The BBC has adapted Douglas Adams' novel Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency into a 6-part audio drama series to air on BBC Radio 4. The first episode aired last week, and the second episode airs next week, October 10. (Thanks, to Slashdot for the tip.) It's got several big name voices including Billy Boyd (he played a hobbit in LOTR).

If you live in America like me, you can listen to the series on the BBC website. Unfortunately, you have to have the Real player, and it is streaming, so no putting it on your iPod. Hopefully after the series finishes they'll sell an online download or put it on CD. Each episode is only 30 minutes long. You could easily listen to it while doing homework or surfing the web.

The BBC website for the series is excellent. I'm convinced the BBC and USA Network create the best web pages for their shows. If you're interested in the behind-the-scenes of non-mainstream (at least non-mainstream in America) media, you'll want to check out the Production Diary.

Apart from any artistic criticism you have on the episode, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about Adams' fiction from a Christian perspective. Despite being a humorous writer (one of the funniest I've ever read), Adams has a talent for infusing his work with deep, meaningful questions about life. His conclusions definitely come from a secular worldview. How does this effect how you view his work?

According to the production company, Dirk Gently will be available as a 3-disc audio CD and download including nearly an hour's worth of exclusive extra material on November 8.