Immersive experience coming to London

Tickets have gone on sale for The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy live show priced – of course – from £42.

It has also been confirmed that the show will be at least a partially interactive experience. The blurb reads: ‘The night begins in a rather unusual pub as you settle in, drink in hand, for an evening of storytelling and spectacle. From there, the story lifts off – quite literally – as you hitch a ride on a passing spaceship, discover the meaning of life, and join a quest to persuade a group of inter-dimensional mice to give the Earth a second chance.

And the FAQ section of the website adds: ’In some sections of the show, you might be comfortably seated, enjoying a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster whilst the action unfolds before you, in other bits, you could be grabbing your towel and trying to use it to fend off poetry-speaking Vogons…  the degree of interaction is entirely up to you.’

The show’s creators – whose credits include Monopoly Lifesized and the Traitors and Taskmaster live experiences – explain that two of London’s Riverside Studios performance spaces, its bar and its connecting corridors will be transformed into ‘Douglas Adams’ improbable and wondrous universe’.

Rhys Williamson, head of programming at the Hammersmith venue, said:  ‘This production is set to use the building in ways no show has ever done before – creating a truly out-of-this-world experience for audiences. 

‘As a venue with deep sci-fi roots [it was where series two to four of the original Doctor Who was made] Riverside feels like the perfect venue to premiere this immersive adventure, before it takes over the galaxy.’

Co-director Simon ​Evans added: ‘My introduction to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a (slightly battered) cassette of the radio version, which I borrowed from my school library and listened to on an old Walkman.

‘I remember hearing the voice of the Guide, then The Eagles’ Journey Of The Sorcerer, and I was hooked. From an immersive perspective, it is such an incredible world to build and pull an audience into: strange and expansive, silly and moving, filled with unique characters and tackling things which are still very much relevant today with a quintessentially British sense of humour.’

Evans recently directed Inside No 9: Stage/Fright and was behind the lockdown TV comedy Staged, starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.

The Hitchhiker’s show has been created by Arvind Ethan David who became  a protégé of Adams after the author watched a version of his novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency that David had adapted into a play when still a student. David went on to produce the BBC America TV series based on the character.

No casting has yet been announced for the live experience, which  draws on Adams’ novels and also the 2005 film adaptation which starred Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent.

The 90-minute show runs from November 15 to February 15 and tickets are available here.

Published: 26 Jun 2025