Radio Times

TV executives don't have many good ideas, so they live by two rules. One: if another channel has a good idea, copy it, even if your version is bad. Two: if you have a good idea, keep milking it dry, even after it's turned bad. Ashes to Ashes is rule two in action.

In 2006, Life on Mars was a great idea. A detective wakes up in 1973 and has to join the oafish coppers of the time, while figuring out what he's doing there. The problem was plausibly getting him home, but the creators had an answer: Sam Tyler was in a coma, exploring his early memories to resolve why his father deserted him.

Sam watching his dad flee the scene of a crime should have wrapped the show up. But the buzz around it was deafening, so a second series was demanded, although the premise couldn't sustain one. Mars ploughed on, focusing on each week's (run-of-the-mill) police procedural and relegating "why is Sam here?" to a few token spooky moments, hoping nobody would notice the whole thing had gone silly. It more or less got away with it.

The madness had to stop there. But no, here's the sequel, and it's a garish fiasco. Another cop wakes up in the past, this time 1981. Is Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) mad, in a coma or back in time? We know she's in a coma, so that's the ingenious central mystery of Mars down the khazi. Will Alex catch this week's villain? We don't care, because everything is in Alex's head. "It was all a dream" endings are annoying enough - this is an "it was all a dream" beginning.

Ashes fans say it doesn't matter that the set-up is ridiculous, because the 80s references are so clever. Look, the poster of the woman with the tennis dress and no knickers! Look, new romantics! The nostalgia's trowelled on as if it's a new idea, when in fact there's been an 80s revival every year without fail since 1990.

Then there's iconic b*****d-from-the-past DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). He's always been dodgy. His fans fell for him simply because they liked seeing him get away with being a violent bigot. This was reinforced by the ending of Mars series two, where Sam Tyler returned to 2007 but, infuriated by our soft modern ethics, committed suicide to enjoy more knockabout sexist fun with Gene in the imaginary 1970s.

At least Hunt used to be funny. Now, repetition has turned his quirks into self-parody ("fire up the Quattro!"), and he's unconvincingly developing a sensitive side thanks to having a female partner - albeit a whiny, provocatively dressed one like Alex Drake. Giving two-dimensional comic characters too much to do is a classic sign of a show jumping the shark.

Ashes to Ashes patronisingly assumes you don't care about any of this, and will keep thinking it's cutting edge. In reality, it's just an ordinary police drama in an increasingly ill-fitting costume.

Stop complaining, relax, it's all supposed to be fun....and it is, you don't need to over analyse it, just enjoy. How's this for a follow up idea, Gene Hunt has an accident and wakes up in 2010, in my opinion, ideal comedy drama.

Life On Mars was good but Ashes to Ashes is even better

excellent series..

third should tie it all up though, not dragged on like u.s. crapp series that go on and on and on and on and on (father ted classic, gone by default, allo' allo'still great(gone by default!). stop whyning on about mild to hard entertainment otherwise it'll be the big brother s***e and get me out of here with the little and large A n D's for the next ten years!!!

get real uk, we got the best talent going.

comments ?

Let's face it, who really cares what critics think? If enough people enjoy and watch a programme that's reason enough to put it on. I hate Eastenders but there it is, in all it's dark misery, day in, day out, going on, and on, and on and on and on and on............

Why is this still up? The Radio Times not found anything else on TV to hate since February? Clearly they are not watching the BBC.

i love ashes to ashes its a superb series the acting is first class as are the scripts and as the marvellous gene hunt once said " if you don't like it don't watch" never mess with the gene genie he is a legend!!!!

Very said the last two posters, it's absolutely dire. The sooner it's over the better and I hope to god there isn't a third series, though I'm very afraid there will be.

As for Sam Tyler returning, John Simm - ring your agent and take any other work but this. It gives second rate a bad name.

Sorry to be the fly in the ointment but I am enjoying this series very much indeed. I love the jokes and the music even if as yet, I don't fully understand the plot!

agraham: after the 1960s how can you praise '70s music? So much of what we call "70s" in these days is actually '60s!

.. Well I think it's bloody funny

I dont no what your on about have you spent to much time in your hole! I dont think you know good tv even if it slapped you on the wrist and called you names!

I completley disagree!!!!!!!!!

I think that Ashes To Ashes should have been about Hunt and the team in Manchester in 1974. Sam should have stayed in 2007 and got on with his life. I also think Alex Drake is not really that worried about being in 1981. Also Life On Mars was 100% better then this old tosh!

I adore this programme, and am so pleased its back on this month.

Funny that - I'm sick of other people telling me what I should and shouldn't take as entertainment as if I'm somehow as bigoted as Gene Hunt is because I don't get hugely offended every time his ugly mug comes on screen. As has already been stated here, if you actually watch Philip Glenister's performance, you can pick out the difference between what he says and what his eyes are saying, but I suspect that Jack and his supporters are probably not capable of doing that, as this would involve actually having to take an objective view of the programme.

The BBC spends a very healthy chunk of broadcasting time putting across the political agendas of the modern day, and clearly no one wants to go back to the more negative and unpleasant aspects of life in the 70s and 80s, but come on isn't that enough for you people?

Totally disagree with you. Watch the last 4 episodes of A2A, they are better than most Life on Mars episodes. It's a series which improved with every episode and if that carrys on into series 2 then i'll be delighted!

I think ashes to ashes is fantastic and really does improve when you watch it again. I mean its the 80s not the 70s. Alex is not sam, two different people and different personalities. Also, Keeley can act and does a great job, its nice that her character just gets on with it sometimes rather than continually saying "i want to go home."

All i can say is that if you do not like it then do not watch it and get on with something else instead, like watch something you do like. Let the fans of the show enjoy it, and stop trying to ruin it for us, everyone has their own opinions and likes and dislikes, and yeah they're not always the same, but why do people have to go out of their way to tell everyone how much they hate something.

There are plenty of tv shows/films/actors who i do not like, so i dont watch them, simple. Then they do not bother me at all.

in my opinion just enjoy the show and stop being fussy . it beats all those crappy soaps!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh come on! Yes, Life of Mars was brilliant and Ashes to Ashes isn't the best sequal ever shot but why can't you just enjoy it for what it is? True, I have found it quite difficult to get into but now I just savour the weekly musical memories and those happy, happy days when this country had a soul and wasn't so obsessed with being PC.

Anyway, any Bowie titled script can't be bad - I wonder what the writers will call their trilogy - 'Heroes' for the war years? 'Gene Genie' for the hippie 60s? Or perhaps 'A Lad (land?) Insane' ;-) - that's gotta be for the 2000s !!!

Chill-out! I love Ashes to Ashes. I thought I'd hate it because I loved Life on Mars and I am a big fan of John Simm and I could not see how they could make anything that matched it. I agree with those who say it's different to the first and should be viewed as such. Maybe I am a little biased as I was a student in the early eighties and was into a lot of the music they play. Yes I have noticed flaws in that some of the music is earlier or later than 1981 and I do comment on it to my younger husband. However, I don't let that spoil what I feel is a great piece of entertainment. Also, as a woman who really did have to put up with a lot of sexist abuse wherever I worked in the eighties, I feel that the dialogue is very authentic. And yes I sometimes do wince at the racism and homophobic stuff too, just like I did then and still do now when people make awful comments. In reality, that is what happens in life and I think it's a good thing to highlight it rather than to sweep it under the carpet. It is still here unfortunately. The only thing I would say is that sometimes the characters could deal with it more strongly but then people would be saying it was too PC!

I watch Ashes to Ashes because, as others have said, there isn't much on worth watching, but it's not as good as the other series. Keeley Hawes is not convincing either as a woman of the eighties or in her role as a detective and I wish they'd stop trying to convince us she's sexy. Thankfully there is still some sparky dialogue between the guys in the series and the character of the young policewoman is well drawn and far more liberated than the character of Alex Drake. I just think that the scriptwriters have become too focussed on the relationship between Gene Hunt and Alex Drake and the programmes gone soft as a result.

What a load of crap. Im refering to the top of this thread. This isnt life on mars. Life on mars was cool. But it was its own thing. Ashes To Ashes has its own thing. The premise has changed. Of course we now know its all not real. But i think this series is more about explaining it all. Explaining the limbo world inbetween life and death that this is. Its a natural progression. I like it alot

:-x i really loved the first two episodes in particular, and i found that they were better on repeat viewing.

Although a few observations would be that alex always seems to appear drunk in the first few episodes she was always having a drink, also they always seem to be in luigis all the time.

What I really hate about the series is the conceit that all men in 1981 are stupid bigots, except of course the gay guy, the black sergeant, or the blank slate which is Chris, who must rely on Shaz (who last night added potential bisexuality to her progressive CV) to teach him the ways of the new world order.

The whole gender issue is laid on with a trowel, the point of each episode being to dissect a specific social issue - one week greed, one week prostitution and rape, one week gay awareness. I'm guessing race will be on the list somewhere, as we have seen too little of likeable Viv, the desk sergeant.

But, yes, I GET IT!! You can put the sledgehammer down. We know the early 80s weren't perfect and it was a time of great change in Britain, but Ashes To Ashes is being used as a vehicle to drive through every PC idea the writers have on their mind, dimly-remembered and written from a 2008 viewpoint.

Using the terms "fudgepacker" or "Watch your back *snigger*" as the humour in itself is SO weak. I watched an old episode of On The Buses last week (I was bored, it was Saturday afternoon) - it was grossly racist and, as with A2A, the terms of abuse were the jokes themselves. How does using "bum bandit" ironically change it to being acceptable humour in 2008?

Who is the beneficiary of this teaching? Me, who was a non-homophobic, non-racist, non-sexist 16 year old in 1981? Or a younger, impressionable audience, who are being shown the errors of the old ways - look how silly the old straight white men are - not as clever as they all thought they were, eh?

And for those who say critics of the programme have no sense of humour, the show is laced with PC sociopolitical opinion, with very large signposts pointing to it, so it's not JUST entertainment, is it?

It never ceases to annoy me how the loudest critics of stereotyping are the biggest offenders. Get off it, and get on with the plot and the fun. Life On Mars this ain't.

ps The Stranglers' No More Heroes was probably conceived in 1976; it was released in 1977, closer to Life On Mars times, so even the soundtrack has been lazily compiled.

hehe Well I like it. I am female and very 2008 about equality but it's a laugh for goodness sake! I laugh at it all, if you don't, fine turn over but don't write long diatribes on why you hate it so much. Now that really isn't funny.

I was a huge fan of Life on Mars series 1, although I agree there was some decline during Series 2: Gene Hunt becomes more of a caricature, whereas in Series 1 there is a clever balance between Sam's passion and idealism and Gene's toughness and street smarts. Life on Mars isn't really about whether Sam is alive or dead - it makes us think not only how far we have come from the bigoted, sexist, racist 70s - but also how much we have lost.

Ashes is Ashes is much more superficial, but also more fun - it takes its lead from the silly, hedonistic 80s, but it is still funny, sometimes quite sharply written, and invariably strangely poignant when Philip Glenister is on screen. Alex is a very implausible character, but it is difficult not to like the fun Keeley H is having with her, and Hunt's baffled yearning for her can suddenly put the show on a whole different level.

And I loved the bottom-stamping scene!

I was a huge fan of Life on Mars series 1, although I agree there was some decline during Series 2: Gene Hunt becomes more of a caricature, whereas in Series 1 there is a clever balance between Sam's passion and idealism and Gene's toughness and street smarts. Life on Mars isn't really about whether Sam is alive or dead - it makes us think not only how far we have come from the bigoted, sexist, racist 70s - but also how much we have lost.

Ashes is Ashes is much more superficial, but also more fun - it takes its lead from the silly, hedonistic 80s, but it is still funny, sometimes quite sharply written, and invariably strangely poignant when Philip Glenister is on screen. Alex is a very implausibel character, but it is difficult not to like the fun K

And I loved the bottom-stamping scene.

To start off with your complaint about the quite brilliant second series of Life on Mars. It was well constructed, well written, well performed, well thought through, with a good story and characters you cared about. OK It didn't follow the exact same story with Sam's dad as the first series did, who cares, they did another great story and rounded it off brilliantly in the last episode, which took the show to a whole new level in terms of the characters and plot.

After that finale I was very worried when they said there would be a spin off series. They ended so well I thought, "If you do a spin off you can only ruin it," but I sat down to watch Ashes to Ashes and I loved it. And yeah the fact that the show comes down on the side of "in a coma" does ruin the mystery of both series a little bit (not a lot though).

I'm 18 so didn't live through the 80's but from what I know the attention to detail is remarkable. It's brilliantly done with great music, great jokes and nice little references. I never lived through the 80's but yet I'm still enjoying the nostalgia thing, so how you can say it isn't good I don't know. And it's not ruined by these 80's revivals that happen every year according to you, although I personally would find it hard to say the last time I saw Fade to Grey being performed by Steve Strange at The Blitz Club filled with New Romantics. If it had happened every year, surely that proves its popular and worthy of a hit TV show.

Gene Hunt now. This really did annoy me. Stop moaning about a bigoted main character, if we didn't have him there would be no conflict, that's the point. Also as Chandlerfan quite rightly said "Glenister's a smart enough actor to be able to say one thing with his mouth and another with his eyes." He's a very smart actor who puts a lot of subtext into his character, something you don't seem to be able to notice. He's not just bigoted because Glenister wouldn't play such a 1 dimensional character, there are many levels to him. Also to say that he's no longer funny is just wrong. His character may have changed a little bit since Life on Mars but after 8 years a character like Gene is bound to change a bit. I would be disappointed if he hadn't.

Ashes to Ashes is a very good series. It will never be as good as Life on Mars but it's a good series, with good characters and I wish it every success. I agree it should stop before it's milked dry, but that time has not yet come.

I was really looking forward to Ashes to Ashes but after the first three episodes it has sadly left me cold. The narrative is clunky, Alex Drake is irritating, and once again the BBC is bleeding an excellent idea dry. I will be watching tonight's episode but if there isn't a vast improvement I will be switching off.

Oh dear. Judging by some of the comments here, there are a lot of viewers out there who could use some medical help to locate their "funny bone" before it withers through lack of use! Or maybe a visit to an optician, who could kit you up with a pair of glasses so you can take a closer look at Phil Glenister's performance?

I'm with you all on your comments about Drake - way too self-satisfied, and what are those revealing tops all about? - but got to take issue with Jack's character assassination of Gene.

I didn't fall for him "because I like seeing him get away with being a violent bigot". Glenister's a smart enough actor to be able to say one thing with his mouth and another with his eyes. And there were plenty of instances in Life on Mars where it was clear Gene had started out just as idealistic and cleancut as Sam, but had necessarily become corrupted to play the criminals at their own game. I'd say he actually deserves a fair bit of sympathy.

And for those moaning about the sexism and bigotry - come on, these are shows about the police service in the 1970s and 80s! If the writers are to be true to the times, sexism/bigotry's to be expected, isn't it?!

Actually, I'm a student and my income is about £3000 a year. But carry on. I like the logic of your argument in that there is no logic in it.

I don't like Ashes to Ashes because of the reasons I stated but that doesn't mean you have to in anyway agree with me. I just find personal insults over a TV show a bit rubbish.

No my work place is great , and you didn't say it about yourself just about some other poor soul who disagreed with your sanctimonious drivel! but at a guess your joint incone is over £50,000 and you lead a very comfortable life after all you can afford all the food from nigella and criticise others who can't which to me is the sign of an ignorant snob !

Sheltered? Sorry, I'm the one who posted about the bottom stamping. Not intrested. And I have worked and been to the pub but of course, because of not buying into your standerds I must be sheltered. Or maybe I just don't go in for that messed up sexist bullsh*t?

Not everyone lives your life which must be very 'sheltered' indeed. And when have I said that about myself? I didn't link to my blog. Methinks you are attacking two different people here.

Also, dear god your work place must be vile!

other posters have covered why this really dosent measure up to the first series so not point going there. the really sad part is its still one of the only things worth watching on TV

One of the great things about life on mars was the music. The music of the 70's is still powerful and iconic and this contributed to the mood of life on mars. The music of the 80's was drab by comparison. Whereas the 70’s spawned hundreds of good bands the 80’s threw up a dozen. Who would want to wake up to ‘Adam and the ants’, I would commit suicide immediately.

Life on mars looked and sounded like a 70’s cop show from the mock 70’s theme tune to the stereotypical super-tough guy images. Ashes to ashes does not look like an 80’s cop show. It looks more like a cash cow.

The core mystery’s of life on mars was ‘is this really happening or is it all in Sam Tyler’s mind’ and ‘how does he get back’? The Alex Drake character knows this is all in her mind, so there is no mystery! She can do what she likes as there will be no repercussions. Keeley Hawes is a good actress but she does not have the chemistry with the other central characters that the Sam Tyler character had. As for Alex getting home to her own time, who cares!

AJG

Although I'd argue with you about why Sam committed suicide I agree with everything else completely.

I hate Alex Drake. Part of what I enjoyed about Life on Mars was how Sam used his modern 2000 policing skills to solve crimes and actually became involved and was worried about things. Drake is like a zombie. She's seems completely incapable of getting involved and with last weeks over-violent start, middle and ending I really wanted to find the writers and ask them what they thought they were doing. She is clearly insane.

Let’s not get started on the sexism. But safe to say - any 2008 women feel like bending over a desk in front of all their male colleagues and showing off their knickers for some outdated hazing ritual? No? Oh good, thought it was just me who saw that as sexual harassment and not a good old laugh.

And the 1980's rubbish is pilled on so high they haven't bothered with plots.

Sam didn't seem like he belonged in 1973 where as Alex clearly belongs in 1981 - she's shallow, stupid and talks like an essay on Thatcherism. What could be more unappealing in a show about time-travel? Oh look, that character fits in perfectly! No wild antics there then. Safe to say I won’t be watching next week and neither will anyone else in the household.

I'm also completely sick of the hero worship of Gene Hunt and the fact that we're supposed to watch his bigotry through the raised eyebrows of irony. When watching Alf Garnett, for instance, the whole point was that he always got his comeuppance. With Ashes to Ashes, the writers are trying to turn Gene Hunt into some kind of folk hero. It's as if we're allowed to celebrate viciousness because the programme purports to be "knowing". It stinks.