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Dirk Gently

 Dirk Gently
type
TVTItem
 Dirk Gently
label
Dirk Gently
 Dirk Gently
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DirkGently
 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul are the two books written by Douglas Adams (of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) starring the character Dirk Gently. A third novel under the working title The Salmon of Doubt was in the works, but its publication was prevented by Adams' death.Dirk is a small-scale con artist whose latest scheme is working as a "Holistic Detective", who believes in the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things" and how that means that anything might prove useful in solving the whole cases of his clients — which, the way he sees it, means that he can do anything he likes, even take a three-week tropical vacation, and still charge it to the client as an expense. By Finagle's Law, somehow every mundane little job he starts off working on in each novel is somehow actually connected to the main plot, and he's the one who has to solve everything.Both books were adapted for BBC radio in 2007, starring Harry Enfield as Dirk. A short-lived BBC TV adaptation, Dirk Gently, starred Stephen Mangan. A comic book adaptation published by IDW Publishing was launched in 2015, and a second take at a TV adaptation, entitled Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, began airing in 2016 and lasted for 18 episodes. Interestingly, the books may or may not share a universe with Doctor Who, as Professor Chronotis, a major player in the first book, actually debuted in the unaired Adams-scripted Doctor Who episode Shada.
 Dirk Gently
fetched
2023-06-18T17:59:21Z
 Dirk Gently
parsed
2023-06-18T17:59:21Z
 Dirk Gently
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 Dirk Gently
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Dropped link to dirkgentlysholisticdetectiveagency: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Dirk Gently
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DBTropes
 Dirk Gently / int_294ed981
type
Bilingual Bonus
 Dirk Gently / int_294ed981
comment
Bilingual Bonus: Dirk's real name, Svlad Cjelli, is similar to how "to master whole" (or "to understand whole", or "to solve whole") would be said in some Slavic languages (e.g. "svladati cijelo" in Croatian)
 Dirk Gently / int_294ed981
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 Dirk Gently / int_294ed981
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_294ed981
 Dirk Gently / int_62fd5552
type
Bavarian Fire Drill
 Dirk Gently / int_62fd5552
comment
Bavarian Fire Drill: Dirk's favorite way of getting places he shouldn't be.
 Dirk Gently / int_62fd5552
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 Dirk Gently / int_62fd5552
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_62fd5552
 Dirk Gently / int_641cf81d
type
Viewers Are Geniuses
 Dirk Gently / int_641cf81d
comment
Viewers Are Geniuses: The first book in particular depends upon specific knowledge of the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge in order for its resolution to be even remotely comprehensible, and the books also require a reader to spot small details, some of which aren't always emphasised much or at all, in order to make perfect sense. They do, in fact, make complete sense, but often require several readings for all the details to become comprehensible.
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_641cf81d
 Dirk Gently / int_737def1
type
Hellistics
 Dirk Gently / int_737def1
comment
Hellistics: The title character, a holistic private investigator, is always in the middle of The End of the World as We Know It thanks to a string of ridiculous coincidences; the first book alone involves a crash-landed Ancient Astronaut, a malfunctioning robotic monk, and time travel leading to an old college friend of Dirk's becoming a murder suspect.
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_737def1
 Dirk Gently / int_7881f335
type
Chekhov's Armoury
 Dirk Gently / int_7881f335
comment
Chekhov's Armoury: Dirk isn't wrong—everything that happens in these books is ultimately important. The Dirk Gently books embody this trope really because they are all about the interconnectedness of everything. Chekov's Armoury isn't just a device Adams used, it's what he based the whole book on.
 Dirk Gently / int_7881f335
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_7881f335
 Dirk Gently / int_90e31482
type
Laser-Guided Karma
 Dirk Gently / int_90e31482
comment
Laser-Guided Karma: Whatever Dirk claims to believe in order to extract cash from gullible people invariably turns out to really be true, but always in such a way that he looks bad, sometimes in such a way that he suffers physical or emotional trauma, and never in such a way that he gets the money.
 Dirk Gently / int_90e31482
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Dirk Gently / int_90e31482
 Dirk Gently / int_9a1d239e
type
Been There, Shaped History
 Dirk Gently / int_9a1d239e
comment
Been There, Shaped History: Prevented Samuel Taylor Coleridge from completing Kubla Kan (coining the phrase "Person From Porlock"), introducing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, not to mention saving the entire human race from extinction along the way.
 Dirk Gently / int_9a1d239e
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_9a1d239e
 Dirk Gently / int_9dd84122
type
Occult Detective
 Dirk Gently / int_9dd84122
comment
Occult Detective: Given the nature of the setting and his occupation, it was pretty much inevitable that Dirk ends up as one.
 Dirk Gently / int_9dd84122
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Dirk Gently / int_9dd84122
 Dirk Gently / int_a62dca03
type
Year Inside, Hour Outside
 Dirk Gently / int_a62dca03
comment
Year Inside, Hour Outside: Reg and his time machine.
 Dirk Gently / int_a62dca03
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1.0
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Dirk Gently / int_a62dca03
 Dirk Gently / int_aab6471d
type
Not-So-Phony Psychic
 Dirk Gently / int_aab6471d
comment
Not-So-Phony Psychic: As described above under Laser-Guided Karma; Dirk has twice posed as a psychic, been uncannily right both times, and got arrested for it the first time. He now spends a lot of time insisting to people who were there that he's not psychic. Usually they don't believe him and his reputation from the first incident often precedes him.
 Dirk Gently / int_aab6471d
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_aab6471d
 Dirk Gently / int_b82ca416
type
Rage Against the Heavens
 Dirk Gently / int_b82ca416
comment
Rage Against the Heavens: In response to the Laser-Guided Karma mentioned above, Dirk has also, on at least one occasion, stood outside, fist clenched at the sky, and screamed for life to stop screwing with him.
 Dirk Gently / int_b82ca416
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Dirk Gently / int_b82ca416
 Dirk Gently / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 Dirk Gently / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: The BBC radio adaptions of the novels re-use several sound effects from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978), and include a reference to the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation.
 Dirk Gently / int_c75df49a
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 Dirk Gently
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Dirk Gently / int_c75df49a
 Dirk Gently / int_dc579c91
type
Contrived Coincidence
 Dirk Gently / int_dc579c91
comment
Contrived Coincidence: Dirk's "holistic" philosophy of detection argues that anything that happens to him or his client is bound to have some relationship to the mystery at hand, no matter how remote the connection. Due to his Laser-Guided Karma (see below), this actually works for him, bringing this trope repeatedly into effect, often to his disgust.
 Dirk Gently / int_dc579c91
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Dirk Gently / int_dc579c91
 Dirk Gently / int_ffb1df90
type
Perpetual Poverty
 Dirk Gently / int_ffb1df90
comment
Perpetual Poverty: Dirk never seems to have much money — a Running Gag in Holistic Detective Agency is his secretary quitting over not getting paid — and most certainly never gets paid by his clients. He manages to stay in his office, flat, etc, through arranging the situation so that it would be more inconvenient to actually eject him or force him to pay than just let him be and hope that he'll pay some day.
 Dirk Gently / int_ffb1df90
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Dirk Gently

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Dirk Gently
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Accidental Truth / int_77cafc9c
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Actually Not a Vampire / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
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Adaptational Nice Guy / int_77cafc9c
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Atonement Detective / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
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Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Bat Deduction / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Crazy Is Cool / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Defective Detective / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Do Well, But Not Perfect / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
English Literature / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Fantastic Noir / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Fantasy Kitchen Sink / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Hellistics / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
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Impossibly Mundane Explanation / int_77cafc9c
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Innocuously Important Episode / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
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Insane Troll Logic / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Inspector Lestrade / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Not-So-Phony Psychic / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Occult Detective / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Perpetual Poverty / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Phony Psychic / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Rage Against the Heavens / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Roofless Renovation / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
Sticky Situation / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
The Alleged Car / int_77cafc9c
 Dirk Gently
hasFeature
The Exotic Detective / int_77cafc9c