Life on Mars was definitely my favourite TV programme and probably still is. Series one was fantastic and series two simply picked up from where it left off
********NB: I apologise now if you feel I have included too many quotes, I just wanted to highlight how good I feel the show is.********
Life on Mars tells the story of Sam Tyler, a police officer, who after being hit by a car woke up in 1973. He constantly questions his own sanity and at the beginning of each episode Sam's voice is always heard to say "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."
After landing in 1973 at the beginning of the first series by this series Sam has now been in 1973 for a while and so focuses more on Sam establishing himself in the period. In this way it highlights more Sam's journey through the 1970's as well as his fight to get home and the psychological affect that being 'out of time' is having on him.
The format of the episodes remains the same as it was in the first series. Each episode telling it's own story (resolving a crime or two) but with Sam and his need to get home being the continuing thread. So if he's not talking to TV's or radios or being scared to death by the test-card girl, then he's out on the streets fighting side-by-side once again with DCI Gene Hunt, DS Ray Carling, DC Chris Skelton and the now more prominent W(P/D)C Annie Cartwright.
The characters in the show are as big and as bold as they were in the first series and encapsulate the period totally. Their fantastically unique personalities continue to pull laughs either purposely or through their naivety or non-'Political Correct' behaviour.
"Gene Hunt: Don't move, you are surrounded by armed bastards!"
Throughout the series however the only character that really progresses is Sam. That is not a negative however as in this way we are totally focused on Sam's journey and the other remain the iconic beacons that they always were. Chris continues to look up to Sam whilst Ray still hates his guts.
"Ray Carling: I'm arresting you for the theft of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest… and driving like a div."
Annie of course, as Sam's love interest, plays a more vital role in this series and in a way through her promotion to DC, does progress. Her scenes with Sam however are some of the most perfectly shot in the entire series. They show how Annie is struggling through her trust in Sam and ultimately her love for him to understand why he doesn't believe they are real. In this way they really help us to empathise not only with Sam's situation but also her situation, as a female in the police force in the 1970's.
"Annie Cartwright: Hurts, dosent it? Thats because it's real !"
The series does however allow us to see another dimension to Gene's character and so encourages us warm to him even further. We realise that Gene is like he is because of those he has been around and that in his own way he really respects Sam and the way that he breaks away from the typical police role that he, Gene, has become accustomed.
"Gene: And another thing. I intend to drink the equivalent of the North Sea in whisky tonight so raid your piggy banks."
Throughout the entire series I personally don't feel that there is a weak episode, they all just have their own style. Some are more humorous than others, some more poignant and some delve deeper into what we already know.
The music is, as it was in the first series, absolutely fantastic. Songs such as Yellow Brick Road, Live and Let Die and Gene Genie (DCI Gene Hunt's signature track). Of course there is also the title track David Bowie's Life On Mars. All of the songs are authentic to the period and combined with the costumes, hairstyles, buildings and mannerisms of the show the feeling that you are in the 1970's is always prominent (and I wasn't even born then).
The show itself is very well written and filmed. It is comical and satirical but also manages to hit the nail on the head on more than one occasion. The best thing however about this comedy is that every one of the characters is comic in someway and therefore as an audience you do not look to one character to provide the humour. For this reason I feel that the writing is truly sublime. The filming is also top-class the camera angles always place you as the audience is the right place at the right time and the some-what signature shot of Sam and Gene punching someone together is always filmed to achieve maximum (usually comic) effect.
"Chris Skelton: Woman in her twenties, dead. Gene Hunt: Well I didn't think she was sunbathing, did I?!"
As you can probably gather from this I do not have a bad word to say about the show. It is truly unpredictable up until the very last moment and if you're anything like me will probably be shouting a different thing at the TV each episode. It is in my opinion the best thing that has been shown on the TV for near on a decade and if you missed it on the TV then it is a definite must for the DVD collection. Scrub that, it is a definite must for the DVD collection whether you saw it on the TV or not.
become a vital, gripping drama, and this second series more than maintains the sky high standards that the first so memorably set.What makes it even more surpris...
become a vital, gripping drama, and this second series more than maintains the sky high standards that the first so memorably set.What makes it even more surpris...
![Life on Mars : Complete BBC Series 2 [2007]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/65205445.jpg)
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