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Filming the Police 5 reconstruction - Radio Times, March 2008 |
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Danny Scott goes behind the scenes as the Ashes to Ashes team shoot a police reconstruction.
We all know that DCI Gene Hunt, DS Ray Carling and DC Chris Skelton can look a bit rough after an epic night out at Luigi's restaurant, but this is ridiculous! What on earth were they drinking last night?
Actually, one or two of you may have spotted that this isn't the real Gene Hunt and co. In this week's Ashes to Ashes, DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) persuades a reluctant Gene to agree to a reconstruction of a recent robbery for the TV programme Police 5. Presented by Shaw Taylor, Police 5 was a hugely successful, five-minute version of Crimewatch - except that Police 5
arrived on our screens more than 20 years before anyone had even thought of Crimewatch.
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Unfortunately, the actors that have been chosen to play our three musketeers in the reconstruction are more George & Mildred than George Clooney. As usual, Gene Hunt is the first to complain.
"My waistline is nowhere near that size," groans actor Philip Glenister as he watches the reconstruction being filmed. "And what the hell's going on with those boots?"
The lookalikes have joined Hunt and Shaw Taylor - yes, the real one, who's guest-starring in this week's
episode - in south east London, not far from Bermondsey where the show's studio is based.
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Executive producer Claire Parker explains that finding locations for this series has been difficult.
"Ashes to Ashes has got more of an inner-city feel," she says, "but it's not easy to film in central London because it's changed so much since the 80s. It all looks so different. When we were in Manchester [filming the show's predecessor, Life on Mars], most of the outdoor action took place on the backstreets and there were plenty of areas that still had that 70s feel."
Luckily for the new show, not all of south east London went through 80s yuppie-fication. "There are still some areas that look like they've been stuck in a time warp," adds Parker. "Especially the old docks and out towards the City Airport."
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This particular deserted street, not far from Millwall Football Club, seems tailor-made for Ashes
to Ashes. The boarded-up council estate, graffiti-covered walls, rundown industrial units, litter-strewn streets (and slate-grey skies) are pure 1980s. It's all topped off, of course, by some fantastic outfits - Keeley Hawes's husband, Matthew Macfadyen, is another of this week's
guest stars, and looks very fetching in a mullet wig and tracksuit - and the vintage throb of Hunt's Day-Glo Audi Quattro.
Glenister leans in close to RT as the lookalikes tumble from his beloved motor. "Tell me honestly…does that really look anything like Gene Hunt?"
Course not, Phil. Gene's a good-looking fella.
"Too bloody right," grins Glenister. "The man's a crime-fighting Adonis."
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Now take a look at our full Ashes to Ashes guide.
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