In the late 70s and early 80s, the top surtax rate in the UK was very high, with 90% above a certain amount going to taxes. To get around this, many bands such as Duran Duran and Pink Floyd would spend several years in places such as France or Monaco, where the tax rates were lower, or even non-existent. Spending a year dead is a more extreme and humourous version of living as a tax exile.
I met the Bodyguard(Darth Vader) David Prowse in 2004. His voice is very soft. And he said it was him and he wasn’t dubbed as he can seeping his own voice. Lovely man, still miss him.
If you watch this scene on DVD with the production notes turned on, they tell you all the items of clothing you'll need, "If you want to emulate Ford Prefect's costume." They then say something to the effect of, "We would strongly advise against trying to emulate Hotblack Desiato..."
@@neilcicieregamybel0vedI found it :) Blazer from Irving Sellars Shirt and Sweater (pattern name: Intasia) from Lord John Tie from Eton Shoes from Intersol Handkerchief from someone's cleaning cupboard probably
Plutonium is Marty McFly's go-to gas for whenever he tours through time, and he hopes to someday surpass the Wyld Stallyns as the most popular time travelling rock star in any of the histories of any of the fabrics of spacetime and hyper-spacetime.
🤣😂🤣....42...😂🤣😂 What actually is hysterical about (42) is that it IS the answer to everything! It's a pg number to a book that holds the answer to everything in this universe, life, eternity and everything 🧭🕍⛪🚪👑🧬⏱️🗝️⚔️🙈🙉🙊🐵🫶🤜🤛
I loved the book excerpts in the series. It's so deadpan and matter of fact about absurd things, that it's just a joy to listen to. In the film, Stephen Fry was alright, but he was just sort of himself.
@@worldcomicsreview354 in an interview David said George Lucas wanted to rig up a harness for that scene. David explained that he was the current British Weightlifting Champion and Ian McDiarmid only weighed about 160 pounds. "I then demonstrated that I could pick up with one arm easily enough." 😆 Pretty sure he had little difficulty hoisting David Dixon with both arms. 😁
They should do a DVD re-release of this, where there is an option to to replace the voice of Hotblack's bodyguard (played by David Prowse) with that of James Earl Jones 😀
You don’t get to the vacuum of space until around 10,000 km above a planet like Earth, and low Earth orbit is below 2,000 km. That’s why Hotblack’s ship needs to be sound insulated.
I can see how a lot of futuristic/space fiction got their influences from this. I got hints of both 40k and star wars in this. That rock bands extreme loudness and the impossible calculation of their earnings is very 40k
Barry Bend so is his wife! He was married to the actress portraying Trillian. And of course Douglas Adams was a former script editor of Doctor Who. Small world.
That would be south British, namely Bristol. I met him once in a Tesco in Yate, he signed my toy as dearth Vader, dressed in the full theatrical costume.:)
The single best goof on Pink Floyd ever. (Adams even played guitar live with the desiccated Floyd in 1994, and Marvin played the opening to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" when Arthur and friends landed on Magrathea for the first time in the original run of the radio show.) * The spacecraft going into the sun refers to at the end of "On the Run" when Pink Floyd had a prop plane fly overhead and crash into the stage. * The very idea that this would instead be a spacecraft refers to the song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun." * In 1978-1979, Pink Floyd had to spend a year outside of the UK since the Norton Warburg Group had squandered most of their money. Had the band stayed, the members would have had to pay a tax bill on money they no longer had with money they no longer had.
Many years ago when I read the book, I thought that Mickey Rourke or Tom Hanks is the actors to play Ford Prefect. Jack Nicholson to perform Zafod and Kim Basinger - Trillion. Hugh Grant - Arthur. These actоrs, I think would get in the book characters quite easy and natural. Anyway I still reread the book any free time and carry it with me. But never manage to watch the complete movie.
"Other people's quotes in the comments sections on RUclips are boring as fuck." Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, educated in a country that has an education system.
I never understood what "Space-time is totally bent" meant until now. It means that Disaster Area's chief research accountant's fees are their biggest expense.
Is Ford's jacket affiliated with with any particular school or club? How do I get one? I'd probably have to get the birthday boy's suit custom made. He would be 88 today. It's my birthday, too.
I couldn't disagree more. This has some great points but the casting was horrific. These actors were ONLY CHOSEN because they were in the radio series and for NO other reason. That's not how good casting is done. The Holywoo film made some sense out of the casting.
@@Robert08010 Sorry, but I don't think that's quite true. I saw the "making of" DVD a while ago and they said that while DNA wanted to take all of the radio show cast and remake it for TV the producer wanted to recast everyone. In the end they compromised and recast half the roles! So for example, we have the same actors for Arthur and Zaphod, but they changed Ford and Trillian.
@@johnSmith-up5ey I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. I'm suggesting that while the original cast was fine for the radio program, they should have ALL been recast for the BBC TV production. Neither Simon Jones nor David Dixon were body-typical for the characters they were playing. I mean, just look at Simon Jones objectively. He was your quintessential handsome man. He makes no sense in that role while The David Dixon is almost as wrong the other way. He doesn't fit the role. For example, people that short aren't generally that cool while being cool is a hallmark of the character. Please understand, I'm not complaining about their acting, they were all strong actors but I just think they were chosen only out of loyalty - because DNA is that sort of guy. I have to respect his decision but I don't have to like it. I think the casting for the Hollywood movie version at the least makes sense. I think Zoey was spot on for Trillian. Martin Freeman is perfect Arthur; as the everyman. Who can't identify with him? Moss Def is perfect as Ford although he seems more Lamborghini to me. And I thought Sam Rockwell was exceptional at Zaphod. Just the right amount of "American Ass-hole"; he just nailed that character. I even liked the guy who played Slartibartfast although I would have expected someone more like Ian McKellen. I just expected that character to be more old and wizard - ish. Anyway, that is what I was trying to say. I never meant to suggest DNA didn't want to retain his entire radio cast for the TV series. I just think it was a bad idea.
@@Robert08010 I was under the impression you were saying that ALL the actors in the TV series were taken directly from the radio show. In reality 'only' half were. For example Geoffrey McGivern played Ford on the Radio version but David Dixon played him on TV. May be I misunderstood you?
@@johnSmith-up5ey That wasn't my intention, no. If I implied that it was a mistake. I was only defending the Hollywood HHG2g version which in my opinion had better casting, no offense intended.
@@jimlunn definitely Pink Floyd…one of their earlier songs was called Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun Which is EXACTLY what Hotblack’s stunt shop does 😂
I often don't like the things that critics like, so when I hear the part where he makes a fortune despite the fact that critics hate his music. Also, I like the way the joke is delivered by saying that he makes so much money that ordinary math can't even calculate it. I think that really accentuates the point that critics are often not worth listening to.
Skyline Fever Disaster Area's music is definitely meant to be very much pop music. It would probably have little artistic merit, given that its primary selling point is a four-digit decibel count, but who cares?
Its supposed to be a satire of Rock Bands by way of exaggeration. They are so loud that they violate arms treaties. Their taxes are so complex that their accountant had to invent entirely new physics.
"He's spending a year dead for tax reasons." XD
Thats good advice.
In the late 70s and early 80s, the top surtax rate in the UK was very high, with 90% above a certain amount going to taxes. To get around this, many bands such as Duran Duran and Pink Floyd would spend several years in places such as France or Monaco, where the tax rates were lower, or even non-existent.
Spending a year dead is a more extreme and humourous version of living as a tax exile.
Neat!
I love how Mass Effect 2 references that when you first visit the citadel for the first time.
@@barrybend7189 I've played that series to death and never spotted it. Looks like an excuse to play again!
I love how Prowse kinda sorta tries to do a Mafia accent at first and then just completely abandons it and goes full Bristol.
Rest in Peace, Lord Vader.
I met the Bodyguard(Darth Vader) David Prowse in 2004. His voice is very soft. And he said it was him and he wasn’t dubbed as he can seeping his own voice.
Lovely man, still miss him.
The detail that the band plays from insulated ships orbiting other planets in space, a place famous for not transmitting sound, is a great detail.
Via remote-control. And radio signals DO transmit through space.
If you watch this scene on DVD with the production notes turned on, they tell you all the items of clothing you'll need, "If you want to emulate Ford Prefect's costume."
They then say something to the effect of, "We would strongly advise against trying to emulate Hotblack Desiato..."
hey can you please tell me those items of clothing?
it’s for…. a friend
can you please tell me the items of clothing. it's for me ❤️
@@neilcicieregamybel0vedI found it :)
Blazer from Irving Sellars
Shirt and Sweater (pattern name: Intasia) from Lord John
Tie from Eton
Shoes from Intersol
Handkerchief from someone's cleaning cupboard probably
Wait... a _plutonium_ rock band.
Plutonium is _super-heavy metal._
Its beyond death metal.
And unstable.
@@Robert08010 Neutronium, even HEAVIER!
Plutonium is Marty McFly's go-to gas for whenever he tours through time, and he hopes to someday surpass the Wyld Stallyns as the most popular time travelling rock star in any of the histories of any of the fabrics of spacetime and hyper-spacetime.
Can we talk about how good the actor playing Hotblack is to have no reaction as Ford just goes off on one?
His sort-of Mafia accent really drops when he picks up Ford. Makes sense, I couldn't lift a guy up AND put on a voice at the same time.
Funny how the number 42 appears to be a critical constant used multiple times in the equations for disaster area’s tax returns
ive watched this so many times over 40 years and never noticed that mate lol,
cheers.
🤣😂🤣....42...😂🤣😂 What actually is hysterical about (42) is that it IS the answer to everything! It's a pg number to a book that holds the answer to everything in this universe, life, eternity and everything 🧭🕍⛪🚪👑🧬⏱️🗝️⚔️🙈🙉🙊🐵🫶🤜🤛
I saw it plenty of times in the Deep Thought segments. There was no escaping it, really.
Dave Prowse as the bodyguard.
RIP David
The ORIGINAL Vader!
I loved the book excerpts in the series. It's so deadpan and matter of fact about absurd things, that it's just a joy to listen to. In the film, Stephen Fry was alright, but he was just sort of himself.
See him pick that dude right up? Here’s to you Mr David Prowse. We thank you.
Meh, seen him do it with only one hand before!
@@worldcomicsreview354 AND his mind only too!
Darth Vader if you don't mind
@@worldcomicsreview354 in an interview David said George Lucas wanted to rig up a harness for that scene. David explained that he was the current British Weightlifting Champion and Ian McDiarmid only weighed about 160 pounds. "I then demonstrated that I could pick up with one arm easily enough." 😆 Pretty sure he had little difficulty hoisting David Dixon with both arms. 😁
That accent covers a lot of ground
Even at the end of the universe, you have the certainty of death and taxes.
And evidently, temporary death to avoid taxes
Hotblack's bodyguard was in fact the actor that played Darth Vader in the original Starwars movie, however the actor James Earl Jones was the voice.
They should do a DVD re-release of this, where there is an option to to replace the voice of Hotblack's bodyguard (played by David Prowse) with that of James Earl Jones 😀
One of the greatest lines in HHGTTG. "He's spending a year dead for tax reasons".
To be fair, that sounds like a wicked track that the BBC should release.
A sound so loud it travels through the vacuum of space
You don’t get to the vacuum of space until around 10,000 km above a planet like Earth, and low Earth orbit is below 2,000 km. That’s why Hotblack’s ship needs to be sound insulated.
All sound becomes white noise after a light year
RIP David ...
Picks up Ford: "I find you're lack of doing as I just told you to be disappointing." Ford does get choked.
Zaphod never told you what happened to your pan galactic gargle blaster.
It took me _years_ to find out that Hotblack Desiato's character was named after a real London estate agent.
Had no idea till I visited London in 2012 and saw their name on a house for sale in Camden.
That was David Prowse, wasn't it?
I recognised his west country accent.
Drew Lovelyhell That accent is not West Country, it's clearly Tatooine.
This was so far ahead of it's time!
Love the idea of him still going to restaurants even when he's dead 😂
RIP David Prowse. :(
I can see how a lot of futuristic/space fiction got their influences from this. I got hints of both 40k and star wars in this. That rock bands extreme loudness and the impossible calculation of their earnings is very 40k
Most TV shows go forgotten after a few years but It's series like this that ended up influencing an entire genre
There is actually a joke chapter of Space Marines called Noise Marines.
Well, this came out in 1981, after Empire, so possibly Star Wars influenced this.
Ok, to be fair, the radio plays came before Empire, but after A New Hope.
@@DJ_Force it doesn't hurt that the bodyguard was played by Darth Vader himself (aka David Prowse). 😁
I would love to see this series remade. They should get the narrator from The Stanley Parable videogame for it.
Hulu is looking into that as of 2019.
NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo! Remakes will just FUCK it, & go all woak & therefore broak!
@@DMSProduktions shut up
@@DMSProduktions I can't tell if you're being serious or not. If you ARE being serious then cry some more you baby. If not, then please ignore me.
Absolutely No No and a Zilion times No! To Any Remakes!
RIP David Prowse
David Prowse (Darth Vader) as Hotblack Desiato's bodyguard.
I didn't know Darth Vader was in this series
So was the 5th doctor from doctor who.
Barry Bend so is his wife! He was married to the actress portraying Trillian. And of course Douglas Adams was a former script editor of Doctor Who. Small world.
That would be south British, namely Bristol. I met him once in a Tesco in Yate, he signed my toy as dearth Vader, dressed in the full theatrical costume.:)
"I smelled his stench the moment I came on board."
@@Ozzy_2014 Not quite. Sandra Dickinson was married to Peter Davison (Doctor Who) who was the Dish of the Day.
RIP Dave Prowse.
2:07 for Disaster Area. :)
Thank you
Douglas Adams was the greatest Philosopher who ever lived.
Spending a year dead for tax reasons classic
The single best goof on Pink Floyd ever. (Adams even played guitar live with the desiccated Floyd in 1994, and Marvin played the opening to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" when Arthur and friends landed on Magrathea for the first time in the original run of the radio show.)
* The spacecraft going into the sun refers to at the end of "On the Run" when Pink Floyd had a prop plane fly overhead and crash into the stage.
* The very idea that this would instead be a spacecraft refers to the song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun."
* In 1978-1979, Pink Floyd had to spend a year outside of the UK since the Norton Warburg Group had squandered most of their money. Had the band stayed, the members would have had to pay a tax bill on money they no longer had with money they no longer had.
"beat it before i beat it for you"
My new favorite threat, next to "the late Dentarthurdent".
out of context this sounds so, so, questionable
An economically brilliant idea!
Many years ago when I read the book, I thought that Mickey Rourke or Tom Hanks is the actors to play Ford
Prefect.
Jack Nicholson to perform Zafod and Kim
Basinger - Trillion.
Hugh Grant - Arthur.
These actоrs, I think would get in the book characters quite easy and natural.
Anyway I still reread the book any free time and carry it with me.
But never manage to watch the complete movie.
“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”
Horace Mann .. 1796/1859 Father of the American education system
Screw humanity I want to win victories fir myself
"Other people's quotes in the comments sections on RUclips are boring as fuck." Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, educated in a country that has an education system.
I need to look at the tax laws in the US to see i can make this work for me.
I don't think you'd come out ahead paying your accountant have of your earnings lol.
It worked for Elvis
I never understood what "Space-time is totally bent" meant until now. It means that Disaster Area's chief research accountant's fees are their biggest expense.
There’s also the fact that math is to science what the Necronomicon is to magic.
@@lyokianhitchhiker 😕
@@Sewblon I mean, you do have to cast aside your sanity to start making sense of it.
DISASTER AREA! Just as cleverly (and suitably) named as SPINAL TAP! ;-) LL
RIP.
I read the book years and years ago. time to revisit I do believe
David Prowse *can* talk! Amazing!
Love this mini series👻
I wish i had that Tannoy as loud as that
RIP DAVID PROWSE ❤❤❤❤❤
Is Ford's jacket affiliated with with any particular school or club? How do I get one? I'd probably have to get the birthday boy's suit custom made. He would be 88 today. It's my birthday, too.
Could you even make something this brilliant now
I really want to check this band out
I sort of imagine Disaster Area’s music to sound like Manowar covering Swans
Great tv series 😊
This series was SO much better than that God Awful Hollywood movie version.
I couldn't disagree more. This has some great points but the casting was horrific. These actors were ONLY CHOSEN because they were in the radio series and for NO other reason. That's not how good casting is done. The Holywoo film made some sense out of the casting.
@@Robert08010 Sorry, but I don't think that's quite true. I saw the "making of" DVD a while ago and they said that while DNA wanted to take all of the radio show cast and remake it for TV the producer wanted to recast everyone. In the end they compromised and recast half the roles! So for example, we have the same actors for Arthur and Zaphod, but they changed Ford and Trillian.
@@johnSmith-up5ey I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. I'm suggesting that while the original cast was fine for the radio program, they should have ALL been recast for the BBC TV production. Neither Simon Jones nor David Dixon were body-typical for the characters they were playing. I mean, just look at Simon Jones objectively. He was your quintessential handsome man. He makes no sense in that role while The David Dixon is almost as wrong the other way. He doesn't fit the role. For example, people that short aren't generally that cool while being cool is a hallmark of the character. Please understand, I'm not complaining about their acting, they were all strong actors but I just think they were chosen only out of loyalty - because DNA is that sort of guy. I have to respect his decision but I don't have to like it. I think the casting for the Hollywood movie version at the least makes sense. I think Zoey was spot on for Trillian. Martin Freeman is perfect Arthur; as the everyman. Who can't identify with him? Moss Def is perfect as Ford although he seems more Lamborghini to me. And I thought Sam Rockwell was exceptional at Zaphod. Just the right amount of "American Ass-hole"; he just nailed that character. I even liked the guy who played Slartibartfast although I would have expected someone more like Ian McKellen. I just expected that character to be more old and wizard - ish. Anyway, that is what I was trying to say. I never meant to suggest DNA didn't want to retain his entire radio cast for the TV series. I just think it was a bad idea.
@@Robert08010 I was under the impression you were saying that ALL the actors in the TV series were taken directly from the radio show. In reality 'only' half were. For example Geoffrey McGivern played Ford on the Radio version but David Dixon played him on TV. May be I misunderstood you?
@@johnSmith-up5ey That wasn't my intention, no. If I implied that it was a mistake. I was only defending the Hollywood HHG2g version which in my opinion had better casting, no offense intended.
I wonder if Douglas Adams talked to people that way when he was a bodyguard.
Is this band a spoof of the motle crue/ def leppord type acts?
Nah. This book was written before them.
This is more a spoof of Black Sabbath/Led Zep/Pink Floyd and the other massive rock bands of the 70s
@@jimlunn definitely Pink Floyd…one of their earlier songs was called Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
Which is EXACTLY what Hotblack’s stunt shop does 😂
I thought Douglas' attack on taxmen started on the 2nd Phase....
His arm didnt half move for a dead guy.
The accountant looks remarkably like Clive Sinclair.
better as the book or radio guide audiobook (although Nick Page's channel does an awesome animation of series).
...and better than the cinema movie 15 years ago.
Sunn O))) have a long way to go.
Heh
I often don't like the things that critics like, so when I hear the part where he makes a fortune despite the fact that critics hate his music.
Also, I like the way the joke is delivered by saying that he makes so much money that ordinary math can't even calculate it. I think that really accentuates the point that critics are often not worth listening to.
Skyline Fever Disaster Area's music is definitely meant to be very much pop music. It would probably have little artistic merit, given that its primary selling point is a four-digit decibel count, but who cares?
i would argue that a good critic wants you to have better stuff and therefore is worth listening to
Not only is your comment completely incoherent but so is your argument.
Skyline Fever is the problem that hipsters have been trying to murder for decades.
@@mithiwithi 1000 "megabells"
Before deathclock there was disaster area
That's a really strong security guard.
Quite intelligent too, though a really bad dresser😁
"I only quite liked it."
I came to the comments to find if that’s really David Prowse. The comments confirmed. Thank you everyone.
Amazing writing by an author who is spending a lot of time dead, I think for reasons other than tax.
Sadly.
Great mind! Douglas Adams. ❤❤
Galactic tax-hole is cyber-punk.
That's Dave Prowse, isn't it? Darth Vader? (and this time, speaking in his own real voice).
This clip probably tells you why the book was better.
SpaceX Starship 1st Launch !! 🤣
Fascinating. The band must have earned a googolplex in money to buy a solar system.
Is Hotblack meant to be fat Elvis?
因為成本卜必有預備帆化入人人都太大太大
如果
佢阰⋯⋯
They should have never recast Geoffrey McGivern. Apparently he "didn't look alien enough." How stupid!
I find your lack of poe-tay-toes disturbing
我又係
@2:00
and Darth Vader
!!!!
Arthur Dent was a better friend to Ford than this sellout... This guide entry is hilarious, though.
seriously 3 comments
Five, actually.
Seven, actually. As far as I know.
Ten, including this one.
Thanos
B A S E D
Someone sent me this, and I have no idea what’s supposed to be funny about it. Can anyone fill me in?
Its supposed to be a satire of Rock Bands by way of exaggeration. They are so loud that they violate arms treaties. Their taxes are so complex that their accountant had to invent entirely new physics.
I still say the guy who played Ford, simply can't act.
I believe most of them were chosen because they were in the original radio series. However, I like the amateurish of it all.
but he has started in many tv shows and movies.
@@CelticSaint The original radio Ford, Geoffrey McGivern, was left out because he looked too normal. He would have been better than David Dixon..
RIP Dave Prowse.