels throughout the multiverse, may have come into the universe of Doctor Who and met the Doctor and they perhaps had an adventure that wasn't mentioned.

[@jamesduffy7549]

I don't know if you address this yet I haven't seen the whole thing, but during the Christmas invasion the doctor talks about saving the world in his pajamas and says "very Arthur dent". Would that acknowledge it as a recognised fictional work in canon?

[@superraegun2649]

I think the writers of Doctor Who definitely had the idea in mind when writing certain scenes, I think they wanted it to be an open question for the viewers to have their own headcannon on wether or not they do. I think they want views to be able to enjoy thinking about the concept, but for anyone who doesn’t like the idea to not have to deal with it.

[@MsWickedWolf]

Happy Memorial Day

[@WHO_is_on_first]

These two universes have the same whimsical tone

[@wetboy72]

He also wrote the pirate planet, for the key to time

[@midge0087]

Love it

[@joelsytairo6338]

A sentient color of the shade of blue... love death and robots much!?! Definitely the same universe

[@CouncilofGeeks]

You know I really WANTED to like that show.