The first ever BBC RADIO 4 incarnation of the "other" great creation by DOUGLAS ADAMS, the enigmatic DIRK GENTLY, will be produced in the first of three series by the award-winning team behind the epic conclusion to THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.

Through an unshakeable belief in the interconnectedness of all things, Dirk Gently has established a Holistic Detective Agency. Its chief success seems to lie in tracking down missing cats for elderly ladies. But despite his strenuous denials, rumours of Dirk's psychic abilities have a bizarre tendency to come true. So when Dirk stumbles upon an old friend behaving in a very bizarre manner, he is drawn into a four billion-year old puzzle that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction.

This series of six half-hours features a stellar cast with HARRY ENFIELD as the eponymous Holistic Detective, BILLY BOYD (The Lord Of The Rings) as his client Richard Macduff, OLIVIA COLMAN (Peepshow) as his secretary Janice Pearce, JIM CARTER (The Golden Compass) as his nemesis DS Gilks, ANDREW SACHS (Fawlty Towers) as Professor Reg Chronotis, FELICITY MONTAGU (I'm Alan Partridge) as Susan Way, ROBERT DUNCAN (Drop The Dead Donkey) as her brother Gordon, TOBY LONGWORTH (Star Wars) as the Electric Monk and MICHAEL FENTON STEVENS (Nighty Night) as Michael Wenton Weakes. Making guest appearances are ANDREW SECOMBE (Star Wars), JON GLOVER (Harry Enfield & Chums), JEFFREY HOLLAND (You Rang M'Lud), WAYNE FORESTER (Captain Scarlet) and TAMSIN HEATLEY (Broken Sword).

Considered by many to be as funny, if darker, than Hitchhikers, the Dirk Gently novels are as much about Douglas Adams' uniquely funny views on consciousness, conservation and our place in the cosmos as they are about crime. The first series explores everything from quantum physics to missing cats, via Coleridge, Bach, and an Electric Monk.

The cast features many old friends and colleagues of Douglas Adams, including the series music composer PHILIP POPE. The production team, from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases, is led by Executive Producer HELEN CHATTWELL, Producer JO WHEELER and Douglas Adams' own choice to pick up the Producer/Director reins of The Hitchhikers Guide, DIRK MAGGS.