Life On Mars. Whats that all about?

Gutted now its over. Had alot lot of legs to keep going. However great finish. If you look at other similar programmes with a weird undertone ie Lost, Quantum Leap etc, they run too long and you lose interest. Running Life On Mars for two series will always leave it as a classic. Great ending. I always like it when I still dont know what the real answer is. At last something worth paying your tv licence for.

 

Sequel - Ashes to Ashes on next year nt

 

Agreed, finest bit of telly for yonks. nt

 

ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH !!!!!

Help me Russ !!!! so was he in a coma, in 1973 or mad? we've three different theories in our house.</p>

Or am I mad in a coma in 2027 !!!! </p>

BTW best telly in many a year ...(Y) </p>

 

Well Dave, my theory is..................

everyone's theory will be different, as for me, he was in a coma and did indeed time travel back to 1973, regained conciousness, thought about what he'd left behind, Cartwright etc, a feeling of belonging and decided the past was better than the present.

Probably read it all wrong, but thats all I've got Dave, having said all that, what a top show eh?

 

RE: Well Dave, my theory is..................

why did he jump off the roof ? surely that would have killed him ?(RIP)

 

Er........................

perhaps he new death would take him back permanently, again its upto the viewer to draw their own conclusions.

 

RE: Er........................

I'm not fookin bright enough to draw conclusions, I need someone to knock it into me with a big hammer !!!!(seestars)

 

Life On Mars THE ACTUAL ANSWER ..read on

WAS he mad, in a coma, back in time, or all three?

Millions of viewers saw the stunning finale to Life On Mars last night at the end of a two year TV rollercoaster ride.

In an exclusive first interview, lead writer and co-creator Matthew Graham spoke to me about both the conclusion of the BBC1 drama and the new spin-off series Ashes To Ashes.

And he revealed that – at its heart – Life On Mars was all about Sam In Wonderland.

There’s a feature in today’s MEN, but I thought fans of the show, including the regulars at The Railway Arms, would appreciate the long version, plus a few extras..

After all, there are things that people just need to know about LoM, nominated today as Best Drama Series in next month's BAFTA TV Awards, with John Simm winning a hugely deserved Best Actor nomination.

The series is also nominated for the Pioneer Audience Award, voted for by the public.

So with apologies for a very unusual blog entry today, below are some of the secrets of the Life On Mars universe.

First, more good news, as I revealed here last night.

It was already known that Philip Glenister would return to the role of DCI Gene Hunt in Ashes To Ashes, set in 1981 London.

Now it can be confirmed that filming begins this summer, when the Gene Genie will be joined by DS Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) and DC Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster), with all three transferred from North West District CID to the Metropolitan Police.

The eight-part series will be screened on BBC1 next year.

Aside from Eighties’ fashions, Gene will also have to cope with a sexy new female sidekick, DCI Alex Drake, who has yet to be cast.

After an accident in 2008, the no-nonsense detective finds herself back in time, interacting with characters she’d previously read about in reports logged by a certain Sam Tyler.

“We like to say it’s Moonlighting meets Miami Vice with a smattering of Howard’s Way,” laughed Matthew.

Gene will also swap his Ford Cortina for the original Audi Quattro. “The car has got to be something butch, big and gas-guzzling. At the moment it’s spanking red. We’ve already coined Gene’s new catchphrase, which is, ‘Ray, fire up the Quattro!’

“We started working on it right back in October last year. And then I started writing the scripts a couple of months ago. So episode one is written and Ashley Pharoah is delivering episode two.”

So why the switch to London? “We felt like we had to really change things, make it look different and feel different. And it’s really hard in Manchester. We’ve used a lot of the locations and were already repeating ourselves a little bit on Mars.

“It would have been quite a struggle to find a fresh look in a city without showing anything too modern.

“And London was going through a slightly more interesting transition than Manchester in 1981, so we thought there was more to exploit.

“Musically it was kicking off a bit more, you’ve got the Docklands development starting, the riots – there just seemed to be more we could do.

“Manchester, Bolton, Stockport and the other locations were fantastic for Life On Mars.

“We only moved the show to Manchester about two months before we started filming. Up until then it had been Leeds, before that it was London

“And I’m so glad we went to Manchester because it was an absolutely fantastic place to film.”

But how do you follow a drama as brilliant and loved as the two series of Life On Mars?

“There were huge qualms. I was really unsure about the whole idea. I thought we were milking the cash cow – until I started writing.

“We had story conferences where brilliant ideas were thrown around and we got very excited. But still lurking at the back of my mind was that feeling, ‘Is this right? Shouldn’t we just be leaving it now?’

“And then I started writing it and the world just sprung into my head. It felt so clear what we were trying to do.

“It’s going to feel like Life On Mars but bigger and with a real sexual chemistry between the two leads – Gene and Alex. She’s very different to Sam. We’ve opened up the universe without breaking the logic.

“There’s more to know about Gene Hunt, about what he represents and what he is. I think Ashes will take us on a bit of a journey.”

There was even a clue about the set up of the new series in last night's farewell Life On Mars.

Which brings us to that ending, which saw Sam (John Simm) waking up from his coma back in the modern day, where he struggled to feel alive.

Viewers later saw him jump from the roof of his Manchester police HQ, back into 1973, where he saved the lives of Gene and the rest of his A-Division colleagues, and finally agreed to stay forever with Annie (Liz White) before the team drove off in the Cortina towards a rainbow.

As has been said several times, you can’t please everyone.

But judging by the online reaction across the web, the vast majority of LoM fans were both thrilled and satisfied by the conclusion.

It was the ending that Matthew and his co-creators had planned from the very start.

“We had to be strong and stay true to the line that we always intended.

“For me, it was much more important that there was a strong emotional closure to the story. That was more important than a massive twist, although I still think we managed to try and pull the rug out from under the audience a little bit.

“I have to say, it’s nice to be able to talk about it openly,” he laughed. “I’ve always had to be so coy in the past.

“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 he’s 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 I’d always intended for him to wake up.

“When it actually came to writing him waking up, I just couldn’t bear him staying in 2007. I just couldn’t stand it. It was horrible, even writing him waking up. I thought, ‘Oh God, I hate this, I don’t 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 Gene’s methodology into the modern world.

“It was all very intellectual and fine, but it was just so cold and I suddenly realised I didn’t 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 I’ll 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 that’s slightly a testament to John’s brilliant acting at that moment, as well.”

Matthew added: “It’s 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 don’t think 2006 or 2007 brought out the best in Sam Tyler.

“He was caught up in his emotional red tape. He couldn’t 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.’”

Whatever Matthew intended, fans have taken ownership of Life On Mars, and the ending, with Sam back in 1973, can still be viewed in different ways.

Simm, himself, believes his character may not even have returned to the modern day.

It depends on what you want to believe.

“I think it does,” agrees Matthew. “The truth is, when I wrote it, what I was trying to say is that’s he’s died, and that for however long that last second of life is going to be, it will stretch out for an age, as an eternity for him. And so when he drives off in that car, he’s really driving off into the afterlife.”

Life On Mars was more than just a hit drama. It made a real emotional connection with its audience.

What is it about the series that really stirred people?

“A lot’s made of the nostalgic aspect of it. But I don’t think it is that. I think if it was nostalgia, it would only hit one demographic, and it hasn’t hit just one at all.

“I think it’s purely the characters. People love to watch those characters. They feel a great affection for them and, ultimately, it’s not a cop show and it’s not a time travel show, it’s Alice In Wonderland, that’s what it is.

“And that template of a journeyman, going through the looking glass into a magical world is an archetypal story, and people respond to archetypal stories.

“I don’t think it’s the music or the car or the Seventies. I think that’s an added bonus.

“But I know kids who watch the show and love it, who don’t even know who David Bowie is, let alone who Mott The Hoople are.

“It’s something else. It’s the fantasy journey. Stranger in a strange land. I think that’s the thing that people are responding to.

John Simm made clear last year that he would not be appearing in the spin-off and there are no plans to involve him.

So is this the last we’ll see of Sam Tyler, happy in 1973 cop heaven?

Matthew’s not sure. “You shouldn’t write him off completely.

"You never know with Life On Mars.”

 

All opinion I know but..

Thought it was a load of "nostalgic" craap. Let's all have a real laugh at the good old racist, misogynistic, brute force "bobby" from the past. Much better to escape the pc dominated present and commit suicide to go back to the good old days.
Oh and the writers don't want to cash in, so even though the main actor doesn't want to do another series, let's do a "spin-off" so that such a good idea (and our writing fees) don't disappear.
Give me Lost any day.

 

Yep it's all about opinions.....................

but yours is wrong, Lost, gawd almighty!

 

RE: Yep it's all about opinions.....................

OK. How about Desperate Housewives and Battlestar Galactica. Only British drama that comes close to the entertainment of US ones is Dream Team. Fletch is back.

 

Oh dear.

Dream Team?

Deperate Housewives?

Battlestar Galactica?

You call that drama?

 

You're on a wind up, are'nt you? nt

 

When do you get time to watch all that lot ?

Its sad, sad I tell yer nation of telly freaks, going ta dogs we are