John Simm is open to a Life on Mars reboot: "I ended up back in Doctor Who and I never thought that was going to happen!"

More than ten years later, could Sam Tyler make a comeback?

Philip Glenister and John Simm

Published: Tuesday, 4 September 2018 at 10:52 am

If Life on Mars is ever "about to be writ again," John Simm has revealed he'd be open to returning as time-travelling policeman Sam Tyler.

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The BBC drama featured Simm as a modern day police officer who wakes up in 1973 after being involved in a serious road accident.

Bewilderingly, he finds himself working at the same police station under the command of 70s cop Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister).

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The show came to an end after two series in 2007, although Glenister starred later starred in the spin-off Ashes to Ashes.

But after all these years, could a reboot of the cult TV show actually happen?

“Nobody’s mentioned it to me but I’d certainly consider it. Other roles I’ve played, in Prey and Trauma, are everymen, they’re normal guys and it wouldn’t be fair for anything else to happen to them,” he told What's On TV.

“Life on Mars is very different, because there’s three years between that and Ashes to Ashes which we could mine. It would be do-able.

"It’s about time travel so you can get away with anything – I ended up back in Doctor Who and I never thought that was going to happen!"

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Simm first played the Master in Doctor Who back in 2007, making a surprise reappearance as the Doctor's nemesis in 2017.

For now, fans can see Simm in eight-part ITV thriller Strangers, in which he stars as Jonah – a man whose world comes crashing down around him when his wife dies in Hong Kong, revealing that she has been leading a secret double life.

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Strangers will begin on Monday 10th September at 9pm on ITV


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Authors

Eleanor Bley GriffithsDrama Editor, RadioTimes.com

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