He will star in the six-part version of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency alongside Andrew Sachs, Felicity Montagu, Robert Duncan and Peep Show’s Olivia Colman
It is due to air in October, and two more series, based on Adams’s sequels The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul and the unfinished Salmon Of Doubt will follow.
To coincide with the first series, a wealth of behind-the-scenes material, including production diaries and video footage, will be posted on the BBC website.
The show is being made by Above The Title, the production team that recently made concluding episodes of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for Radio 4.
Executive producer Helen Chattwell said: ‘It’s a privilege for us to be able to adapt these wonderful books.’
The BBC said the Dirk Gently novels, the first of which Adams called a ‘detective-ghost-horror-whodunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic’ reflect the author’s ‘unique and funny take on matters as wide-ranging as consciousness, conservation, man's place in the cosmos and crime.’
The shows will also be released on BBC Audiobooks.
