'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Live' review — enter Douglas Adams's world with a new immersive voyage

Read our review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Live, now in performances at Riverside Studios to 15 February 2026.

Summary

• The beloved sci-fi novel by Douglas Adams gets a new immersive staging at Riverside Studios
• The story begins with Ford Prefect throwing his friend Arthur Dent a surprise farewell party
• There is also a romance between Arthur and Fenchurch
• Other highlights include a puppet Marvin the Paranoid Android

I can’t say I’m a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy mega-fan like some: I read the books, like everyone else, and enjoyed them during my school days. But even those who arrive clutching towels and wearing dressing gowns in honour of Arthur Dent seem underwhelmed by this new immersive adaptation of Douglas Adams’s sci-fi odyssey. Drawing on elements from across the series, this production, created by Arvind Ethan Davis (apparently a former mentee of Adams) and Jason Ardizzone-West ends up feeling like an untidy jumble of ideas and storylines.

It begins much like all immersive theatre seems to: in a pub, complete with themed cocktails to start the night. Ford Prefect (Oliver Britten) is throwing his friend, the sweet and somewhat hopeless Arthur Dent (Benjamin Durham), a surprise farewell party. The twist is that Arthur has actually turned up for a date with Fenchurch (Kat Johns-Burke), a character who first appears in the fourth book So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

There is a karaoke battle and a slideshow celebrating Arthur and Ford’s friendship through the years. Before long, though, the celebrations are cut short by the arrival of the Vogons, aliens who intend to blow up Earth in order to build a galactic bypass. Add some basic audience interaction (such as “They’re horrible, aren’t they?”) and suddenly we are abandoning our barstools and setting off to hitchhike across the galaxy.

We are told to move from room to room, accompanied by repeated reminders not to “panic”, (although no one seems in danger of doing so). The geography of the evening is frustratingly vague. I have to ask the actors several times just to work out where we are supposed to be. And yes, time and space might behave differently on other planets, but the audience still needs something concrete to hold onto.

That is because the narrative is full of titbits yet lacks real meat. The night is supposedly shaped around a love story between Arthur and Fenchurch, but there is little spark between them. When we meet Arthur on the fringes of later rooms, he seems consumed by the idea of finding her, but he is nowhere near the centre of this story. Co-directed by Georgia Clarke, Simon Evans and David Frias-Robles, it is tonally confused as well. There is singing and dancing, and even a Brief Encounter-style scene. Everyone constantly talks over each other.

The “immersive” staging is done pretty standardly. Riverside Studios has been split up into smaller parts; there is a flashy big budget, and, of course, plenty of merch and drinks. We also get a totally endearing puppet of Marvin the Paranoid Android, controlled by Andrew Evans, who complains in a squeaky, robotic tone as interacts with the audience. Talking to him is the evening’s unquestionable highlight.

Individually, some elements work well. The costumes designed by Susan Kulkarni are genuinely otherworldly, and for Hitchhiker diehards, simply stepping into the decadently decorated universe of the series may be satisfying enough. There is also a cameo from Samira Ahmed as a newsreader, which is a nice touch. But given the numerous successful adaptations of Hitchhiker’s, on radio, in novels, on TV, film and theatre, this latest incarnation just doesn’t feel out of this world.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Live is at Riverside Studios to 15 February 2026. Book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Live tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Live (Photos by Jason Ardizzone-West)