Life On Mars - Series 1 - Complete (Box Set) (DVD)

.../> I clearly remember when Life on Mars first hit our screens. Heavily promoted by the BBC there were posters everywhere; bus stops, on the underground and in the papers and I have to say first impression were positive. First up was the star, John Sims. One of our best young actors, hugely underrated I’d seen him in several very different roles but not once seen him put a foot wrong. Then there was the other bloke, I won’t pretend I knew his name ...
...driver. In the background Bowie’s Life on Mars drifts through from his iPod and as he swings in and out of consciousness this soundtrack swells and fills the scene until he sits up and sees that he is most definitely not in Kansas anymore. I must have watched this scene a hundred times and I fully believe it is one of the best ‘reveals’ ever filmed. The direction, the cinematography, the music and the editing are all superb and, finally, Sims wonderfully ... more

It’s a God awful small affair

I clearly remember when Life on Mars first hit our screens. Heavily promoted by the BBC there were posters everywhere; bus stops, on the underground and in the papers and I have to say first impression were positive. First up was the star, John Sims. One of our best young actors, hugely underrated I’d seen him in several very different roles but not once seen him put a foot wrong. Then there was the other bloke, I won’t pretend I knew his name at the time but I’d seen him in a couple of shows and been struck by his ability and charisma on screen. Next up was the premise, a cop show clearly but also a time travelling cop show. An entertaining idea but not exactly what you’d call original, it’s one of those Sci-Fi devices that gets recycled every ten years or so (the other is the old body swap chestnut currently being performed by Zac Ephron and Matthew Perry in 17 Again) where a contemporary character is sent back into the past or a future character brought back to our times.

So, anyway, with my appetite whetted did I go on and watch the series? No, I didn’t. In recent years I’ve become a bit rubbish at watching telly and can never keep up with the channels and the schedules. Don’t get me wrong, I watch as much as the next potato but tend to stick to DVDs or reruns of QI and Top Gear on Dave. I finally got around to watching the series when those lovely people at Virgin Media stuck it on their free On Demand service (I’ve been giving that some hammer recently I can tell you) and I managed to plough through all the episodes in both series in less than a week before going back and watching them all over again. Since then it has been in and out of the On Demand play lists but you can’t beat the joy of ownership and I’ve kept a beady eye on it on Amazon so that when the DVDs recently dipped to £8 per series they found themselves snaffled.

Now he walks through his sunken dream

Has he gone back in time, is he in a coma dreaming or is he dead? This is the question that Sam asks himself at the beginning of each episode and it is the underlying question that drives the whole series.

Sam Tyler is a detective in Manchester on the hunt for serial killer. In his mid-thirties he has achieved the rank of Detective Chief Inspector which marks him down as a high flyer, the opening scene has him bringing down a suspect on his own which indicates that he attained this rank by achievement and not funny handshakes. So we know he is a good detective, next we’re shown how he works. Interviewing the suspect he makes full use of forensic and technical evidence, all the tools of a modern copper in fact and when the interview doesn’t go to plan he resolves to try harder, not cut corners. Various other cues are provided, some only become obvious second time round but all are relevant. The very modern corporate office set against the slightly dated concrete police station exteriors. The music comes from an iPod and all conversations are conducted over mobile phones, there should be no doubt we are looking at a 21st century world.

The switch to 1973 comes when Tyler is knocked down by a speeding hit and run driver. In the background Bowie’s Life on Mars drifts through from his iPod and as he swings in and out of consciousness this soundtrack swells and fills the scene until he sits up and sees that he is most definitely not in Kansas anymore. I must have watched this scene a hundred times and I fully believe it is one of the best ‘reveals’ ever filmed. The direction, the cinematography, the music and the editing are all superb and, finally, Sims wonderfully contained performance perfectly conveys the disorientation of the character with the merest flick of an eye or twitch of the mouth. The following shots take us on a return journey where the contrasts come thick and fast. Bowie is still playing but now through an 8-Track, a Rover P6 has replaced his Jeep and where before he was in a smart grey business suit now he is in a shiny brown leather jacket and slacks. The exterior shot of the police station gives a brief respite as it is the same concrete monstrosity as before but we are then plunged into contrasts again as he enters what was his office. Gone are the clean modern desks, computers and swathes of natural light and in is neon strip-lighted gloom, clutter and a cigarette smoke haze.

As a modern audience we’ve all seen enough Sci-Fi not be phased by the whole time travel thing, give us the concept and we’ll run with it, but there still needs to be the set up and how this is handled is crucial. In Life on Mars it is done impressively and the more you watch it the better it gets. During the reveal images are glimpsed that only make sense once the whole series has been watched, and then serve only to raise more questions. It is intelligent television, having faith that the audience has the patience and wit to match but it wears its cleverness lightly. So many things only become apparent on second or third viewings but it isn’t hard to follow. Far from it, you could watch it once and feel satisfied but watching it again (and again) is very rewarding.

Take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy

Tyler’s confusion is not helped by the fact that no one else is surprised to see him. He is, if not exactly welcomed, at least expected as it appears that he has been transferred from a neighbouring division and he is soon crossing paths with his nemesis in the show; Gene Hunt. Hunt is pretty much everything a modern audience wants in a 1970’s throwback old school copper. The hard drinking, the aggression and the short cuts, the whole ‘Put your trousers on son, you’re nicked’ Sweeney experience is here in good order. He’s racist, sexist, violent and on the take. He beats up witnesses and suspects alike and has no time at all for due process. The fact that we love him and his ‘roguish’ ways is due in equal measure to the superb writing and the stand out performance from Philip Glenister. Big and bear like, Glenister’s Hunt is like an aging heavyweight boxer, going to seed but still a bit useful. More intelligent than he first appears, this Hunt is not the two dimensional caricature you might expect and often brings elements of humour and insight to proceedings that work well to bring to life what could otherwise be a rather formulaic show.

The rest of the cast include Ray, a Detective Sergeant who bears a particular grudge against Tyler. Ray is a mini Gene Hunt - all violence and short cuts - but without the wit and insight. There is Chris; the young wide eyed Detective Constable. Very much the Seventies man he is open to Tyler’s seemingly progressive ideas about policing. Finally there is Annie, a WPC she is inevitably the only one with any brains and becomes Tyler’s confidant and love interest.

Look at those cave men go

Whatever the high concept for the series may have been, at its heart Life on Mars is a cop show. Each week has a new cops ‘n’ robbers story; armed robbery, murder - the usual suspects - and for the show to work over time these are as important as any other element. Fortunately the writers are fully aware of this and invest as much effort in the stories as into the overarching mythology. In good detective story style each week’s episode is a self contained mystery, with the added incentive that several of the cases have hooks into Sam’s modern world. There is the murder in the rundown 1973 factory that will eventually become his trendy 2006 apartment block. There is the serial killer whose Modus Operandi matches the case he was investigating when he was run over. Other episodes highlight the differences between the two eras but all are competent stories that will satisfy the straightforward dramatic requirements of a TV series.

At the risk of being overly forensic about the structure of each show you can break them down to the following three elements. Foremost is the investigation inevitably followed by the conflict between Hunt’s 1973 and Tyler’s 2006 policing styles, instinct versus procedure if you like. The final element is Sam’s ongoing search for why he is here, is it a dream or time travel. Is he in 1973 for a purpose and if he achieves this will he be allowed to return to his old life. These elements and issues are developed throughout this series; Tyler’s initial aversion to Hunt and his knuckle dragging methods is slowly replaced by a grudging respect, at least on a personal if not professional level. In contrast, his nightmares and hallucinations become more vivid as time progresses.

In terms of characters and character development this is something of a mixed bag, each character is well written and well played but no one goes on a particular journey. Tyler is a pretty ‘straight’ character, if rather dry and removed. Once his initial disorientation is out of the way he finds himself settling into the world around him, although he stays aloof from the 1973 police style and sticks rigidly to his own methods. He does develop a respect and friendship for the others but never to the point where he sees merit in their methods. You would expect the character of Gene Hunt to change significantly as his eyes are opened to the benefits of modern policing but to be fair he welcomed Tyler’s input and methods from the very first episodes. All he wants is an arrest and he’ll follow any method that gets him there, if Tyler’s forensic approach works then great but equally if gut instinct and a good beating does the job then so much the better, business and pleasure so to speak.

Ray’s character doesn’t have a lot of room to grow, consistently unreconstructed if there is ever a need for a racist, sexist or generally offensive line it is usually given to Ray. He is there to represent the most unsavoury aspects of policing at the time. Chris, the young detective, is in awe of both Hunt and Tyler and often finds himself caught between the two. He has the most potential to grow and develop as he is keen to take on many of Tyler’s methods. In many ways he represents the future of policing; it’s just a shame that he is a bit thick. Finally there is Annie, a university graduate she is the sharpest tool in the box but as a WPC is considered barely more than window dressing by her colleagues. Tyler sees her potential and helps to bring it out, almost to the point were it is recognised by the other detectives. Almost, but not quite - it is still 1973 after all.

It’s the freakiest show

So it’s a cop show (yawn), it’s time travelling Sci-Fi (been there) and a 70’s nostalgia fest (save me). What is it about a show drawn from these three uninspiring elements that has made it one of the best home grown dramas I’ve ever seen? In a word: quality. Quality writing, quality acting, quality production. If it’s in the show it was done with quality. They could easily have made a much weaker show with these elements (in fact they did and called it Ashes to Ashes) but whether by luck, judgement or plain good fortune everything came together to create something special. Something that will, I have no doubt, stand the test of time and be enjoyed when we look at the 2006 Tyler as every bit as antiquated as the 1973 Gene Hunt. And I never even mentioned the car; a Mk 3 ‘Coke Bottle’ Ford Cortina - what a motor. My big brother had one of these and I thought he was the man. Enough said.

Being a DVD release there a couple of extras to mention. A lengthy ‘Making of…’ feature is spread over discs 1 & 2 (of four), this is pretty good as these features go and gives plenty of background on the creation and production of the show. Disc 3 has an interview with the composer of the theme and incidental music, this feature is a bit lame as he is a bit weird and spends far to long fiddling with his sampling equipment. The final disc has an interview with the production designer (the person responsible for creating the 1970’s look of the show); this is OK but probably could have been better. Finally there is the faithful out takes section. There is no deleted scenes piece but I did notice that several episodes had additional scenes that I hadn’t seen on my On Demand TV version.

Hunky Dory

Do I recommend this show? Let’s just say that my favourite Bowie song had been ‘Oh, You Pretty Things’ but is now ‘Life on Mars’, and there aren’t many TV shows that will do that to you. 

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