Ed Byrne joins Hitchhikers' Guide

As do Lenny Henry and Jim Broadbent

Ed Byrne has joined the cast of the new Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy series.

The comic will play Hillman Hunter, an Irish property developer from Earth who was tricked by Zaphod Beeblebrox into moving to a new planet.

He is described as ‘a stereotype Paddy from a bygone era’  using phrases such as ‘Bejaysus’ who we first meet seeking applicants to be god for the planet.

Hunter was created by author Eoin Colfer when he picked up creator Douglas Adams’s mantle for the sixth novel in the Hitchhikers series, And Another Thing in 2009.

He is a major character in the book, which Radio 4 is adapting to mark the 40th anniversary of the landmark comedy series’ first ever broadcast.

The new episodes feature most of the original radio cast, and more details were revealed at the MCM London Comic Con this weekend.

Also joining the team is Lenny Henry, playing a character called The Consultant, and Jim Broadbent who will be playing Marvin The Paranoid Android.

That role was originally played by Steven Moore, who has since retired. But Broadbent was in the original Hitchhikers show as the philosopher Vroomfondel long before finding hame in the likes of Game Of Thrones, Harry Potter and Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Returning are Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Simon Jones, Mark Wing Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox and  Sandra Dickinson as Trillian, the role she played on the TV version, taking over from  Susan Sheridan who played her on radio.

And, as previously announced, Jane Horrocks will be playing Fenchurch, Dent’s soul-mate.

A clip from the new Hexagonal Phase episodes was played to fans at the convention: