Dirk Gently lives again in a brand new TV series that's just landed on Netflix UK – but fans of the Douglas Adams novels will know this isn't the first time they've been adapted for the screen.

Samuel Barnett is our lead in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. He plays Dirk, a madcap and rather unorthodox detective who teams with unwilling sidekick Todd (Elijah Wood) for a series of mind-bending adventures.

Barnett's following in the footsteps of Stephen Mangan – who previously portrayed the character in a BBC Four series – and is a big fan of his predecessor.

BBC

"I thought he was brilliant," Barnett told Digital Spy. "But we are doing it slightly differently – so I'm excited, and nervous, for people to see this version."

Executive producer Arvind Ethan David revealed that there were even plans to have Mangan cameo in the new Dirk Gently – but it never happened.

"We actually talked about it for this season, and dates didn't work out, but he was so game and we were so game.

"Stephen's a friend, so I felt particularly weird about doing Dirk – it's the one part he's always said that he'd wished had gone on, 'cause he loved the character so much. We'll figure out something."

Bettina Strauss/BBCA

Barnett joked: "In a way, I'm a little bit relieved it didn't work out, because I would've felt so daunted playing my Dirk [opposite him] – even if he was playing someone else!"

Penny Dreadful actor Barnett told us he was "incredibly" nervous about tackling Dirk in the first place, owing to the legions of fans who adore Douglas Adams's original books.

"I knew how popular the books were, so I did feel that responsibility. But I was so thrilled when I read the scripts, because It's not a new Dirk. Yes, we go into new adventures and new worlds with him, but he is the same character from the books.

"You can tell he's so strongly written in the source material by Douglas, because every single adaptation that I've seen of it – from the radio shows [starring Harry Enfield as Gently], to the comics, to the BBC Four version – Dirk is the same Dirk.

Bettina Strauss/BBCA

"It's rare to play something where there have been so many other versions. It's great, actually, because you can pick and choose – and I'm not proud! Honestly, there's stuff in both Harry Enfield's and Stephen Mangan's versions that I loved and thought, 'If I can work that in, I will!'."

The reason why Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is inspired by, rather than a direction adaptation of, the source material? EP David suggests that while Adams's novels have many strengths, plot is not particularly one of them.

"Here's what the books give us – they give us a really unique tone and they give us really big ideas. Each of the novels plays with the nature of time, the nature of causation, interconnectedness, fate...

Bettina Strauss/BBCA

"...And they give us Dirk himself, who I think is truly an inspired British creation in the tradition of Sherlock or Doctor Who – characters who can be played by multiple actors, but has an essence that is so true and is so unique, so that was what we wanted to keep.

"We were always clear that we were going to be inspired by all the things that were great about the books, be really true to the character and the tone, but take him on new adventures."

And there's more new adventures to come, with a second series of 10 episodes now in the works for 2017.

"We've had three or four big conversations about season two but given where we are in the year, we won't start writing until January," David explains. "Which means we'd better write fast!"

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is now available to stream on Netflix.

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