Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (BBC America 2016, Samuel Barnett, Elijah Wood)

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is a tour-de-force comedic thriller that follows the bizarre adventures of eccentric ‘holistic’ detective Dirk Gently (a brilliant Samuel Barnett) and his reluctant assistant Todd (Elijah Wood), as they wend their way through one big, seemingly insane mystery a season, crossing unlikely paths with a bevy of wild and sometimes dangerous characters, each episode landing them a few random steps closer to uncovering the truth. The series is an adaptation of Douglas Adams’ (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who) wildly successful comic novels, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and is set in the unexpected world of the hyper, absurd, eponymous detective Dirk Gently.

Season one was about time travel with body-swapping, and season two involved an injection of fantasy. The vast dangers lurking in the fantasy realm navigate a path to Earth, becoming a threat in reality, and it’s up to Dirk (Barnett) and the gang to stop them in their tracks. But first – they need to find each other… Everything and everyone continues to be connected… from the sterile chambers of the government organization Blackwing, to the sleepy town of Bergsberg and the magical land of Wendimoor. After a few misfires, Dirk Gently steadily finds his footing on the new case to ‘find The Boy’, and with the help of his friends, makes the necessary connections to solve the mystery before it’s too late.

Shame it was cancelled after two seasons.

production details
UK – USA / BBC America / 20×42 minutes / 2016

Creator: Max Landis
Characters: Douglas Adams

cast
Samuel Barnett as Dirk Gently
Elijah Wood as Todd Brotzman
Hannah Marks as Amanda Brotzman
Jade Eshete as Farah Black
Fiona Dourif as Bart Curlish
Amanda Walsh as Suzie Boreton
Mpho Koaho as Ken
Dustin Milligan as Sergeant Hugo Friedkin
Tony Amendola as Arnold Cardenas
Izzie Steele as Tina Tevetino
Tyler Labine as Sherlock Hobbs
Agam Darshi as Wakti Wapnasi
John Hannah as Mage
Lee Majdoub as Silas Dengdamor
Christopher Russell as Panto Trost
Osric Chau as Vogel
Michael Eklund as Martin
Viv Leacock as Gripps
Ajay Friese as Farson Dengdamor
Dylan Schombing as The Boy / Francis
Hunter Dillon as Young Arnold
Roger Cross as Eddie Black
Neil Brown Jr. as Detective Estevez
Aaron Douglas as Gordon Rimmer
Miguel Sandoval as Colonel Scott Riggins
David Lewis as Agent Weedle