Dirk Gently (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Dirk Gently is a 2010 television drama inspired by Douglas Adams
's novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
. Broadcast by BBC Four
on 16 December 2010 and repeated throughout the Christmas period, it was a pilot episode for a forthcoming television series based on the detective.
In the hour-long pilot, "holistic detective" Dirk Gently
is hired by an old lady to investigate the disappearance of a cat, a case that gives him a new fridge and re-acquaints him with two old friends from university. Together they uncover a plot involving time travel, unrequited love, depression and murder.
The comedy-drama is a loose adaptation of plot elements from Adams' 1987 novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, although it updates the detective to the present day and focuses on only a few of the original novel's characters and plot threads. Critical reception to the pilot was generally positive, and in March 2011 BBC Four announced that it had commissioned a three-part series of one hour-long episodes, the first continuing drama series produced for the channel.
(1988) and the incomplete The Salmon of Doubt
(fragments published posthumously). Each novel features new characters and scenarios, although Dirk (real name Svlad Cjelli), his "ex-secretary" Janice Pearce and Sergeant, later Inspector, Gilks recur in each.
The first Gently novel had previously been adapted into a stage play, Dirk and a BBC Radio 4 series by Above the Title Productions
which was first broadcast in October 2007 and featured comedian Harry Enfield
in the title role. However, according to James Donaghy, Douglas Adams was frustrated that his Dirk Gently novels were never adapted for the screen.
, the first Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy convention, Ed Victor, a literary agent who represents Adams's estate announced that a television adaptation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was in production. Stephen Mangan
was announced to be playing Gently, with Darren Boyd
as Macduff and Helen Baxendale
as Susan. It is the first television adaptation of Adams' Dirk Gently series, although characters from the books had appeared in a 1992 episode of The South Bank Show
.
Shooting commenced early in October 2010 in Bristol. The director was Damon Thomas and the producer was Chris Carey. Although it was commissioned by the BBC, it was produced by ITV Studios
with The Welded Tandem Picture Company. The pilot was first broadcast on BBC Four
on 16 December 2010 and was repeated a number of times during the next month.
The pilot gained a commission on 31 March 2011 for a three-part series of one hour-long episodes to be broadcast on BBC Four in 2012. Stephen Mangan suggested on his Twitter feed that he does not yet know which stories or plotlines will be adapted. The series will be the first continuing drama series commissioned by BBC Four.
is not a direct adaptation of the novel, but uses certain characters and situations from the novel to form the basis of a new drama centred around Dirk. Stephen Mangan, writing a BBC blog on the programme stated "In my opinion, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul are unfilmable as written...too much happens, there are too many ideas".
The adaptation concentrates on two relatively minor plot strands in the novel: the disappearance of a cat, and the simultaneous disappearance of Gordon Way. Although time travel is involved in the solution, the novel's entire St Cedd's / Electric Monk / Coleridge strand is omitted, although key words relating to these elements do appear on Dirk's whiteboard when it is first seen, though they are never subsequently referred to.
Other elements from the book, such as the trapped sofa, are also absent and the setting is updated to 2010, with email
and voicemail
replacing the answering machine messages in the book. There are changes to the characters too, one notable one being that Susan is Gordon's ex-girlfriend rather than his sister.
, best known for his role in the television series Green Wing
, and subsequently Episodes
, was cast in the main role as holistic detective Dirk Gently
. Mangan already knew the novel and the author's works, stating in a press release "I've been a fan of Douglas Adams ever since the Hitchhiker's radio series which I used to record as a child and listen to over and over again in my bedroom. It's such a thrill to now be playing one of his brilliant characters. Dirk is a chaotic, anarchic force of nature with a totally unique take on the world. He is described as 'lazy, untidy, dismissive and unreliable'. I've absolutely no idea why they thought I'd be right for the role." Cast alongside him were Darren Boyd
and Helen Baxendale
, both whom had previously worked with Mangan in Green Wing and Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years
respectively.
On spotting clues suggesting the presence of the missing cat, they follow it into a nearby warehouse and encounter a bizarre machine. However, an explosion destroys the machine before they can investigate. It later transpires that the warehouse belongs to their fellow university alumnus, Gordon Way, a millionaire computer expert (and Susan's former suitor at college) who has gone missing.
Dirk soon deduces that events all seem to connect with the 5 December 1994, as that is the date where Susan broke up with Gordon because he missed a date (due to Dirk accidentally running Gordon over in his Austin Princess, when trying to escape an angry Richard), and the date on which Mrs Jordan's first cat, Henry, walked into her house. Recalling the equipment that he and Richard found in a warehouse near Susan's house, Dirk deduces that Gordon Way had developed a time machine to go back and save his relationship with Susan before it went wrong, with Mrs Jordan's cat getting into the machine with him and being sent back to the past (meaning that Mrs Jordan's two cats were actually the same cat).
Gordon, it is revealed, was killed in the past by Mrs Jordan after he saw her with her husband's dead body (Mrs Jordan having killed her husband when he began to mistreat the 'new' cat). Mrs Jordan subsequently commits suicide after tricking Dirk, Richard and Susan into leaving her so that she will not have to go to prison. At the episode's conclusion, Dirk has tricked Richard, via hypnosis, into investing his redundancy money into Dirk's firm, allowing Dirk to go to Barbados on an "investigation" while Richard is left as Dirk's new partner in the detective agency.
The pilot episode gained 1.1m viewers (3.9% share) on BBC Four, which was over three times the channel's slot average. Critical reception for the pilot was largely positive. Several mentioned that it was only a loose adaptation of the novel, although the general consensus was that the essence of the original was maintained. Sam Wollaston in The Guardian
stated "Coming to it fresh, it's a neat story about aforementioned missing cat and time travel, with a smattering of quantum physics and the fundamental connectedness of things. With a lovely performance from Doreen Mantle as the old lady/murderer. Stephen Mangan's good in the title role, too – a teeny bit irritating perhaps, but then Mangan is a teeny bit irritating. So is Dirk Gently, though – it's perfect. Funny too. Quite funny." James Donaghy, also writing in The Guardian stated "Personally I hope Dirk Gently gets made into a full series. The programme shows promising glimpses, has a strong cast and Misfits already proves Overman can write. And a BBC4 adaptation feels like a good fit – Gently being exactly the kind of playground-of-the-imagination curio the BBC made its name indulging."
The Independent
published two reviews. Alice-Azania Jarvis was extremely positive, writing "...there wasn't very much you could fault about the production at all. Right down to the quirky camerawork and youthful, poppy soundtrack (who would have thought the Hoosiers could be so right in any situation?), the director, Damon Thomas, got it pretty spot-on. The result was a pleasingly festive-feeling adventure; part Wallace & Gromit, part Doctor Who
, part The Secret Seven
. And the best thing? There wasn't a Christmas tree in sight. Douglas Adams once claimed that Gently would make a better film character than his more famous hero, Arthur Dent
. Based on last night's experience, he may well have been right." John Walsh's review for The Independent
was cooler about the adaptation, although praised Mangan's performance: "Given the talent and style on display, it should have been a scream. In fact it all seemed a little moth-eaten. Though set in the modern day, it was staggeringly old-fashioned...You could overlook these faults, however, for the joy of Stephen Mangan's performance as the titular gumshoe. With his alarmed-spaniel eyes and jutting-jawed stroppiness, his geography teacher elbow-patches and Medusan hair, he radiates mess...His ineptness as a sleuth provided some fine comic moments.
Paul Whitelaw in Metro was also positive, although it noted "At times it felt forced, with a sense of trying slightly too hard when a touch more subtlety would have brought out the essential Adamsian eccentricity." Dan Owen of Obsessed with Film noted that the adaptation played with the idea of inexplicable situations: "Purists may grumble this isn't the Dirk Gently they wanted to see, but it's more accessible and practicable. And while Dirk Gently is certainly another gimmicky detective series (yawn), its details are unique and engrossing enough to shrug off the genre's clichés. In some ways it's a pastiche of whodunits, taking the genre's often tenuous explanations to an outrageous extreme."
Paul Whitelaw in The Scotsman
noted that "Although Adams's more ambitious concepts are sidelined in favour of a more prosaic - if nonetheless enjoyable - sci-fi mystery, Overman captures at least some of the wit and whimsy of his distinctive comic voice" going on to suggest "This modestly-budgeted pilot suggests potential for a series, so the deviation from Adams's originals makes sense. It also adds yet another very British oddball to the pantheon currently occupied by Doctor Who
and Sherlock.
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
's novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams, first published in 1987. It is described by "the author" on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic".The book was followed by a sequel,...
. Broadcast by BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on 16 December 2010 and repeated throughout the Christmas period, it was a pilot episode for a forthcoming television series based on the detective.
In the hour-long pilot, "holistic detective" Dirk Gently
Dirk Gently
Dirk Gently is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams and featured in the books Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul...
is hired by an old lady to investigate the disappearance of a cat, a case that gives him a new fridge and re-acquaints him with two old friends from university. Together they uncover a plot involving time travel, unrequited love, depression and murder.
The comedy-drama is a loose adaptation of plot elements from Adams' 1987 novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, although it updates the detective to the present day and focuses on only a few of the original novel's characters and plot threads. Critical reception to the pilot was generally positive, and in March 2011 BBC Four announced that it had commissioned a three-part series of one hour-long episodes, the first continuing drama series produced for the channel.
Background
Adams had published two Dirk Gently novels by the time of his death; Holistic Detective Agency (1987), The Long Dark Tea-Time of the SoulThe Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is a 1988 humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams. It is the second book by Adams featuring private detective Dirk Gently, the first being Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency....
(1988) and the incomplete The Salmon of Doubt
The Salmon of Doubt
The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time is a posthumous collection of previously published and unpublished material by Douglas Adams...
(fragments published posthumously). Each novel features new characters and scenarios, although Dirk (real name Svlad Cjelli), his "ex-secretary" Janice Pearce and Sergeant, later Inspector, Gilks recur in each.
The first Gently novel had previously been adapted into a stage play, Dirk and a BBC Radio 4 series by Above the Title Productions
Above the Title Productions
Above the Title Productions is a UK independent radio and TV production company based in London. The company specializes in the making of drama, music, comedy and feature programmes, principally for BBC Radio. The company's past works include adaptations of Agatha Christie mysteries, radio...
which was first broadcast in October 2007 and featured comedian Harry Enfield
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
in the title role. However, according to James Donaghy, Douglas Adams was frustrated that his Dirk Gently novels were never adapted for the screen.
Announcement
During HitchconHitchcon
Hitchcon was a science fiction convention held at the Southbank Centre in London, England, on 11 October 2009. It celebrated the 30th anniversary of the publication of the first book in the comic sci-fi series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams...
, the first Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy convention, Ed Victor, a literary agent who represents Adams's estate announced that a television adaptation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was in production. Stephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan is an English actor, best known for his roles as Guy Secretan in the television series Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge and as Holistic Detective Dirk Gently in the 2010 BBC adaptation of Douglas Adams' book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, as well as Sean Lincoln...
was announced to be playing Gently, with Darren Boyd
Darren Boyd
Darren Boyd is an English actor well known for his roles in Smack the Pony, Green Wing, Whites and most recently for playing the role of John Cleese in Holy Flying Circus. He is a classically trained singer, and played a jazz musician in NBC’s Watching Ellie...
as Macduff and Helen Baxendale
Helen Baxendale
Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, possibly best-known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends and Cardiac Arrest.-Early life:...
as Susan. It is the first television adaptation of Adams' Dirk Gently series, although characters from the books had appeared in a 1992 episode of The South Bank Show
The South Bank Show
The South Bank Show was a television arts magazine show, originally made by London Weekend Television , presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States...
.
Shooting commenced early in October 2010 in Bristol. The director was Damon Thomas and the producer was Chris Carey. Although it was commissioned by the BBC, it was produced by ITV Studios
ITV Studios
ITV Studios is a television production company owned by the British television network ITV. It not only makes programmes primarily for its parent company, but also for other networks...
with The Welded Tandem Picture Company. The pilot was first broadcast on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on 16 December 2010 and was repeated a number of times during the next month.
The pilot gained a commission on 31 March 2011 for a three-part series of one hour-long episodes to be broadcast on BBC Four in 2012. Stephen Mangan suggested on his Twitter feed that he does not yet know which stories or plotlines will be adapted. The series will be the first continuing drama series commissioned by BBC Four.
Adaptation
The screenplay by Howard OvermanHoward Overman
Howard Overman is a television writer who has written scripts for serial dramas such as Hotel Babylon, New Tricks, Hustle, Harley Street and Merlin....
is not a direct adaptation of the novel, but uses certain characters and situations from the novel to form the basis of a new drama centred around Dirk. Stephen Mangan, writing a BBC blog on the programme stated "In my opinion, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul are unfilmable as written...too much happens, there are too many ideas".
The adaptation concentrates on two relatively minor plot strands in the novel: the disappearance of a cat, and the simultaneous disappearance of Gordon Way. Although time travel is involved in the solution, the novel's entire St Cedd's / Electric Monk / Coleridge strand is omitted, although key words relating to these elements do appear on Dirk's whiteboard when it is first seen, though they are never subsequently referred to.
Other elements from the book, such as the trapped sofa, are also absent and the setting is updated to 2010, with email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and voicemail
Voicemail
Voicemail is a computer based system that allows users and subscribers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and deliver voice information; and to process transactions relating to individuals, organizations, products and services, using an ordinary telephone...
replacing the answering machine messages in the book. There are changes to the characters too, one notable one being that Susan is Gordon's ex-girlfriend rather than his sister.
Cast
Stephen ManganStephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan is an English actor, best known for his roles as Guy Secretan in the television series Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge and as Holistic Detective Dirk Gently in the 2010 BBC adaptation of Douglas Adams' book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, as well as Sean Lincoln...
, best known for his role in the television series Green Wing
Green Wing
Green Wing is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch show Smack the Pony, led by Victoria Pile, and stars Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt....
, and subsequently Episodes
Episodes (TV series)
Episodes is a British/American television sitcom serial created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and produced by Hat Trick Productions. It premiered on Showtime on January 9, 2011 at 9:30 pm and began airing on BBC Two on 10 January 2011 at 10 pm...
, was cast in the main role as holistic detective Dirk Gently
Dirk Gently
Dirk Gently is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams and featured in the books Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul...
. Mangan already knew the novel and the author's works, stating in a press release "I've been a fan of Douglas Adams ever since the Hitchhiker's radio series which I used to record as a child and listen to over and over again in my bedroom. It's such a thrill to now be playing one of his brilliant characters. Dirk is a chaotic, anarchic force of nature with a totally unique take on the world. He is described as 'lazy, untidy, dismissive and unreliable'. I've absolutely no idea why they thought I'd be right for the role." Cast alongside him were Darren Boyd
Darren Boyd
Darren Boyd is an English actor well known for his roles in Smack the Pony, Green Wing, Whites and most recently for playing the role of John Cleese in Holy Flying Circus. He is a classically trained singer, and played a jazz musician in NBC’s Watching Ellie...
and Helen Baxendale
Helen Baxendale
Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, possibly best-known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends and Cardiac Arrest.-Early life:...
, both whom had previously worked with Mangan in Green Wing and Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years
Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years (TV series)
Adrian Mole: the Cappiccino Years is a television series aired by the BBC in 2001. The series was based on the book from the Adrian Mole series, The Cappuccino Years.-Premise:...
respectively.
- Dirk GentlyDirk GentlyDirk Gently is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams and featured in the books Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul...
- Stephen ManganStephen ManganStephen Mangan is an English actor, best known for his roles as Guy Secretan in the television series Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge and as Holistic Detective Dirk Gently in the 2010 BBC adaptation of Douglas Adams' book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, as well as Sean Lincoln... - Richard McDuff- Darren BoydDarren BoydDarren Boyd is an English actor well known for his roles in Smack the Pony, Green Wing, Whites and most recently for playing the role of John Cleese in Holy Flying Circus. He is a classically trained singer, and played a jazz musician in NBC’s Watching Ellie...
- Susan Harmison - Helen BaxendaleHelen BaxendaleHelen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, possibly best-known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends and Cardiac Arrest.-Early life:...
- DI Gilks - Jason WatkinsJason Watkins (actor)Jason Watkins , is an award-nominated British stage, film and television actor.-Career:Since training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he has established himself as a stage actor, and is a member of the National Theatre company....
- Janice Pearce - Lisa JacksonLisa Jackson (actress)Lisa Jackson is an English actress. Recent roles include Imogen Moffat in the Channel 4 Comedy Showcase sitcom Campus, Sandra in Mike Bartlett's Love, Love, Love, Janice Pearce in BBC Four's Dirk Gently and Joan Helford in Rupert Goold's production of Time and the Conways at the National Theatre...
- Ruth Jordan - Doreen MantleDoreen MantleDoreen Mantle is a South African-born British actress who is probably best known for her role as Mrs Jean Warboys in One Foot in the Grave ....
- Gordon Way - Anthony Howell
- Dr Gerstenberger - Miles RichardsonMiles RichardsonMiles Richardson is a British actor.He was born on 15 July 1963 in Battersea, London to parents Ian Richardson and Maroussia Frank , both founder members of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
- Receptionist - Leona Walker
Plot
The episode opens with private investigator Dirk Gently asking the elderly Mrs Jordan for payment in his ongoing search for her missing cat. Leaving Mrs Jordan's house, he witnesses his old friend Richard McDuff breaking into her neighbour's house. It transpires that Richard was attempting to steal a laptop belonging to his girlfriend Susan Harmison, whom Richard has just split up with and has sent an insulting e-mail, which he now regrets.On spotting clues suggesting the presence of the missing cat, they follow it into a nearby warehouse and encounter a bizarre machine. However, an explosion destroys the machine before they can investigate. It later transpires that the warehouse belongs to their fellow university alumnus, Gordon Way, a millionaire computer expert (and Susan's former suitor at college) who has gone missing.
Dirk soon deduces that events all seem to connect with the 5 December 1994, as that is the date where Susan broke up with Gordon because he missed a date (due to Dirk accidentally running Gordon over in his Austin Princess, when trying to escape an angry Richard), and the date on which Mrs Jordan's first cat, Henry, walked into her house. Recalling the equipment that he and Richard found in a warehouse near Susan's house, Dirk deduces that Gordon Way had developed a time machine to go back and save his relationship with Susan before it went wrong, with Mrs Jordan's cat getting into the machine with him and being sent back to the past (meaning that Mrs Jordan's two cats were actually the same cat).
Gordon, it is revealed, was killed in the past by Mrs Jordan after he saw her with her husband's dead body (Mrs Jordan having killed her husband when he began to mistreat the 'new' cat). Mrs Jordan subsequently commits suicide after tricking Dirk, Richard and Susan into leaving her so that she will not have to go to prison. At the episode's conclusion, Dirk has tricked Richard, via hypnosis, into investing his redundancy money into Dirk's firm, allowing Dirk to go to Barbados on an "investigation" while Richard is left as Dirk's new partner in the detective agency.
Reception
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
stated "Coming to it fresh, it's a neat story about aforementioned missing cat and time travel, with a smattering of quantum physics and the fundamental connectedness of things. With a lovely performance from Doreen Mantle as the old lady/murderer. Stephen Mangan's good in the title role, too – a teeny bit irritating perhaps, but then Mangan is a teeny bit irritating. So is Dirk Gently, though – it's perfect. Funny too. Quite funny." James Donaghy, also writing in The Guardian stated "Personally I hope Dirk Gently gets made into a full series. The programme shows promising glimpses, has a strong cast and Misfits already proves Overman can write. And a BBC4 adaptation feels like a good fit – Gently being exactly the kind of playground-of-the-imagination curio the BBC made its name indulging."
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
published two reviews. Alice-Azania Jarvis was extremely positive, writing "...there wasn't very much you could fault about the production at all. Right down to the quirky camerawork and youthful, poppy soundtrack (who would have thought the Hoosiers could be so right in any situation?), the director, Damon Thomas, got it pretty spot-on. The result was a pleasingly festive-feeling adventure; part Wallace & Gromit, part Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, part The Secret Seven
The Secret Seven
The Secret Seven or "Secret Seven Society" are a fictional group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton. They appear in one of several juvenile detective series Blyton wrote....
. And the best thing? There wasn't a Christmas tree in sight. Douglas Adams once claimed that Gently would make a better film character than his more famous hero, Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
. Based on last night's experience, he may well have been right." John Walsh's review for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
was cooler about the adaptation, although praised Mangan's performance: "Given the talent and style on display, it should have been a scream. In fact it all seemed a little moth-eaten. Though set in the modern day, it was staggeringly old-fashioned...You could overlook these faults, however, for the joy of Stephen Mangan's performance as the titular gumshoe. With his alarmed-spaniel eyes and jutting-jawed stroppiness, his geography teacher elbow-patches and Medusan hair, he radiates mess...His ineptness as a sleuth provided some fine comic moments.
Paul Whitelaw in Metro was also positive, although it noted "At times it felt forced, with a sense of trying slightly too hard when a touch more subtlety would have brought out the essential Adamsian eccentricity." Dan Owen of Obsessed with Film noted that the adaptation played with the idea of inexplicable situations: "Purists may grumble this isn't the Dirk Gently they wanted to see, but it's more accessible and practicable. And while Dirk Gently is certainly another gimmicky detective series (yawn), its details are unique and engrossing enough to shrug off the genre's clichés. In some ways it's a pastiche of whodunits, taking the genre's often tenuous explanations to an outrageous extreme."
Paul Whitelaw in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
noted that "Although Adams's more ambitious concepts are sidelined in favour of a more prosaic - if nonetheless enjoyable - sci-fi mystery, Overman captures at least some of the wit and whimsy of his distinctive comic voice" going on to suggest "This modestly-budgeted pilot suggests potential for a series, so the deviation from Adams's originals makes sense. It also adds yet another very British oddball to the pantheon currently occupied by Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
and Sherlock.