lokifan

princessofgeeks recently posted in bewilderment that Rings of Power doesn’t use almost any of Tolkein’s story, even the things they have the rights to. I must admit I don’t know anything about it - I’ve read very little Tolkein - but it reminded me of my enormous ????? around the Dirk Gently TV programme from a couple of years ago.

I just really don’t get why they even used the name? The book and TV programme are completely different. Only one character, Dirk himself, even has the same name, and he’s nothing like his book incarnation - he’s now a young, posh, handsome Englishman-in-America with superpowers. Nothing like the book Dirk, who I admit I remember vaguely but indelibly - he’s vague, a bit shambling, generally in a crumpled hat, and arguably psychic but in a 'does fortune telling' way not a 'weird government agency backstory' way. I’ve wondered if Derk from Dark Lord of Derkholm has some of Dirk in his DNA, actually.

None of the other book characters are there; at first I was expecting Todd, the ordinary guy caught up in Dirk’s whirlwind, to be a Richard analogue, but no.

The plot doesn’t have the slightest resemblance to the book; the concept of a ‘holistic detective agency’ is all that links them, and some time-travel. They’re definitely both weird, but it’s a totally different kind of weirdness. The amount of blood and death and torture! I was shocked. Not from the violence in and of itself but because it’s worlds away from the ambling whimsy of the book. I mean, a central mystery of the book is how a sofa jammed halfway up some stairs got there, and how it can be got out, when both seem physically impossible. Then there’s somehow a horse in a bathroom. In the TV show the mysteries are like ‘who tortured these people to death?’

I did end up watching the first season and some of the second; it’s not bad! But I’m still baffled by why it has that name attached. Like, I don’t think Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency has that much name recognition in the US (it was made by BBC America) so why bother trying to get that fanbase? You could’ve edited the stuff that’s copyrighted out, it wouldn’t take much. I dunno, I’m sure whoever wrote/made it was a fan of the book and Douglas Adams, but it’s just so different that I feel like other people like me, who saw the name and did start watching out of name recognition, were probably also like “oh my god NO was not prepared!” I don’t think I would’ve kept watching that first episode if I wasn’t watching with C. I love horror and I enjoy a lot of stuff with that level of violence but Dirk Gently meant I was expecting something totally different. I did keep watching (partly out of morbid curiosity re: would anything from the book appear) so I guess they got me??? But idk. The basic premise, the characters, and most especially the tone are all gone so what’s the point?

Would love to hear any of your theories, I’m genuinely baffled!