It started life as a BBC sci-fi radio comedy, became a series of novels, was adapted for British TV and eventually, finally and AFTER the death of its creator, Douglas Adams, became a sort of half-hearted movie.

Now Hulu has a producer/show runner with “Lost” and “Jack Ryan” experience and a screenwriter with “Wonder Woman” bonafides and a cunning plan to put “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” on streaming TV.

All well and good. Fine. Etc.

But if I might make a suggestion. Why not take the vintage 1970s radio series, impressive, funny and dazzling in its own way, with Simon Jones and voice-actors as varied as Jim Broadbent, Rula Lenska and Jonathan Pryce in bit parts, and ANIMATE it?

That could be a hoot. And if there’s one thing the earlier visual and even literary versions of the concept have proven, the RADIO SERIES was its natural format — aural effects, verbal wit delivered with a deliriously English deadpan.

No, they won’t do that.Still, they’d be hard-pressed to find a more perfect Arthur Dent than Martin Freeman, as Simon Jones will certainly be deemed too old to play the part for Hulu.

Here, by the way, was my DEFINITIVE and widely published wire service story/profile of the star and the director and others from when the movie came out waaaaaaay back in 2005.