The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy: Episode 5 (Summary)

First Aired: 02-02-1981

When we last saw Arthur Dent he and his friends were on the planet Magrathea, hiding behind a bank of computers, and under fire from two leather-clad members of the intergalactic police force. And when the computers went up in smoke it rather looked like they had done likewise.

Fortunately this is not the case. Episode 5 of the Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy begins by revealing everyone is very much alive and, when the smoke clears, they find themselves at Milliways, the Restaurant at the end of the Universe.

Milliways exists in a time bubble that has been projected into the distant future and to the precise moment when the universe ends. It’s a unique place to visit.

Some of the items on the menu are unusal though and poor, old Arthur Dent is disgusted when the dish of the day is brought to their table.

The Milliways’ dish of the day is a live animal, served on a platter, and it’s very keen to be eaten. The pig-like creature has been specially bred to want to be eaten. The creature has been force-feeding itself for months but, when it recommends its liver to Arthur, he decides to have a salad instead.

Zaphod, being the kind of bloke he is, tells the waiter they will have four rare steaks. “Very wise choice,” says the dish of the day. “I’ll just nip off and shoot myself.”

The dish of the day is played by Peter Davison, who later went on to marry Sandra Dickinson, who plays Trillion in show. This has absolutely nothing to do with the story but it’s an interesting bit of trivia.

While everyone is eating, the waiter comes and informs Zaphod there is a telephone call for him. Zaphod is worried in case it is the Intergalactic Police, but it is not. It’s only Marvin the Paranoid Android, who has been waiting for them at Milliways for several million years. Apparantly the gang has travelled forward in time, but not in space. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is built on the site that used to be the planet Magrathea.

So what has Marvin been doing all  this time? He’s been working in the car park, parking cars.

After their reunion with Marvin Zaphod decides to steal a spaceship. He makes a poor choice, though. Once they are underway, the gang discover the ship is on a pre-programmed flight path and is heading straight for the sun.

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