What to Watch UK Style: Life on Mars & Ashes to Ashes
Meet Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). The hard boiled DCI with a swagger, a drinking problem and a dubious moral code. This is his world. Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes are two separate shows from the BBC that exist in the same universe differentiated by decade and lead character. In case you were wondering it’s not a coincidence, both shows are named after David Bowie songs.
Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes are parts police procedural, conspiracy, drama and time traveling fantasy all thrown into the world that seems to revolve around Gene Hunt.
Life on Mars (2006 – 2007)
Life on Mars focused on Sam Tyler (John Simms, you might recognize him as The Master from Doctor Who). A DCI in the Greater Manchester Police who is hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973 outside the station Gene Hunt’s new CI.
Sam wonders whether he has died, is a coma or has truly traveled in time. Throughout the series Sam hears voices over the radio and television he thinks it’s from home and he is obsessed with going back. Some of his cases from 2006 bleed through to 1973, and sometimes time gets a bit wobbly.
There is a lot of tension between Sam and Gene as they butt heads quite often on proper policing methods. Gene is old school, alcoholic and violent while Sam tried to play by modern rules in 1970s Manchester.
On top of the series long fantasy/sci-fi coma/time travel stuff there are weekly cases to solve as well as some fantastic character stuff between the boys in the precinct, and a sweet romance between Sam and Annie the WPC.
Ashes to Ashes (2008-2010)
Ashes to Ashes picks up ( indirectly) where Life on Mars left off.
Alex Drake, a police psychologist with the London Metropolitan Police is going through Sam Tyler’s file. Her daughter is suddenly kidnapped and in attempts to rescue her Alex is shot and wakes up in 1981 as the new transfer into Gene Hunt’s department.
Gene is always the source of antagonism fighting Alex tooth and nail over her psychologist based methods of detective work, and that she’s a woman. As you can imagine the pair have quite a bit of chemistry.
The series explores Alex trying to figure out what has happened to her and where she belongs. She comes armed with the the prior knowledge of Sam’s files as he had described what happened to him. While in the 80s dealing with sexism, tight pants, big hair and corruption, Alex continues to try and solve her daughter’s kidnapping and what she determines to be the suspicious disappearance of Sam Tyler.
“Life on Mars” and “Ashes to Ashes” are available on DVD.
