Savage Popcorn

Question: What do Tony Hancock and Jesus Christ have in common?
Answer: They’re both rhesus positive

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by.

- Douglas Adams

30 years and two days ago, the first episode of the Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy radio series made its début (via). The radio series led to the book, the TV series, a game and – eventually – the film.

So raise a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster to the late Douglas Adams for 30 years of some of the smartest and most timeless comedy we have seen. And then consult your Guide to locate the nearest voluntary organisation to help you rehabilitate afterwards.

From SFX comes the rather fantastic news that Dirk Gently is coming to Radio 4 in October, with an audiobook release to follow in November.

Harry Enfield, in the lead role, will be joined by Billy Boyd, Olivia Colman, Andrew Sachs and Jim Carter. This first series will take in everything from “quantum physics to missing cats, via Coleridge, Bach and an Electric Monk”.

Fantastic news and not a moment too soon.

Brussels to fund pro-democracy radio in Belarus

The European Commission is to support radio and internet broadcasting in Belarus in a bid to increase the country’s awareness about democracy and human rights.

The programmes - initially provided in Russian, and later possibly in Belarusian - will be channelled through Deutsche Welle Radio, which has been granted a €138,000 contract for a one-year long project, starting this November.

The coverage will include daily 15-minute news items on current affairs in Belarus, prepared by the Radio’s own correspondents, as well as an internet version.

It’s a start.