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Co-creator Matthew Graham talks Nick Griffiths through events so far in the second series of the time-warp crime drama.
Episode 1 - Can Sam stop a killer murdering him in the future?
"[This episode offered] a chance to play with the old questions. Is he in a coma? There's a good argument for that. There's also a good argument that he's actually back in time, because he appears to affect what happens to him in the future by getting the Marc Warren character [Tony Crane] banged up.
"It's kind of saying to the audience: remember what's at stake, remember it could be a number of options. And reminding them that there's a science-fiction/esoteric angle to this show."
Episode 2 - A safe cracker sprung from jail and Gene's mentor
"Who was the man who created Gene? We needed a big character for that and were lucky enough to get Kevin McNally. After the whiz-bang opening [episode] this is, 'Let's look at some of the inherent corruption at the time.'
"There's the racism angle as well. It's the first time we've really overtly tackled the reaction of a black character - Glen, who joins CID for this one episode - coming into that world and that was very tricky to do. The point worth making is that sexism is still funny to us in Life on Mars, because we feel that we've beaten it. We can't play the same jokes with racism, nor would we want to. It's very uncomfortable."
Episode 3 - A bombing campaign in Manchester points to the IRA
"The IRA bombing campaign is something we wanted to tackle in series one but we didn't, as with racism, because we felt that before we knew fully what the show was and how the audience would react to it, we didn't want people to think we were tackling prejudices of the week."
Episode 4 - Swingers' parties and a serial killer
"This is Life on Mars meets Abigail's Party and it's very, very funny.
"What's nice is that it's all about lonely people looking for love. Sam feels very lonely in this episode. And just as we had the mother resonating in series one, his auntie [Heather] resonates in this episode."
Episode 5 - Camberwick Green, Sam dazed and confused
"Episode five is very interesting. I think we found a way of not having Sam in every single scene, without breaking the conceit of the world. And it's a fascinating story with a totally different atmosphere.
"Sam's undergoing a very strange mental medical problem during this episode and it's distorting everything for him. But it's a very driving story. It's the script that I'm most proud of."
Episode 6 - Heroin and Ugandan Asians in Manchester
"A really great, eccentric episode from Guy Jenkin, who wrote Drop the Dead Donkey. As you would expect from him, it's full of bizarre characters and laugh-out-loud sequences.
"But the great emotional thread that runs through it is connected to Maya and the young woman who Sam meets in '73. Although most of the episode is funny, the ending is one of the most emotional and beautiful that we've done on the show."
Episode 7 - Gene Hunt on a murder rap
"Starting to build towards our end-game. What's interesting about this episode is that it introduces a new character, a senior police officer, who may know the truth about why Sam is there. That's the start of the big reveal to this mystery of why Sam is in 1973."
Episode 8 - The end
"Fans of the show who are looking to find out the truth will get thrown a huge curve ball. It's very much a direct continuation of episode seven. There are all sorts of weird and wonderful conspiracy theories about Sam, but the most important thing is that the show has the right emotional resolution. And this is the most emotionally satisfying ending to the story that I could think of. Judging by the reaction I got from the crew and the cast, I think they feel the same way."
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Read our introduction to series two - or take a look at our full Life on Mars guide.
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