Dirk Maggs is a freelance writer and director working across all media. He is principally known for his work in radio, where he evolved Radio Drama into 'Audio Movies', a near-visual approach combining scripts, layered sound effects, cinematic music and cutting edge technology (he pioneered the use of Dolby Surround in BBC Radio). He was among the first ever nominees for the Directors Guild of Great Britain Outstanding Achievement in Radio Award, and in 2005 was invited to become one of the first Honorary Fellows of the University of Winchester for his work in the dramatic arts. The Directors Guild of Great Britain is an organisation set up in London to represent directors in all media: film, television, theatre, radio, opera, commercials, corporate, multimedia and new technology. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Winchester is a university in Winchester in the United Kingdom. ...

From 2003 to 2005, Maggs produced new episodes of Douglas Adams's science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, adapted from the novels based on the original radio series that Adams wrote. The books that Maggs adapted were written after the radio series ended its original run. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. ... The cover of the first novel in the Hitchhikers series, from a late 1990s printing. ...

Dirk has directed many leading actors in often award-winning productions, including Rowan Atkinson, Leslie Nielsen, Christian Slater, Stephen Fry, Jonathan Pryce, Robbie Williams, Hugh Laurie, Juliet Stevenson, Jim Broadbent, Patricia Hodge, Alison Steadman, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan.

He recently co-founded Perfectly Normal Productions Ltd (PNP), with Paul Weir and Richard Adams to create compelling high quality popular audio drama in serialised form for delivery to personal digital players and cell phones. Paul Weir is a composer, sound designer and director with almost ten years experience working in games as well as other media. ... Richard Adams (ca. ...

Maggs is scheduled to appear at Eastercon LX, the 60th British National Science Fiction Convention, in 2009. Eastercon is the common name for the British National Science Fiction Convention, which since the 1960s has been held over the four-day Easter holiday weekend although the traditional numbering of the conventions goes back to 1948, when the national convention was held over the three-day Whitsun bank holiday...

Biography

Adapted from the h2g2 website entry for Dirk: H2G2 is also an acronym for the The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. ...

One of the plans for the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series is that it would sound like a rock album. It was the intention that it would feature lots of music and various sound-processing techniques during the course of telling the story. All this was decided before Douglas Adams actually got around to putting pen to paper and writing the thing. The cover of the first novel in the Hitchhikers series, from a late 1990s printing. ... Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. ...

Dirk Maggs has a similar vision. Though he has produced many radio shows, he specialises in the creation of 'audio movies'. He aims to create radio with the sense of impact and atmosphere available on the big screen. An ambition that has not gone unrewarded, or unawarded for that matter.

These visions are clearly compatible. They must be, as Dirk was Douglas's preferred choice for the job of adapting, producing and directing the last three series concluding The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The programmes (via Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4) feature much of the original cast from the first two radio series. The first of these new series, adapted from the novel Life, the Universe and Everything, was The Tertiary Phase, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004, and the latter was a double series adaptation of the final two novels, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless, The Quandary Phase and The Quintessential Phase, broadcast back-to-back in 2005. The cover of the first novel in the Hitchhikers series, from a late 1990s printing. ... Above the Title Productions is a London, UK based radio production company, specializing in producing a variety of radio shows, most of which debut on BBC Radio. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... Life, the Universe and Everything (1982, ISBN 0-345-39182-9) is the third book in the five-volume Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy science fiction series by Douglas Adams. ... The terms Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase describe the radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless recorded in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4. ... So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984, ISBN 0-345-39183-7) is the fourth book of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. ... The front cover of the US first hardcover edition of Mostly Harmless. ... The terms Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase describe the radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless recorded in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4. ... The terms Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase describe the radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless recorded in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Comedy productions

As well as producing episodes of standard radio comedy series such as The News Huddlines, It's Been a Bad Week, and The Russ Abbot Show, Dirk has also been involved in some more unusual comedy projects. The News Huddlines was a long-running BBC Radio 2 half hour comedy show, consisting of sketches, songs and one-liners. ... It’s Been a Bad Week is a British radio comedy on BBC Radio 2, that started in February 11th 1999. ...

Between 1990 and 1992 he produced three series of Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, an updated version of the original Marx Brothers radio shows. The actors were specifically chosen for their ability to impersonate the Marx Brothers, so that an accurate recreation could be achieved. One of the episodes won the Gold Medal at the New York International Festival. Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel was a short lived radio situation comedy in the 1930s starring the Marx Brothers, Groucho and Chico. ... Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Frenchy (father), Chico and Harpo. ...

A similar effort needed to be undertaken for Goon Again in 2001. Produced for the 50th anniversary of The Goon Show, and with the blessing of Spike Milligan, it was a project Dirk had been planning since he recorded At Last The Go On Show, a documentary for the 40th anniversary of the Goons. Early on, Dirk realised that Goon Again would not work without Sir Harry Secombe's very distinctive voice. But Sir Harry declined to take part due to his failing health. Fortunately, his son Andrew Secombe was willing give it a go, and so the cast was arranged around him, with the sons of several other cast members getting involved too, creating, in the words of Dirk, 'a genetically-engineered tribute band' to the Goons. The show won the 2002 Best Comedy Award from the Spoken Word Producers Association (now the Audio Publisher's Association). The Goon Show was a popular and influential British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1951 to 1960 on the BBC Home Service. ... Terence Alan Milligan, KBE, (16 April 1918–27 February 2002), known as Spike Milligan, was an Irish writer, artist, musician, humanitarian, comedian, and poet. ... The Goons are a small internet community. ... Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE (8 September 1921–11 April 2001) was a Welsh entertainer, a noted fine tenor singing voice and a talent for comedy. ... Andrew Secombe (born April 26, 1953 in Mumbles Head, South Wales), better known as Andy Secombe, is a British actor, voice actor, and author. ...

Dirk also directed the Johnny Vegas radio series Night Class in 2002. It was a somewhat darker comedy than Dirk's usual output, and therefore shows the range and the variety of comedy material that he is able to handle. This show won the Bronze award in the Comedy category of the 2003 Sony Radio Academy Awards. Johnny Vegas (real name Michael Joseph Pennington) born on September 11, 1971, is an English comedian from the Merseyside town of St. ... The Sony Radio Academy Awards (the Sonys), started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. ...

Science Fiction productions

Early in his career Dirk became known for directing adaptations of comic book storylines. He started in 1988 with the 50th Anniversary Man Of Steel docudrama Superman on Trial, carried on with a fiftieth birthday tribute to the Dark Knight: Batman - The Lazarus Syndrome. This was followed by The Adventures Of Superman, Batman: Knightfall, The Amazing Spider-Man and his final BBC Radio superhero series, Judge Dredd in 1995. Along the way his production of Superman - Doomsday and Beyond ("Superman Lives" in the USA) won the 1994 Audie Award for Best Dramatisation from the American Booksellers Association and Spoken Word Audio of The Year from the US Publisher's Weekly. In 2005 Time Warner audiobooks re-released Dirk's Batman: Knightfall and Superman Lives in the USA, prompting a UK re-release by BBC Audiobooks. Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a DC Comics fictional superhero who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. ... For the 1995 film, see Judge Dredd (film). ... The American Booksellers Association is a non-profit industry association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores. ... Publishers Weekly is a weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. ...

For many radio listeners, Dirk's comic adaptations oozed the atmosphere and fun of the original comics in a way that the movies and other audio productions completely failed to do.

In 1996, Dirk was contacted by 20th Century Fox and asked to create a British-based 'parallel-quel' to their summer science fiction blockbuster Independence Day. The resulting programme, Independence Day UK, took place in the same world, and at the same time as the film, but showed a British perspective on the alien invasion. This also won the 1996 Talkie Award for Best Production. The next year, with the blessing of its creator, John Landis, Dirk produced and directed his own adaptation of An American Werewolf in London for BBC Radio One. For this he won the 1997 Talkie Award for Best TV/Film Adaptation. John Landis (born August 3, 1950 in Chicago) is an American movie actor, director, writer, and producer. ... An American Werewolf in London is a comedy/horror film released in 1981, written and directed by John Landis. ... BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at a young audience (children, teenagers and young adults). ...

In 1999 he produced a five-part adaptation of Stephen Baxter's alternative history novel Voyage. The premise is simple. When Apollo 11 reached the moon, JFK (having survived that day in Dallas) set a new target for the space programme: Mars. Voyage is the story of a space-race that never was, but so easily might have been. Dirk's adaptation was presented on BBC Radio 4, and received 1999 Talkie Award for Best Use of Music as well as the 2000 Sony Radio Academy Bronze Award for Best Drama. Stephen Baxter at the Science-Fiction-Tage NRW in Dortmund, Germany, March 1997 Stephen Baxter (born in Liverpool, 13 November 1957) is a British hard science fiction author. ... Voyage is a 1996 hard science fiction novel by British author Stephen Baxter. ... Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

Other productions

Dirk has not worked exclusively in the comedy or science fiction genres, however. He has directed adaptations of several Agatha Christie short stories for Radio Four, and a remake of Bill Naughton's Alfie for the BBC World Service. William John Francis Naughton, or Bill Naughton (Ballyhaunis, June 12, 1910 - Ballasalla, January 9, 1992) was a British playwright and author, best known for his play Alfie. ... Alfie is a 1966 film starring Michael Caine. ... The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 33 languages to many parts of the world. ...

Neither is his work to be found solely on the radio. He has directed the sound mixing on three short 3D films that are played in motion simulator capsules. Dirk has also worked on audiotape adaptations of Terry Deary's Horrible Histories books and is audio director for the Animated Mr Bean television series, which means that everything heard in the show has gone through Dirk's hands at some point. Terry Deary (born 3 January 1946, Sunderland) is a childrens author now living in Burnhope, County Durham, England. ... Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated books published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic. ...

For the feature-length computer animated version of The Magic Roundabout, Dirk voice-directed principal character sessons with such luminaries as Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone and Joanna Lumley. Robbie Williams (born Robert Peter Williams on February 13, 1974 in Stoke-on-Trent) is a Grammy Award-nominated, 15 time BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter. ... Kylie Ann Minogue (born May 28, 1968) is a Grammy and ARIA Award winning Australian dance-pop singer-songwriter and occasional actress. ... James Broadbent (born May 24, 1949) is an Academy Award-winning English theatre, film and television actor. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Joanna Lumley and David McCallum as Sapphire & Steel. ...

Dirk's influence has spread to computer games. He is credited as Voice Director on the highly acclaimed adventure game Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon featuring Rolf Saxon and Sarah Crook. The first play area in The Shadow of The Templars Broken Sword is an adventure game series created by game designer Charles Cecil of Revolution Software. ... Rolf Saxon is an American actor. ...

Looking ahead

In late 2005 Dirk is setting up a production company to create compelling high quality popular audio drama in serialised form for delivery to personal digital players and cell phones. Following introductions by Robbie Stamp, Douglas Adams's business partner (and Executive Producer of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)), Paul Weir (highly experienced in musical composition, sound design and software development) and Richard Adams (an expert consultant on interactive media) joined forces with Dirk. Their stated intent is to launch a website dedicated to excellence in audio entertainment, Perfectly Normal Productions (the name is a gentle tribute to Douglas Adams). The plan is to produce and distribute innovative and exciting audio productions direct to "the many people who demand something more exciting from their earbuds". 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robbie Stamp was born in 1960 and had his career in producing television documentaries when he met Douglas Adams, with whom he formed a great friendship. ... Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. ... The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. ... Paul Weir is a composer, sound designer and director with almost ten years experience working in games as well as other media. ...

In other areas Dirk is said to be attempting to write a novel for children based on his 1998 BBC Radio 4 'Audio Movie', The Gemini Apes. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

Dirk is lined up to be a guest at LX, the 2009 Eastercon. Eastercon is the common name for the British National Science Fiction Convention, which since the 1960s has been held over the four-day Easter holiday weekend although the traditional numbering of the conventions goes back to 1948, when the national convention was held over the three-day Whitsun bank holiday...

Alphabetical list of Dirk Maggs radio productions

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• At Last The Go On Show (documentary about The Goon Show)
• Agatha Christie's Hound of Death
• An American Werewolf in London
• Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution
• Agatha Christie's The Gates of Baghdad
• Agatha Christie's The £199 Adventure
• Agatha Christie's The Gypsy
• Agatha Christie's The Last Seance
• Alfie Elkins and his Little Life
• All Fingers and Thumbs
• Bunn & Co
• Bunn & Co II
• Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome
• Batman: Knightfall
• Ben-Hur
• Beginnings - Millennium Soundscape
• Carrott's Comedy Choice - Series 2
• Death Rides The Airwaves
• Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel - Series 1 - 3
• Goon Again - 50th Anniversary Goon Show
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Series 3 - 5
• Independence Day UK
• Inside Sasha
• Ivan The Cobbler
• Independence Day UK
• It's Been A Bad Week - Series 1 - 4
• Judge Dredd
• Jessica Martin - One Woman Show
• June Whitfield - One Woman Show
• Jesus - The Gospel of St. Luke
• Loose Ends
• Lean on Me
• Love 40 New Balls Please - Series 1 - 3
• Man of Soup - Series 1 - 2
• Miss Morison's Ghosts
• Nobblers
• Night Class
• Peter Pan
• Ringing The Changes - Millennium
• Superman - Doomsday & Beyond
• Superman On Trial
• Adventures of Superman - Series 1 - 2
• Truly, Madly, Bletchley - Series 1
• The Jasper Carrott Trial - Series 1, Series 2
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• The Long Hot Satsuma
• The News Huddlines - Series 25 - 30
• The Press Gang
• The Russ Abbot Show - Series 1 - 3
• The Announcers Challenge II
• The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm
• The Russ Abbott Show - Series 2002
• The Night Listener
• The Gemini Apes
• Tim Merryman's Days of Clover
• Tim Merryman's Days of Clover series
• Voyage
• Wow Fab Groovy - Series 1
• Why Centennial

The Goon Show was a popular and influential British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1951 to 1960 on the BBC Home Service. ... An American Werewolf in London is a comedy/horror film released in 1981, written and directed by John Landis. ... Ben-Hur is the fictional story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Judean aristocrat who, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus, is enslaved through the betrayal of his Roman friend Messala. ... The terms Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase describe the radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless recorded in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4. ... Independence Day UK is a one-hour BBC Radio 1 science fiction special, first broadcast on August 4, 1996. ... Independence Day UK is a one-hour BBC Radio 1 science fiction special, first broadcast on August 4, 1996. ... It’s Been a Bad Week is a British radio comedy on BBC Radio 2, that started in February 11th 1999. ... For the 1995 film, see Judge Dredd (film). ... Loose Ends is a British radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. ... Statue of Peter Pan in St. ... Truly, Madly, Bletchley was a BBC Radio 4 comedy series from 1994 produced by Dirk Maggs. ... The Amazing Spider-Man is the title of a comic book published by Marvel Comics, a television program and a daily newspaper comic strip. ... The Long Hot Satsuma is a radio comedy sketch show from 1989 featuring Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer, Alison Steadman, Paul B. Davies and Julia Hills. ... The News Huddlines was a long-running BBC Radio 2 half hour comedy show, consisting of sketches, songs and one-liners. ... The Night Listener is a roman à clef novel by Armistead Maupin, about his experience with Anthony Godby Johnson. ... The word Voyage may mean: The PC Game Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne The Musical Group Voyage - Disco Group ...

External links

• Transcript of a webchat with Dirk Maggs on June 16, 2005
• Unofficial Dirk Maggs Website
• An interview with Dirk Maggs
• Director profile of Hitchhikers Guide
• Perfectly Normal Productions
• An interview with Dirk Maggs from www.sci-fi-online.com
• Review of Batman: Knightfall on CD at www.sci-fi-online.com
• Review of Superman: Doomsday & Beyond on CD at www.sci-fi-online.com