The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (in-universe)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a series of work quoted and referenced several times by the Doctor who cast included the character of Arthur Dent.

Minor references

 * The Doctor once, asked, rhetorically, who had said that "Earthmen rarely invite their ancestors to dinner", which comes from the series. (DW: Ghost Light)


 * The Doctor once compared himself to Arthur Dent after saving the Earth from invasion in a dressing gown (Dent's trademark dress), and after being awoken from his post-regenerative coma by tea, the character's favourite drink. (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
 * Sophie Aldred mentions the "Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster" on the DVD commentary for Remembrance of the Daleks (episode 1).

Behind the Scenes

 * Douglas Adams, the writer of the radio show-turned-book turned book series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy wrote a number of Doctor Who serials as well as being a Script Editor of the series during Season 17 of ther series. Consequently, lines from Hitchhiker's Guide found their way into The Pirate Planet and a reference to the Hitchiker's guide character Oolon Coluphid gets a mention in Destiny of the Daleks, which Adams script-edited.


 * Perhaps by a coincidence, the scene in the third book of the quintilogy (based on the radio script of the same name)Life, the Universe, and Everything, in which Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, materialise in Lord's Cricket Ground, is similar to a similar scene in The Daleks' Master Plan in which the Doctor materialised his TARDIS in the same stadium. The story of Life, the Universe, and Everything was based on a rejected Doctor Who script.


 * A man named Arthur Dent said "This rather odd man was lying down in front of a bulldozer in front of my home." on http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/whoisdoctorwho/sightings.shtml