Question: Anyone who's read 'Life, The Universe & Everything' will now why the bowl of petunias thought 'Oh no, not again' just before it plummeted towards Magrathea, but had Douglas Adams already conceived that backstory and just couldn't fit it in to the narrative at the time or was it something he only came up with when writing part 3?
Chimera
6th Feb 2006
Chosen answer: Because it was a radio show originally, Douglas Adams would write broadcasts from show to show. He did not know where something would lead, which let the plot become random and funny. So ultimately it was originally created to be funny, then he found a way to link it back in later.