Radio Drama Analysis Part 2: Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy

The drama begins with very jolly, upbeat music. Next, we get a narration by a man not yet identified to us. His pitch and tone are very low, and his rhythm is quite slow, suggesting authority. Meanwhile, strange futuristic sound effects are present in the background. The first main character has a very unique voice. His tone and pitch are quite high, and he speaks with a certain distinct rhythm. This piece is much more upbeat and comedic than war of the worlds, suggesting that the genre is comedy. The background noises whilst in the pub, for example, cleverly replicate that of a real-life social situation such as this. When the female character speaks for the first time, she speaks with very formal, received pronunciation. She appears to be very subjective here, referring to the townspeople in a very indirect manner. The sound effects are very futuristic. The spaceships for example, firing down upon earth. These noises have clearly been added for realism. The Vogon aboard the spaceship's voice is quite low, and incorporates further futuristic sound effects. The characters throughout the drama have accents which are more light-hearte, differing from those used in war of the worlds, which were very serious, adding a sense of comedy and happiness to the piece. There were several differences between War of the worlds and this piece. War of the Worlds was supposedly meant be be very realistic drama, showing the end of the world in a dramatic way. Opposed to this, this piece is quite clearly a comedy. The Jolly music which began the piece ends it.