'Life On Mars' Series Two

[SiHart]

I enjoyed it- epsecially the way it really toyed with you to make you wonder what was really real. As we can see from the thread, we can debate that one forever now and never come to the right answer!

One of the best series of the last few years, without doubt.

Si xx

[WhiteCrow]

Was he really alive tho? He said that you know when you're alive because you can feel something, and when he cut his hand he didn't feel anything.

I liked, and felt it tied into the first episode nicely. In the first episode he was going to jump off the roof in 1973, but was put off by the sand on Annes hands - because of the detail he could feel. He could feel things in 1973 but nothing in 2006. Hence it looked likely his future self (which we only see briefly) is his halucination.

However imagine how silly Sam might feel if the surgeon forgot to mention "some loss of feeling after an operation like this is perfectly normal".

I feel sorry for the cast in a way - because they'll now be persued til the end of time by fanboys asking "what was that ending all about".

And OMG - they are planning a series in America!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on...S_TV_series%29

[Milky Tears]

More news about Ashes to Ashes is being released tomorrow:


OBVIOUSLY CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FINALE!
http://blogs.manchestereveningnews.c..._to_ashes.html


I'd expect a release from the BBC Press Office as well.

[Alex]

There are spoilers below if you haven't see the final ep yet. Or if you just don't want to know anything more on Ashes to Ashes.

From the BBC's website:

A sequel to TV drama Life on Mars is to be made with the action moving to the 1980s, it has been confirmed.

The announcement was made as the second and final series of Life on Mars - in which a modern police officer was trapped in 1973 - came to an end.

The sequel, Ashes to Ashes, will see Philip Glenister return as DCI Gene Hunt - but this time in London in 1981.

He will be joined by a female detective from the 21st Century who is stuck in the past after an accident.

She will replace Life on Mars star John Simm, who was at the centre of the original mystery after apparently being catapulted back in time following a car crash in 2006.

Viewers of Tuesday's finale finally saw the answer to his continual question: "Am I mad, in a coma or back in time?"

'Sexy sidekick'

The new character will be a modern woman who has risen through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police by using psychological profiling to capture suspects, producers said.

But when she and her daughter are kidnapped, she is injured in a rescue attempt - and finds herself in 1981.

Jane Featherstone, executive producer for TV production company Kudos, said the search was on for DCI Hunt's new "sexy sidekick".

"It's a touch of Moonlighting teamed with a measure of Miami Vice," she said.

Filming is due to begin this summer and the show will be broadcast on BBC One next year.

And here's some more info from the metro:

The BBC has announced an Eighties sequel to the TV smash hit Life On Mars.

Ashes To Ashes will once again star Philip Glenister, 44, as unreconstructed chauvinist DCI Gene Hunt. But the series will move from the 1970s to the "New Romantic" 1980s and from the streets of Manchester to the capital.

Sam Tyler, played by John Simm, whose mysterious time-travel was finally explained in the finale of Life On Mars on Monday, will be replaced by a female DCI.

The search to find the actress to play DCI Alex Drake, a "sexy" and "intelligent" single mother, is currently under way for the drama, described as a "touch of Moonlighting teamed with a measure of Miami Vice".

Her character has risen rapidly through the Met and is using psychological profiling to capture suspects in the modern world of 2008. But when she and her daughter are kidnapped, she makes a daring attempt at escape which results in an accident.

She suddenly finds herself in 1981 interacting with Hunt, who has turned his attention to the "southern nancy" criminal scum in London. She also finds herself with familiar characters from her own lifetime and from the detailed reports logged by Sam Tyler - who will not be making a return.

The drama, on BBC1, will feature a soundtrack from the likes of Adam Ant, Roxy Music and The Human League.

Hunt is flanked by the same faithful sidekicks Ray Carling (Dean Andrews), who is keen to experience London's nightlife, and DC Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster), now a technological whiz kid in the squad's surveillance team.

Filming is due to begin in London this summer for broadcast on BBC1 next year.

Jane Featherstone, executive producer for TV production company Kudos, said: "Ashes to Ashes is the next chapter in the life of Gene Hunt, as seen through the eyes of a modern, no-nonsense woman. It's a touch of Moonlighting teamed with a measure of Miami Vice. The search for Gene's sexy side-kick is definitely on - she'll hopefully give him a serious run for his money."

It sounds...awful...! I mean, they're just repeating the same idea, but without Sam. And just how are they going to explain how for the second time in Hunt's life someone's been knocked back through time - or that someone is once again in a coma dreaming all about him??! Arrrgh! Now I'm confused about all of this, and whatever last night's ending was supposed to be about.

Unless of course it's just bad lazy writing, and they just had to come up with a quick way to continue the series without John Simm...

She also finds herself with familiar characters from her own lifetime and from the detailed reports logged by Sam Tyler - who will not be making a return.

And if that's definitely the case, it solves the issue of whether or not Sam returned to 2006, and that he did commit suicide at the end too.

[Milky Tears]

I'm hoping for cameos from Toyah, Steve Strange, Tony Hadley and the Kemp brothers.

Enough with the frikkin' single mother stereotype already!

[Perry Vale]

Oh dear, what a cop out.

That was a very disappointing ending, with the makers/writers dropping the ball in the last moments. They had the chance to make a memorable ending, but played safe, and disregarded the whole premise of the show, imo. It seemd to make the previous 15 episodes worthless.

I'm surprised we didn't see him checking in to past events when he was back in 2006. He seemed to be back in the present for a fair amount of time (recovering from the coma, seeing his mum, going back to work full time), you'd have thought he'd have gone through the records to see if Gene Hunt even existed, and if they all died / were seriously hurt that day.

Yes, that would seem to be the obvious thing for him to do. And what happened to his girlfriend from 2006, he didn't even ask if she escaped kidnap, the reason he ended up being run over in the first place.

They should have gone for the B7/Sapphire & Steel ending.

[Jon Masters]

Sorry, I disagree entirely - I thought it was very good, and deliberately open to multiple interpretations. My own take is that he never awoke from his coma - the bit about the tumour, the operation, waking up , going back to work, seeing his mum etc was just another delusion. It was like Morgan represented one part of his mind, that was trying to deal with things rationally, while Gene represented another part which was more intuitive and emotionally based. That's why the phonecalls stopped when "Morgan" actually entered his dreamworld and tried to eliminate the competition. In the end Sam made a deliberate choice (represented by his suicide) of how he wanted to spend his final moments.

All of the stories I saw started with an outside influence (someone's voice, the drugs overdose) being interpreted in two ways, but that doesn't mean that one was reality and the other not (as ably demonstrated when Morgan's role started to be corrupted by the 1973 scenario once he entered it). I agree with Jonno about the ending, otherwise why is the little girl there .

Of course, it could be that the operation to remove the tumour caused the personality defects and loss of pain sensation that triggered Sam to really commit suicide. for a series without a typical popular drama 'cut-and dried' ending.

The idea of a sequel, of course, stuffs up this completely. Why can't TV bosses have the vision to look for the next 'Life on Mars', rather than just making another version of the same thing

[Rob McCow]

The new series sounds OK to me. It depends on who they get to play opposite Glenister and whether they have the right kind of 'Chemistry'.

Although I'd still rather see Sam Tyler turning up in Heartbeat, The Detectives or Rosemary and Thyme.

'Am I mad? Am I in a coma? Or am I back in Thyme?'

[WhiteCrow]

When I heard they would stop Life on Mars at the second series, I thought it showed real bravery and integrity. I'm not so keen on the idea of a spin off series so soon.

[Alex]

Here's what Matthew Graham has to say about the ending in today's Manchester Evening News

To be honest with you, I was always slightly surprised that people thought there was a genuine mystery. To me, it was very obvious he got hit by a car, the doctors and nurses were speaking to him over the radio and through the television and he was in a coma.

The fact is that he just began to suspect that there seemed to be a way in which he could change his world and so, obviously, naturally once hes there for quite a period of time, he begins to assimilate so much of that world into himself. He starts to question whether he was ever anywhere else.

There was always a bit of that, but I never thought the audience would fall for that. And it was brilliant when they did, the first time around. But then we realised we had to start being a little bit more careful about saying definitively, on the record, that he was in a coma.

We realised that that mystery was one of the things that gave the show some spice. So then we just kept that going. But Id always intended for him to wake up. When it actually came to writing him waking up, I just couldnt bear him staying in 2007. I just couldnt stand it. It was horrible, even writing him waking up. I thought, Oh God, I hate this, I dont want him here. And so, originally, we were going to end it on him waking up, but literally having him find some kind of resolution. I think we were going to have a scene where he went into a modern pub and the landlord was trying to kick some guys out and they were just giving the landlord a load of gyp.

And the landlord pushes one of the guys and the guy says, Hey mate, you touch me and I can sue you for assault.' Sam just watches this moment and then imagines Gene Hunt bursting into the pub, beating the crap out of these guys. The idea was going to be that Sam had brought a little of Genes methodology into the modern world. It was all very intellectual and fine, but it was just so cold and I suddenly realised I didnt care. I just wanted him to go back. So we all got together, talked about it and then we came up with this idea of having them trapped in the tunnel and having him say to Annie, I promise Ill be back for you, and playing it that way.

But it was a tough one, because we had to persuade the BBC that the main character of this hit show should commit suicide they asked some questions about it. There was a certain reservation, initially, because, obviously, Sam has a big following.

The false ending where Sam jumps got a huge round of applause when the final episode was premiered at BAFTA in London last week. That amazed me, that people saw it as such a positive act. I think thats slightly a testament to Johns brilliant acting at that moment, as well.

Matthew added: Its not supposed to be a searing indictment on modern society, but more a comment on Sam. He was clearly a deeply repressed human being I dont think 2006 or 2007 brought out the best in Sam Tyler.
He was caught up in his emotional red tape. He couldnt seem to do his job without feeling he needed to sign forms in triplicate. And clearly, when he went to sleep he wanted to be in a freer place, a place where his mother was a young, beautiful woman and his dad was his hero, and it was a world of fast cars that was his liberation. So I think it was more about him personally than us trying to say, It was all better then.

http://blogs.manchestereveningnews.c...e_answers.html

[Jon Masters]

Okey-Dokey - he's the writer so he knows what he was trying to get across. That means I just don't understand the episode with the casino owner in it, as using his explanation means Sam was lying when he was talking about having locked him up for killing his wife.

[Nathan]

Okey-Dokey - he's the writer so he knows what he was trying to get across. That means I just don't understand the episode with the casino owner in it, as using his explanation means Sam was lying when he was talking about having locked him up for killing his wife.

Sam locked up a casino owner for murdering his wife, and then whilst in the coma he dreamt of meeting him earlier on and saving his wife due to some guilt feelings he may have had.

He dreamt all the stuff about said casino owner trying to kill him in the future too.

Does that work?

[Larry]

My take on it was that Sam didn't actually wake up from his coma in 2006/7 - he was dreaming all that stuff about being back in the present day, hence why he couldn't feel the cut in his hand. His leaping off the roof to deny 2006 and find himself back in 1973 for me brought us right back to the first episode of the first series, in which he was going to jump off a high building in 1973 to get back to 2006 and deny the reality of 1973 - but was halted by Annie.

The other reason I don't think he actually came out of his coma is for the fact that the final message on the radio was the present day confirming that he was slipping away, i.e. he'd never come out of the coma.

BTW, all the slow-mo shootings of the regulars was clearly cribbed from the final episode of another much loved cult show that originated in the 70s!

that's pretty much the conclusion i've come to aswell.

one reason for me that confirms this theory is it just did not seem quite right that some one who had been in a coma had had brain surgey would not only have no visable scars would just get up and go straight back to work.

[Jon Masters]

Not to mention having all their hair still, and a benign brain tumour is going to need other treatment, not just being left where it is (perhaps he asked RTD for medical advice )

Sam locked up a casino owner for murdering his wife, and then whilst in the coma he dreamt of meeting him earlier on and saving his wife due to some guilt feelings he may have had.

He dreamt all the stuff about said casino owner trying to kill him in the future too.

Does that work?

Indeeed it does, Nathan , and it was that which first suggested to me that all the stuff he was hearing and seeing through the TV and radio was all fantasy, rather than the real world as Matthew Graham suggested. Don't we specifically get a message at the end explaining how the casino owner has broken into Sam's ward having escaped from the nuthouse ? Why is this message a fake one if all the others aren't ?

Internal consistency is all I ask for

[Alex]

I've seen a lot of people commenting that the Casino episode is the one which doesn't fit in to Graham's versions of events.

I'm thinking along the lines that however good a writer he is, he clearly didn't think to tie in all the loose ends in the final episode, and that mistakes were made. Which is a shame, really.

[Paul Clement]

I was one of those who felt that the 1973 life was the fantasy one, simply because Sam had knowledge of the future that he wouldn't have had if the 2006/2007 world had been the fantasy. He describes Heroin as Skag and Smack, words that weren't in use in the 70's, which implied the knowledge of the future. Then, of course, there was the info about the IRA attacks on mainland Britain.
It seems rather a moot point now though, as Matthew Graham has answered what has happened, and 2006 was real, and he did wake from his coma.

[Paul Clement]

My brain has very belatedly come to the realisation that 'Ashes to Ashes' is also the title of a David Bowie song. How dumb am I.

[Jon Masters]

I was one of those who felt that the 1973 life was the fantasy one, simply because Sam had knowledge of the future that he wouldn't have had if the 2006/2007 world had been the fantasy. He describes Heroin as Skag and Smack, words that weren't in use in the 70's, which implied the knowledge of the future. Then, of course, there was the info about the IRA attacks on mainland Britain.

I only thought the 2007 bit in the last episode was fantasy, not the rest of it.

It seems rather a moot point now though, as Matthew Graham has answered what has happened, and 2006 was real, and he did wake from his coma.

True - I'm just disapponted that after spending quite a lot of time thinking about it last night it turned out to be as obvious as it was suggested. I still think its probably one of the best series we've seen in the 21st century.

[Carol Baynes]

Brilliant series; enjoyed every minute. As for the ending- well, whatever it was, it felt right.

[Dirk Gently]

I can't argue with you there Carol.

[Dave Tudor]

While I'd agree that the second series hasn't been quite as good as the first, it has still remained essential viewing, and it has indeed been one of the best series on television in ages.

The last few episodes have seen things picking up, and the final one was absolutely rivetting viewing. I'm still not completely sure what exactly happened, but it was a wonderful finale, and I was more than happy with it. I can understand those who thought it a little disturbing that Sam apparently chose to stay in his fantasy world, but haven't we all felt a little like that sometimes...? That it would be better to live in one's head than in the big, bad real world....? Or is that just me.......?

I'll miss the series and the wonderful characters it gave us, especially Gene Hunt. I'm not entirely sure, though, that I'm keen on the idea of a spin-off show - I think I'd rather things were left just as they are.

(Oh, and I agree totally with Alex about Annie - the cutest WPC this side of 'Juliet Bravo'. )

[Nathan]

that's pretty much the conclusion i've come to aswell.

one reason for me that confirms this theory is it just did not seem quite right that some one who had been in a coma had had brain surgey would not only have no visable scars would just get up and go straight back to work.

Ah but he had to wake up and the 2006/7 stuff has to be real because the next copper who bangs their head and ends up in a coma in the new series dreams about Gene Hunt because she read the notes that Sam made for the psychotherapist.

[Rob McCow]

Ah but he had to wake up and the 2006/7 stuff has to be real because the next copper who bangs their head and ends up in a coma in the new series dreams about Gene Hunt because she read the notes that Sam made for the psychotherapist.

That's not quite what it says above, unless you're quoting a different source.

She also finds herself with familiar characters from her own lifetime and from the detailed reports logged by Sam Tyler - who will not be making a return.

That sounds more like she's reading the M.A.R.S reports than the 2006 psych evaluation.

We won't know for certain until we see an episode.

On a more positive note, Philip K Dick would have loved the last episode. With the time displacement and questions of reality, it reminded me of Ubik or Martian Time-Slip. Perhaps Sam was an LSD addict from the '70's?

[WhiteCrow]

I was quite shocked by the ending - in 2006, how come Health and Safety allow him access to the roof without another member present? We'd not be able to get to our roof if the place was on fire.

[Nathan]

That's not quite what it says above, unless you're quoting a different source.

That sounds more like she's reading the M.A.R.S reports than the 2006 psych evaluation.

We won't know for certain until we see an episode.

Actually what I read suggested that she is the psych who received the reports. But I have no idea where the source is for that so you maybe right.