...and cast details revealed

Stephen Mangan is to play Douglas Adams's ‘holistic detective’ Dirk Gently on screen, the BBC has announced.

Darren Boyd – who co-starred with Mangan in Channel 4’s Green Wing – will play Gently’s sidekick Richard Macduff in the new BBC Four adaptation.

Filming began in Bristol this week on the hour-long one-off, which will also star Cold Feet’s Helen Baxendale as Richard's girlfriend Susan

Mangan said: ‘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.’

Ed Victor, Douglas Adams' agent, added: ‘For all the years I represented the late, great Douglas Adams, the most substantial frustration for both of us was that we couldn't get films made either of Hitchhiker or Dirk.

‘Douglas once said, memorably, that “getting a film made in Hollywood was like trying to cook a steak by having a bunch of people come into the room and breathe on it”! Well, we did eventually get a film made in Hollywood of Hitchhiker and, tragically, Douglas didn't live to see it. Nor will he see this adaptation of Dirk – but it's worth bearing in mind that Douglas always thought Dirk would make a better film than Hitchhiker and I feel sure that this new TV drama will prove his point!’

Bafta-winning writer Howard Overman, whose credits include Misfits and Merlin, is producing the script. The comedy-drama will air late next year or early in 2011.

Adams' fantasy detective novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and its follow-up The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul have previously been adapted for Radio 4 with Harry Enfield playing Dirk Gentl

Chortle first broke the news that the BBC Four show was in the works in November last year.

Published: 5 Oct 2010