Douglas Adams was the author of the bestselling novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and its four bestselling sequels: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; The Universe and Everything; So Long, And Thanks for all the Fish and Mostly Harmless. He also wrote the award-winning TV series, the bestselling and BAFTA winning computer game, and the critically acclaimed and hugely popular radio series.

He also wrote numerous screenplays of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the final one of which formed the basis for the script of the new movie.

Born in Cambridge in 1952, Adams studied English Literature at St John's College, Cambridge but devoted most of this time as an undergraduate to the famous Footlights Comedy Society where so many great British comic talents have been honed. After graduation, he collaborated briefly with the Monty Python comedy team, wrote scripts for the BBC's long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who and worked as a radio producer before the runaway success of The Hitchhiker's Guide changed his life forever.

Douglas Adams suffered a fatal heart attack in a Californian gym in 2001, aged only 49. One year later, a collection of rare and unpublished material, including magazine articles and short stories was published as The Salmon of Doubt and shortly afterwards the feature film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - something which Adams had been working on for more than twenty years - finally got the green-light.