The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1974-81)
A spin-off TV series from Doctor Who, H2G2 (as fans shorten the title) was intended as a more comedic, low budget show that could recycle settings and costumes. The show was carried almost entirely by Ronnie Corbett, of the popular Two Ronnies comedy show, who was the only cast regular, with others being at best recurring - including Tom Baker as the Doctor. Eight seasons of six episodes were produced, with each show using a different setting and an almost entirely different cast, with almost no characters appearing in more than two consecutive episodes. Sets and costumes were drawn from whatever was available, frequently sets from the parent production that were being filmed at the same time and left over special effects and costumes from whatever was being filmed at the BBC at the time or could be found in their stores.
Corbett plays the titular Hitchhiker, Mr. Martin Dent, a hapless civil servant who is accidentally deposited on the far side of the galaxy from the Earth during one of the Doctor's confrontations with the Master. While considerably daunted at this predicament, Dent sets out on the long search for his home, hitching rides on whatever ships he can persuade to carry him, a journey that takes him from one problem to the next, while struggling with the problem that he isn't really sure where Earth within the galaxy and is therefore chasing rumours and half-baked theories.
The situation of each episode was comparatively formulaic: either Dent had just arrived on a new world and was seeking information about Earth's location, or another ship taking him closer to his current destination; or he had recently embarked on a new vessel. In either case, Dent stumbles into a conflict and is compelled either by risk to himself or the incentive of either passage on a ship or clues to where Earth is. After two or three attempts, through a mix of naive goodwill, misunderstandings and good fortune, Dent manages to provide some solution (temporary or permanent), before moving along.
Episodes opened, in imitation of Star Trek, with a narration by Dent taken from the diary he is filling out as he travels. While the show never reaches Earth, the Doctor manages on one occasion to track Dent down and by consulting the diary which was apparently in the hands of Dent's granddaughter, but the attempt to return Dent home fails when the hitchhiker is distracted by the ongoing crisis and fails to reach the TARDIS before it departs. Since the diary made it home, it is presumed by fans that Dent would eventually have finally made it home.
While H2G2 is remembered fondly for its charm and clever solutions, Corbett noted that it was extremely hard on the writing staff (which included his fellow Ronnie, Ronnie Barker) who had to come up with a solution that avoided violence or scientific knowledge - since Dent was accomplished in neither - while at the same time leaving setting details for each world vague enough to be filled in by whatever the producers could find before shooting began.