When he was signed to direct the TV version, Alan J.W. Bell wanted to recast the entire ensemble. Douglas Adams, on the other hand, wanted to preserve the radio cast completely. In the end, most of the radio cast returned, including Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Mark Wing-Davey, Stephen Moore, and Richard Vernon. Of the primary characters who were recast, Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect) was rejected as *not* looking "weird enough", and 'Susan Sheridan' (Trillian) was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.