Life on Mars (British TV series)
Life on Mars | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by | |
Starring | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 16 ( BBC Wales |
Original release | |
Network | |
Release | 9 January 2006 10 April 2007 | –
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between 9 January 2006 and 10 April 2007. It follows Sam Tyler (John Simm), a Manchester policeman in 2006 who wakes up after a car accident to discover that he has time-travelled to 1973, where he works the same job in the same location under the command of Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) while attempting to solve the mystery of what has happened to him.
Life on Mars (named after
Ashes to Ashes aired on BBC One from February 2008 to May 2010. A third series entitled Lazarus (again a David Bowie song) was announced in 2020, but its development was cancelled in 2023.
Plot
Life on Mars follows
Production
The programme was conceived in 1998, when screenwriters
Later,
The programme's central character Sam Tyler was originally to have been named Sam Williams, but Kudos felt this not to be striking enough and requested Graham devise an alternative surname. Graham asked his young daughter for her opinion and she suggested Tyler for the character's surname. He later discovered that his daughter had named the character after the Doctor Who character Rose Tyler; coincidentally, shortly after Rose leaves Doctor Who, the villainous Master makes his return in an incarnation portrayed by Sam Tyler's actor John Simm.[8] The initial geographical setting was to be London, which was changed to Leeds and finally to Manchester, as part of a BBC initiative to make more programmes in the city.[7] The name Sam Williams was subsequently used as a plot point in the second series.
The second series had a distinctive style of introduction on BBC One: after a brief collage of momentary images, such as several
On 9 October 2006, it was confirmed that the second series of Life on Mars would be the last. Matthew Graham stated: "We decided that Sam's journey should have a finite life span and a clear-cut ending and we feel that we have now reached that point after two series".[9] Graham's claim that two endings had been filmed was later revealed to be a ruse.[10]
Transmission
Eight one-hour episodes of Life on Mars were broadcast weekly on Monday nights at 9:00 pm by the BBC. The series episodes were mostly written by its creators Jordan, Graham and Pharoah, later joined by Chris Chibnall as the fourth writer for the first series. For the second series, Graham, Pharoah and Chibnall returned to write episodes, joined by Julie Rutterford, Guy Jenkin and Mark Greig.[11]
The second series was broadcast weekly at the same time as the first but on Tuesdays.[12] According to Jane Featherstone, the show's executive producer, speaking in February 2006, a film version of the show was also a possibility: "Life on Mars was a very high concept idea and there was no doubt it would work on the big screen".[13]
The first series of the original Life on Mars was broadcast in the United States on BBC America from July 2006 to August 2007 and was broadcast in 2010 on some public television stations,[14] with the second series being broadcast from December 2007 to January 2008.[15][16] Acorn Media released both series on DVD in 2008.
International
The original version also was broadcast in Canada from September 2006 to April 2007 on BBC Canada, and from 8 January 2008 to 23 April 2008 on Télé-Québec in French and Showcase in English.
In
In
In the
The show has also been transmitted in
Remakes and derived shows
David E. Kelley produced the pilot for an American version of the series for the ABC network, though he handed duties over to others for the series production. It premiered in October 2008, and was broadcast to minor critical and public acclaim where declining numbers led to cancellation in April 2009 after 17 episodes, though with sufficient lead to allow the storyline to be concluded.
Spanish Television network
The Russian broadcaster
Czech national TV channel ČT1 has made a TV series heavily inspired by Life on Mars, called Czech: Svět pod hlavou (World under the head). It tells the story of an elite policeman Filip Marvan, who is hit by a car and wakes up in a hospital in 1982, in Communist Czechoslovakia. The name of the series refers to a line from a song V stínu kapradiny by Jana Kratochvílová. The first episode of the series aired on 2 January 2017, scheduled to run for 10 episodes in total.
A
Music
Life on Mars | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by Various artists | ||||
Released | 19 February 2007 | |||
Label | Sony BMG Music Entertainment | |||
Producer | Kudos Film and Television in association with Monastic Productions | |||
Life on Mars chronology | ||||
|
The programme's soundtrack features mainly early 1970s songs which were played as part of Life on Mars, as well as an original score of the theme music as part of the title sequence composed by Edmund Butt. The show's title is in reference to the David Bowie song, "
Matthew Graham stated that initially there were some concerns over whether the production team would be able to license the song, which, had they been denied, would have necessitated retitling the series.
The show's creators were initially refused permission to use "
Music used
Soundtrack CD track listing
No. | Title | Contributing artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Introduction: Dialogue — King of the Jungle" | 0:20 | |
2. | " I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" | Nina Simone | 3:06 |
23. | "Epilogue Dialogue: I Want to Go Home / "Title Music from Life on Mars" (Hidden track)" | Edmund Butt | 2:26 |
Total length: | 73:28 |
Characters
The methodology and techniques of modern policing that Sam Tyler employs during Life on Mars lead him into clashes with other characters. Gene Hunt and the rest of the CID appear to favour brutality and corruption to secure convictions, as shown by their willingness to physically coerce confessions and fabricate evidence.[30] In both series, Tyler clashes with Hunt the most frequently, usually because Tyler values forensic evidence whereas Hunt often resorts to traditional methods and gut instincts. In one episode during Series 1, in which doubt is cast on several suspects, Hunt insists that "the first to speak is guilty" and frequently refers to the 'Gene Genie'.
Sam describes Hunt as an "overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine-stained, borderline alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding", to which Hunt responds, "You make that sound like a bad thing". Hunt is supported by his fiercely loyal subordinates, Chris Skelton and Ray Carling, with the latter portrayed as a character similar to Hunt. Ray and Sam often disagree with each other and Sam and Gene have a love-hate relationship.[31] Chris, in contrast, becomes friendly with Sam and respects his modern methods, finding his loyalty torn between Gene and Sam.[32]
Given Sam's predicament, he avoids revealing his suspicion that he may have travelled back in time, for fear that others will think he is insane. The only person in 1973 to whom Sam fully reveals his story is Annie Cartwright. According to Liz White, the actress who played Cartwright, "She gets very tired of his constant talk about how this situation is not real, that they are all figments of his imagination — she can only explain it as psychological trauma from his car crash".[33]
Themes and storyline
After the premiere, each of the remaining fifteen episodes begins with a short teaser before a monologue in which Sam repeats, as part of the moving imagery of the title sequence:
My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.
This questioning is a central plot device throughout the series, displaying both the character's and the audience's uncertainty about what has happened.
Throughout the course of Life on Mars, Sam's uncertainty is reinforced by frequent paranormal phenomena, such as hearing voices and seeing images from 2006 on radios, telephones, and televisions. The voices discuss his medical condition, leading him to partially believe that he is in a coma. Other elements suggest to him that he is insane, such as his frequent and unexpected encounters with the Test Card Girl from Test Card F, who speaks directly to him. Annie Cartwright partially persuades Sam that he is truly in 1973, arguing that his mind would be unable to fabricate the amount of detail and tangibility in the world where he finds himself, evidence that he is in fact in 1973.
Sam's uncertain situation is not the focal point of most episodes, remaining a sub-plot. In most episodes, the main plot centres on a particular crime or case relating to the police, such as
A recurring motif throughout the series is the overlapping of the past and present. For example, during Series 1: Episode 6 Sam hears the voice of his mother in 2006, telling him his life-support will be switched off at 2:00 pm. At the same time he is called into a hostage-taking situation, where the perpetrator states that he will kill his victims at precisely the same hour. Sam also encounters as their younger selves people whom he knows in the future, including suspects, friends, his own parents, and himself as a child.
Sam comes from an era in which suspects' rights and the preservation of forensic evidence are stringently observed. His background leads Sam into conflict, as other characters exhibit openly sexist, homophobic, and racist behaviour, and often indulge all these prejudices while carrying out their police duties.
The series frequently makes use of Gene Hunt's comical rudeness in the form of jokes and dramatic irony about a future which the audience already knows, but which the characters in 1973 do not. For example, in Series 1: Episode 5, Hunt declares, "There will never be a woman prime minister as long as I have a hole in my arse." However, in line with the ambivalence of the Hunt character, the irony is qualified by the fact that, in the real 1973, Margaret Thatcher herself told the BBC's Valerie Singleton in an interview, "I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime." The clip of this remark had often been replayed on British TV and the audience would be familiar with it.[34]
Another theme in the show is Sam's confusion about police work in 1973, as he often mistakenly mentions techniques and technologies that were not used in 1973, such as two-way mirrors. One such theme is that Sam continually gives criminals the updated version of the right to silence warning, which was changed in 1994. When he does so, someone around him usually points out that he is giving the warning incorrectly.
Finale
It is revealed in the final episode that Sam's coma had lasted so long because he had a
In the final scene, the team drive off, with Sam and Gene bickering as usual. Children run past, including the girl from Test Card F who symbolizes the death that has been stalking Sam since the beginning. She looks directly into the camera before reaching out and "switching off" the television the viewer is watching, signifying that Sam's life has come to an end.[10]
The first episode of sequel series Ashes to Ashes shows that the protagonist, DI Alex Drake of the Metropolitan Police, has been studying Tyler's notes and 2006-era personnel file, in which his photograph is overstamped with the word "SUICIDE" - consistent with what happened in the series finale. Ashes to Ashes implies that Gene Hunt's world is in some sense real, and states that Sam lived on in that world, during which time he married Annie but had no children.
In the final episode of "Ashes to Ashes" a fuller explanation for Sam Tyler's experience is provided, when the role of Gene Hunt in both Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes is revealed.
Depiction of 1973
During an interview
Upon Sam Tyler awaking in 1973, he finds himself on a building site, beneath a large
The brown Ford Cortina used by Gene throughout both of the seasons was a 1974 model, which makes it anachronistic. In production, three different cars were used.[40]
Cultural references
Reception
Critical reception
Critical reaction to the first series of Life on Mars was extremely positive. Steve O'Brien, writing for SFX, declared, "It looks like BBC One has ... a monster hit on its hands ... It's funny ... and dramatic and exciting, and we're really not getting paid for saying this".[41] Alison Graham, television editor for the Radio Times, described the series as "a genuinely innovative and imaginative take on an old genre".[42] James Walton of The Daily Telegraph commented, "Theoretically, this should add up to a right old mess. In practice, it makes for a thumpingly enjoyable piece of television — not least because everybody involved was obviously having such a great time".[43] Sam Wollaston of The Guardian wrote: "Life on Mars was more than just a jolly, tongue-in-cheek romp into the past ... Once there, in 1973, we find ourselves immersed in a reasonably gripping police drama — yes, The Sweeney, perhaps, with better production values ... Or put another — undeniably laboured — way, as poor Sam Tyler walks through his sunken dream, I'm hooked to the silver screen".[44] Critical reaction remained generally positive throughout the programme's run. Of the second series, Alison Graham believed that "Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt are shaping up nicely as one of the great TV detective partnerships ... It's vastly enjoyable and manages to stay just about believable thanks to some strong writing and, of course, the two marvellous central performances".[45]
Nancy Banks-Smith, in The Guardian, felt that the time-paradox aspect of the programme had become somewhat confusing.[46] Banks-Smith summed up the programme's success as "an inspired take on the usual formula of Gruff Copper of the old school, who solves cases by examining the entrails of a chicken, and Sensitive Sidekick, who has a degree in detection.".[47]
Two days after the final episode's transmission, Life on Mars was attacked in the British press by the
In 2019, The Guardian ranked it 99th in the top 100 TV shows of the 21st century.[49]
Ratings
Life on Mars was a ratings success. The first series achieved an average audience figure of 6.8 million viewers
Viewing figures for the second series were initially low, with
Episode Order | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|
8 | 7.10 |
9 | 5.70 |
11 | 4.80 |
16 | 7.15 |
Accolades
The series twice won the
The first series was nominated for a
In October 2007, series two was nominated as the Most Popular Drama at the 2007 National Television Awards.[63]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Banff Television Festival
|
Continuing Series | Life on Mars | Won | [64] |
International Emmy Awards | Best Drama Series | Won | [1] | ||
TV Quick and Choice Awards | Best New Drama | Nominated | [65] | ||
Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards | Visual Effects - Picture Enhancement | Jet Omoshebi, Pepper Post Production | Won | [66] | |
2007 | Broadcast Magazine Awards
|
Best New Programme | Life on Mars | Won | [59] |
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
|
Best Drama Series | Won | [60] | ||
Best Actor in a Drama Series | John Simm | Nominated | [67] | ||
Philip Glenister | Nominated | [67] | |||
Writer's Award | Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan, Ashley Pharoah | Won | [60] | ||
BAFTA Television Awards | Best Actor | John Simm | Nominated | [61] | |
Best Drama Series | Life on Mars | Nominated | [61] | ||
Pioneer Award | Won | [62] | |||
BAFTA Television Craft Awards | Best Director | Episode 1
|
Nominated | [68] | |
Best Editing : Fiction/Entertainment | Barney Pilling | Nominated | [69] | ||
Best Production Design | Bryan Sykes | Nominated | [70] | ||
Best Sound – Fiction/Entertainment | Life on Mars Team | Nominated | [71] | ||
Best Writer | Episode 1
|
Nominated | [72] | ||
Edgar Allan Poe Award
|
Best Television Episode Screenplay | Won | [73] | ||
Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Best Drama Series | Life on Mars | Nominated | [74] | |
Best Outstanding Actor – Drama Series | Dean Andrews | Nominated | [75] | ||
Philip Glenister | Nominated | [75] | |||
Marshall Lancaster | Nominated | [75] | |||
John Simm | Nominated | [75] | |||
Best Outstanding Actress – Drama Series | Liz White | Nominated | [75] | ||
National Television Awards | Most Popular Drama Series | Life on Mars | Nominated | [63] | |
Royal Television Society Awards | Best Drama Series | Nominated | [76] | ||
Best Actor - Male | Philip Glenister | Nominated | [76] | ||
Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards | Production Design - Drama | Matt Gant, Brian Sykes | Nominated | [77] | |
Saturn Awards | Best Television Presentation | Life on Mars | Nominated | [78] | |
SFX Awards
|
Best TV Show | Nominated | [79] | ||
TV Quick and Choice Awards | Best Loved Drama | Nominated | [80][81] | ||
Best Actor | Philip Glenister | Nominated | |||
Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards | Best Soap/Series (TV) | Life on Mars | Nominated | [82][83] |
Home media
DVD
DVD release name | Episodes | Years of Series | UK Release Date
(Region 2) |
North American Release Date
(Region 1) |
Australian Release Date
(Region 4) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Life on Mars: Series 1 | 1—8 | 2006 | 15 May 2006[84] Re-released 28 February 2011[85] |
28 July 2009[86] | 3 December 2009[87] |
Life on Mars: Series 2 | 9—16 | 2007 | 16 April 2007[88] Re-released 28 February 2011[89] |
24 November 2009[90] | 5 November 2009[91] |
Life on Mars: Series 1 & 2 | 1—16 | 2006—2007 | 10 September 2007[92] Re-released 28 February 2011[93] |
— | — |
Blu-ray
Blu-ray release name | Episodes | Years of Series | UK Release Date
(Region B) |
North American Release Date
(Region A) |
Australian Release Date
(Region B) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Life on Mars: Series 1 | 1–8 | 2006 | 27 October 2008[94] | — | — |
Life on Mars: Series 2 | 9–16 | 2007 | 27 October 2008[95] | — | — |
- Note: Due to the popularity of the show, Blu-ray editions of both series were released on 27 October 2008. However, since the show's various effects were originally edited and mastered in standard definition, a true HD version would require a near-total overhaul. The Blu-ray editions therefore contained studio-upscaled footage of the original SD content, providing some improvement. This pseudo-HD version is not known to have been broadcast on television.
Books
Companion books
There have been 2 official tie-in books to accompany the series featuring episode summaries, cast and character profiles, music listings to each show, script extracts, plus behind-the-scenes content and never before seen photos.
- Thompson, Lee (2006). Life on Mars: The Official Companion. Pocket Books Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84739-005-9.
- Adams, Guy; Thompson, Lee (2007). Life on Mars: The Official Companion Volume Two. Pocket Books Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84739-039-4.
Humour
- The Rules of Modern Policing (1973 Edition) by "DCI Gene Hunt" (Bantam Press) [8 October 2007]
A parody of a police manual that made fun of the conventions of 1970s British police procedurals like The Sweeney. It also contained a glossary of British 1970s slang terms. The actual author of the text is Guy Adams.
- The Wit and Wisdom of Gene Hunt by "DC Chris Skelton and DS Ray Carling" (again, Guy Adams) (Bantam Press)
A book detailing the philosophy of Gene Hunt as told by his disciples.
Novels
On 12 March 2012, Kate Bradley, Commissioning Editor at
Content-wise, the novels begin to explore the continuity gap between Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, picking up approximately where the first TV series leaves off; but it is not necessary to know both series to enjoy the books. Said Tom Graham in a pre-publication interview: "…I made a very conscious decision to move on from the show, not to tinker or play around with pre-existing story lines. There is more than enough new and unused material for my books without me going back and plundering previous episodes. Also (and this is one of the realities of publishing) my books had to in some way stand apart from the show and be accessible to readers who only vaguely remember Life on Mars but haven't seen it since it was first aired. There were times I felt like Peter Jackson making The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – like him, I have to appeal to the hard core fan, the semi-fan, the part-time fan, and the casual passing punter who's never even heard of the thing. Unlike Jackson, I didn't have a half a billion dollars budget riding on it, but the principle's the same. So, I have very deliberately written books that recall the TV show, jog memories of characters and events from the show, recreate the atmosphere and ethos of the show, but don't require an in-depth knowledge of minor characters and plot points. We don't (yet) plunge into the finer details of the LoM mythology that would mystify the general reader, but if further books are commissioned, there will be plenty of room to get stuck into the minutiae!"
Though each book can stand on its own, the four are best read as a tetralogy, in order of listing below, as there is a superstructure linking them together. They are:
- Graham, Tom (2012). Blood, Bullets and Blue Stratos. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-00-747257-4.
- Graham, Tom (2012). A Fistful of Knuckles. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-00-747258-1.
- Graham, Tom (2012). Borstal Slags. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-00-747259-8.
- Graham, Tom (2013). Get Cartwright. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-00-747260-4.
(Each of the book titles is a play on a pop culture phrase or film title that is of, or relevant to, the '70s, those being Blood, Bullets and Babes, A Fistful of Dollars, Borstal Boy and Get Carter).
In popular culture
- Not Going Out - "Life on Mars Bars", Lee has a similar experience to Sam Tyler. Lee is hit by a car whilst the song "Life on Mars" plays and finds out he is in a coma.[96]
- Life at Ma's sketches with Tom Ellisas Sam Speed, a modern-day policeman who, after an accident, finds himself back in time and struggling to cope with outdated attitudes.
Sequels
A sequel television series, Ashes to Ashes, was broadcast between 2008 and 2010. Ashes to Ashes is set in 1980s London, with DI Alex Drake being transported from the modern day and meeting Gene Hunt and his colleagues. Simm did not appear in the sequel series.[97]
An attempt at reviving the series was made with a
In April 2020, creator Matthew Graham tweeted that a third series was planned. Set in Manchester and London during the 1970s and 1980s, the series was planned to consist of four or five episodes[98] and was titled Lazarus, once again after the name of a David Bowie song.[99] Simm confirmed in January 2022 that he was involved, reprising his role as Sam Tyler along with Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt.[100] It was confirmed in June 2023 that the series had been cancelled for financial reasons.[101]
A live table reading of the pilot script took place on Sunday, November 19, 2023 at BFI Southbank, brought to life by the BFI Players. It was accompanied by a Q and A with co-writer Ashley Pharoah.[102] It was met with a positive reception, one fan having travelled all the way from Massachusetts, New England, to be there.
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