Life on Mars

[sidney]

I loved the last episode last night, and for me it made sense in the last five mins when he jumped off the roof and ended back to 1973, he had made up his mind where he belonged where just before that, when he had come out of the coma and it to me it would have been unfinish ending and a let down to me if he had ended back in the present and just had been a dream, but I think there could another series now because the partnership between Sam and Gene is magic, and it has been a long time since a comedy has given me so many laughs, and I am very hard to please

[Stuart M]

but I think there could another series now because the partnership between Sam and Gene is magic, and it has been a long time since a comedy has given me so many laughs, and I am very hard to please

Comedy? Psychodrama, surely.

And there won't be any more series involving John Simm (Sam Tyler) as he found the filming schedule too demanding. If you watch the series again, you'll come to realise John is in almost every shot, which is a lot of filming (albeit dramatically necessary for this particular show). And since JS has just had a second kid, he decided not to be involved in a third series.

There is a "spinoff" coming next year, set in 1981, and called Ashes to Ashes. With Gene Hunt and a female character. Which will probably be pants. Actually, I'm only saying that last bit because the setup for Ashes to Ashes ruins my theory for how the finale of LoM worked.

Still, good stuff, and if John Simm doesn't get a BAFTA, then whoever votes for the BAFTAs should be locked up after a good kicking down at the station.

[straycat]

There is a "spinoff" coming next year, set in 1981, and called Ashes to Ashes. With Gene Hunt and a female character. Which will probably be pants. Actually, I'm only saying that last bit because the setup for Ashes to Ashes ruins my theory for how the finale of LoM worked.

Well - we've been recording Ashes to Ashes since it started, and finally had time to watch the first one this weekend...

And it wasn't pants. If only it had merely been pants. It was just a diabolically awful mess :cry:
What happened? Did they sack every single person who'd had any artistic input into Life on Mars, and replace them with a bunch of autistic monkeys? Seriously disappointed

Anyone else been watching this? Does it improve after the first episode? Or should we just not bother with any more?

[Stuart M]

Anyone else been watching this? Does it improve after the first episode? Or should we just not bother with any more?

I thought episode 2 was an improvement, but 3 was a dip again.

I'm struggling to work out whether the stylistic superficialities are a knowing wink to the 80s in general, or just, erm, stylistic superficialities . Some of them are just TOO obvious to be incompetence - Drake's off-the-shoulder outfit with the bra strap showing, for instance: surely a DI would never have got away with that? And the whole atmosphere of the show doesn't fit with 1981, but more a generic "1980s" cliche. Also finding the mindset of Alex Drake odd - she has a daughter in 2008, in mortal peril, yet she's spending her time in her construct getting pissed and shagging strangers she meets in bars. She has a far stronger pull to her real world than Sam Tyler had, yet seems less motivated by it.

Overall, I'll keep watching because a lot of the music's great . However I can't engage with the story in the same way somehow. It was easy to empathise with Life on Mars, because the central character was the same age/gender as me, and the whole 70's thing created a warm fuzzy vibe of more innocent times in my head. With A2A, the central character's female and in a time zone where I was just about to hit puberty - not much for me to empathise with there really!

[Lou]

I'm struggling to work out whether the stylistic superficialities are a knowing wink to the 80s in general, or just, erm, stylistic superficialities . Some of them are just TOO obvious to be incompetence - Drake's off-the-shoulder outfit with the bra strap showing, for instance: surely a DI would never have got away with that? And the whole atmosphere of the show doesn't fit with 1981, but more a generic "1980s" cliche. Also finding the mindset of Alex Drake odd - she has a daughter in 2008, in mortal peril, yet she's spending her time in her construct getting pissed and shagging strangers she meets in bars. She has a far stronger pull to her real world than Sam Tyler had, yet seems less motivated by it.

My theory is that, having read Sam Tyler's files, she's believes that everything she's experiencing is just in her head. That's why she's calling everyone "constructs". Also, she believes that the time she's spending in her 80s fantasy doesn't directly correspond with real time - in the intro she says something like she's "a second away from life or death". That means she thinks she's got all the time in the world to figure out how to get out of it - so why not enjoy it by drinking and shagging?

But that's just my theory. The writers might be intending something else. Who knows...

[straycat]

Also, she believes that the time she's spending in her 80s fantasy doesn't directly correspond with real time

She does, doesn't she? It would seem that she didn't pay a whole lot of attention to Sam's files though... because 'present day' time was very obviously passing for Sam - and at a similar rate to 1970s time.

[Juju]

Well - we've been recording Ashes to Ashes since it started, and finally had time to watch the first one this weekend...

And it wasn't pants. If only it had merely been pants. It was just a diabolically awful mess :cry:
What happened? Did they sack every single person who'd had any artistic input into Life on Mars, and replace them with a bunch of autistic monkeys? Seriously disappointed

Anyone else been watching this? Does it improve after the first episode? Or should we just not bother with any more?

Sorry, but I like it lots! It's different from "Life on Mars": it's sillier, shallower, whatever. But it's still fun. And the soundtrack is cracking.

Happy to admit that I might be biased, due to having a bit of a 'thing' for the Gene Genie.

[straycat]

And the soundtrack is cracking.

Well - we agree on one thing, anyway. The soundtrack is indeed great

[Juju]

To be fair, I didn't expect it to be as good... low expectations, that's what you need.

[jeanie]

I haven't had a chance to watch A-A yet but am too scared incase I'm disappointed. Loved L o M so much... Always trust the Gene Genie...

[Lou]

She does, doesn't she? It would seem that she didn't pay a whole lot of attention to Sam's files though... because 'present day' time was very obviously passing for Sam - and at a similar rate to 1970s time.

Agreed - except that she got the idea when she heard that Sam had come back to the 70s and had lived for a further 7 years, presumably during the seconds between him hitting the ground & finally dying.

Although, as she was told this by Ray during her own fantasy, it probably doesn't prove anything.

[straycat]

To be fair, I didn't expect it to be as good... low expectations, that's what you need.

I'm happy to lower my expectations... just not my standards.