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Arthur Dent's house is demolished
Arthur Dent wakes up with a hangover. He remembers being very angry about something last night but can't remember what it was. He eventually remembers that his house is scheduled to be demolished and rushes out to confront the workers. Arthur's friend Ford Prefect arrives and convinces Arthur to accompany him to a pub. Not long after this Arthur's house is predictably destroyed. -
Earth is destroyed
Ford shows little interest in the fact that Arthur's house has been destroyed. Suddenly, a massive fleet of Vogon ships arrive, and broadcast to Earth that it is scheduled for demolition. Ford manages to catch a lift from the Dentrassi cooks working aboard one of the Vogon ships just before the planet is destroyed. Arthur, who is in quite a state of shock, is brought along. -
Zaphod Beeblebrox steals the Heart of Gold
Five hundred thousand light-years away, Zaphod Beeblebrox, the figurehead president of the galaxy, is attending the unveiling of a ship powered by an exceptional new form of propulsion, the Infinite Improbability Drive. To the shock of much of the galaxy, he proceeds to steal the ship. -
Arthur and Ford are read Vogon poetry and thrown out of the airlock
Arthur and Ford are discovered by the Vogons and brought to the captain. He proceeds to read them some of his poetry (Vogon poetry is the third worst in the Universe). He gives them a choice: either die or tell him what they thought of his poetry. Arthur makes a valiant attempt at analyzing his poetry, but fails miserably. The captain, unimpressed, decides to have them thrown out of the ship anyway. -
Arthur and Ford are picked up by the Heart of Gold
With just one second of air left in their lungs, Ford and Arthur are picked up by the Heart of Gold. After a series of extremely improbable and surreal events, probability stabilizes and Marvin, an extremely intelligent and equally depressed robot, is sent to bring them to the bridge. Once there, it is revealed that both Ford and Arthur had met Zaphod before, though the circumstances were quite different, and that Trillian, Zaphod's companion, was also from Earth and knew Arthur. -
The Heart of Gold arrives at Magrathea
The ship arrives at what Zaphod claims is the legendary planet of Magrathea. Ford is extremely skeptical, despite the ship's confirmation of Zaphod's claim. Upon approaching the planet, a series of automated warnings go unheeded. The last transmission very politely informs them that they are about to be destroyed by guided nuclear missiles. -
The group explores Magrathea
Arthur and Marvin remain on the surface while the rest of the group enters the interior through the recently created sperm whale crater. Arthur meets Slartibartfast, who convinces him to accompany him. The rest of the group is incapacitated by some form of poisonous gas. -
The Heart of Gold narrowly avoids the planetary defense missiles.
Arthur saves the ship by activating the Infinite Improbability Drive. The missiles end up as a bowl of petunias and an unfortunate sperm whale. The ship's interior receives some interesting aesthetic alterations, Trillian's pet mice escape from their now broken cage, and an unspecified individual bruises their upper arm. Arthur receives some very short lived praise from Zaphod, and the group continues to Magrathea. -
Arthur learns about the true nature of Earth and meets the mice
Slartibartfast explains to Arthur that Earth was actually an organic computer commissioned and paid for by mice. He also learns that mice are actually hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings that had been experimenting on, directing, and observing humanity for nearly ten millennia. Because Arthur is the last remaining trace of Earth, which was destroyed just five minutes before its ten million year program would have been completed, the mice are quite intent on removing and studying his brain. -
Arthur and the rest of the group escape Magrathea
The fortuitous arrival of police forces following Zaphod distracts Magrathean security forces enough for the group to escape. They are yet again saved when the policemen drop dead of asphyxiation because their life support systems failed. Upon arriving at their ship, they learn that Marvin had plugged himself into the police ship's computer and explained to it his views on the Universe, which caused it to commit suicide. The group then heads for the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
