Life on Mars Analysis - Series One, Episode Four

We begin the episode with a dream sequence. Fittingly, little more is surreal to the show than usual: Sam’s walking through 1973, down his old street, hearing his mum call out to him, with the world around him in slow motion. Considering one of the underlying themes of the series is exploring what we think of as ‘real’ and what’s not, having a dream that is, on the surface, close to Sam’s current ‘reality’ is a wonderful way to begin the ep, especially when Sam wakes up,  1973 is clearly more real than the dream. It’s only in the details, with people in the street and time running normally, but it works.

One thing I love about this episode is how much it tells us of Sam’s family life without resorting to flashbacks, still sticking to Sam’s perspective in a linear way. We’re given a perfect picture of what Sam’s life is like through conversations with his mother and through Sam’s reactions. We learn that when he was 4 years old his dad wasn’t around much, that money was tight with his family, and even as a kid he dreamed of being a copper.

Which fits in perfectly with Sam finding out that his department is bent. Now, what I love – and I mean, absolutely fucking love – is how we find it out. We don’t see the coppers as suddenly revealed to be evil bastards, willing to get away with anything if they can for their own benefit. We instead see them believe that it’s not only a natural part of their lives, it’s a necessity. Gene justifying that Warren may be bent, but he at least makes sure that no sex crimes happen and always lets the police know when new criminals are in town almost sounds perfectly reasonable.

Not to Sam, though – his idea of the perfect, incorruptible copper hasn’t changed since he was 4 years old, a fact that’s clear when he wants to prove to his mum that he isn’t a bent copper. How Sam’s personal life connects with his professional life (not to mention his psychological one, too) in this episode is handled really beautifully, as he tries to prove to himself that he’s not a dirty copper, making it very clear to everyone, including Gene and Warren, that he won’t let them make him 1 per cent corrupt, if he can help it.

Of course, Sam being Sam, all he really does is practically paint himself as a massive target to Warren. I think many of us could see where it was heading when Warren’s girl Joni asks Sam for help, but again, this is something that reflects Sam’s mentality – when he was 4, he wanted to be a decent and honest cop, and that’s exactly what he became. Sometimes, we have to wonder just how grown up Sam really is. So I think only Sam was really surprised when (after a rather nightmarish and surreal sequence that’s less of a sex scene and more a rape,) he wakes ups the next morning handcuffed to the bed and looking like a prat in front of Hunt (and unfortunately, Annie). It doesn’t get any easier at the station, with not only everyone making jokes at Sam’s expense, but Sam suffering another moment of trippy insanity when he hears Ray and Chris speaking with doctor’s voices, not only providing a ‘real world’ explanation for how the LSD got into Sam’s system, but also making you wonder how much damage doctors can do to your mind when they’re trying to ‘help’.

However, Sam still has to make himself look more like a complete prat, so of course when he defends his decision of taking Joni home because Warren was going to rape her and Sam was the only person she trusted, Gene not only boldly defends both his station and his officers, but also makes it clear to Sam (in every politically incorrect term there is in the UK) that Joni’s boss is in fact homosexual. Once Sam finally learns this, he finally starts to learn how much of an idiot he’s made himself look. To matters worse, his relationship with Annie stops at being “just friends”, which considering how obvious these two were practically made for each other, really comes at a bit of blow.

But Sam continues to fight against the inevitable, first by gaining a small victory to himself by telling his mother that he’s not a bent cop, (even if she doesn’t really understand why,) and by telling Joni that he doesn’t live in fear like she does – he’s alive. He may or may not be in a coma, but he’s not afraid of what Gene’s world or what his condition will throw at him.

And it seems that Sam’s luck is finally changing, when his words reach Joni and she burns the negatives of the rather compromising photos between her and Sam. But it comes at a price, and that price is her life, something Ray makes all too clear to Sam. And, whether Sam did the right thing or not, Ray is right: if Sam hadn’t fought back, Joni wouldn’t have been killed. It leads to first to a moment of sheer power, as the tensions between Sam and Ray that have been slowly building since the day Sam arrived in 1973 explode into a fight, and then to a much quieter, but much more important moment: Gene telling Sam a bit, just a little bit, of his past. Of how even he used to have dreams of becoming an honest cop, of how he got his senior officer arrested (something that Sam hasn’t tried to do with Gene, oddly enough), and how he took his first backhander and felt like shit for it. It’s a nice moment between the two that shows a little bit more to Hunt than we had seen previously without making him look like a right nancy.

And so, Sam finally goes for one last shot of glory, only this time, he does it with Gene. Not only that, but he uses one of Gene’s methods to do it: lock the henchman in a giant fridge! The scene of Sam and Gene talking while the crook is banging on the door behind them is sheer comic gold. And, after so  much bad luck, humiliation and tragedy thrown at him, Sam finally arrests Warren and is greeted with applause from everyone. In just one hour, Sam goes from a downward spiral, just because of sticking to his morals, to coming back fighting as a hero, and man, does it feel good.

This is another of my many favourite eps, truly exploring how we view what right and wrong really are, as well as the price a man can pay for being “right”. It also explores how a man can be a true hero if he continually has every chance to do the “wrong thing” for the right reasons and turn it down, no matter what cost to his life or his dignity, and sometimes, just sometimes, it may just pay off. The final shot, of Sam sleeping peacefully while his mum tells him she’ll always be there for him, is a wonderful way to end such a great episode.

Life on Mars Analysis - Series One, Episode Three

Ok, so after we’ve been put through the emotional wringer in just the first two episodes, we’ve finally gotten a break from that grimness and intensity and have been given a more…light hearted ep. It may not be quite as excellent as the two hours before it, but it still has a lot to say, and gets a lot of things right.

First off, when we see Sam at the beginning of this episode (to the excellent sound of Ballroom Blitz), it’s becoming clearer that Sam is becoming a little more used to 1973. He’s not exactly fitting in yet, but he’s not as desperate to get back home, either. He’s at least trying to act a little like “the Guv” at times (and failing miserably: his mimicking of Hunt’s line of “I’ll come round your house and stamp on your toys” was practically cringing in its delivery, proving one thing: Tyler is not Hunt) and doesn’t mind getting the odd bacon butty for a workmate every now and again.

He hasn’t forgotten that he needs to get home, of course, especially when the police radio tells him to “fight”. How this moment relates to the episode is something I’ll get back to later, but I just want to bring up something common in a few tv series and film: predictability. In many a case, moments that are entirely predictable are usually a bad thing (even worse when its whole plots or endings), but sometimes, it can work in the story’s favour, if it’s intentional, at least. Even then, in some cases it still may not work, but if you’re lucky, it may pay off. After all, there’s a difference between guessing what a character will do because it’s an old cliché and you’ve seen it all before, and knowing what a character will do because they’re so well crafted that you almost feel like you know them personally.

Such a moment comes when Gene’s about to drive and Tyler says, “It’s a one-way street…” I adore this moment, knowing the moment Tyler says this Gene’s not going to bother driving the, ahem, legal way and instead just reversing like hell into a pile of boxes, with a bacon butty in his mouth and, to top it off, all to the wonderful sound of Ballroom Blitz. It’s a wonderfully crafted and directed moment of comedy.

When Tyler and Hunt arrive at the scene, they find a horrifically slashed body at a textiles factory. However, what’s strange about the body is where it is: Sam’s flat, or rather, in the exact place that Sam’s flat will be in 2006. A rather huge coincidence, especially when Hunt disagrees with Tyler over what the best method is to find a suspect – method or instinct, to put it very simply – and challenges him to a bet, saying Tyler has “no fight” in him if he turns it down. Rather convenient, considering what he heard on the police radio earlier, right? Almost like the product of a comatose mind, giving itself a problem to solve?

And yet Sam treats the whole case as if it were real because, again, we come up to the old contradiction that Sam’s world can’t be real and yet in fact is. If the coma aspect wasn’t there, that kind of obvious coincidence wouldn’t have been so interesting, but with the idea that it may be a product of Sam’s mind, it makes all these strange and convenient coincidences simply add to the disorientation and strangeness of Sam’s situation.

While the previous two episodes were very internally focused – on Sam feeling mad, on exploring different morals and how people see right and wrong differently – this episode has a more external exploration, on how times change in society. Of how important the fight is – whether you know the outcome or not, if what you’re fighting against is inevitable, sometimes the fight itself is important. Depending on what you’re fighting for, anyway. It also explores on what can be important today can be obsolete tomorrow, even if that affects so many lives. I’ve watched this show so many times, and still I discover another line of dialogue that makes me think. This time it was Annie’s line of “Houses should be houses, factories should be factories. I mean things are built for a purpose.” Said from a perfectly normal character in the show, not Nelson the wise barman, and yet it’s a line that not only fits that character but also gets you thinking, of how things can remain the same on the outside but completely change on the inside, and whether that can be a good thing or not depends entirely on your point of view. We’re given another moment to think about when Gene talks about how important pure instinct and snap decision is even when you’ve got a thousand different ways to solve the crime, and without it, none of it matters. We’re reminded once again of where Sam comes from, of who he once was: a man based entirely on method and had thrown away feeling aside, and it nearly got his girlfriend killed, and we’re again left wondering how much of a good influence Hunt may be on Sam through a few lines of Hunt’s wisdom. God, I fucking love the dialogue of this show!

Despite the gruesome “murder” of the ep, this is a wonderfully funny and quotable ep at times, giving a large number of comedic moments both visually and spoken. Some of these come from the cases in the show – the visual image on the suspect made from bits of different photographs was hysterical, as well as seeing how “rewarding” a “thorough investigative process” is. More comedy is given to us by Litton, a copper whose methods are even hated by Gene. In fact, it’s a wonderful moment seeing Gene and Sam team up to punch Lytton in the face simultaneously.

One more thing I’d like to say about this episode is how much some of the characters have seemed to develop already. Chris has gone from someone who’s as bad and dumb as everyone else to someone who’s keen to learn. Well, maybe that’s not quite true. It’s not that he’s become keen to learn, I suspect he’s always keen to learn, but with only Hunt and Ray there, he’s not had as many positive influences, not to his personality anyway. Here, we see him keen to follow Tyler as much as possible, taking up the idea of “multi-tasking” rather quickly (even if it is with tea and biscuits), and drawing a blood pattern analysis for him. He may not be the fastest copper around, but his eager to please attitude, along with the fact that he is learning, makes him just that little more likeable than when we first met him.

Gene and Sam, whatever their arguments in the ep, seem to be getting on a lot better at least after most of the tensions between the two practically exploded in the last ep. Each still believes that their opinion is the better opinion, but they’re both more willing to let the other try out their methods at least. Sam and Annie’s relationship also seems to be getting gradually more than platonic. The only major character who hasn’t changed at all yet is of course Ray. No real surprise there, of course, and to be honest, it would be unrealistic for him if he did change: Ray is absolutely loyal to his Guv, and hates Tyler for taking the position he feels he should’ve earned. Two reasons why this misogynistic bastard very probably won’t ever change. Well, that and the fact that he is a misogynistic bastard.

So in this episode we’ve had an examination of how times change, how people change, and how important it can be to fight, no matter what the outcome. Oh, and we’ve also had a car drive through boxes, a shootout and a massive punch-up. Either way you look at it, you’ve got a fantastic piece of television right there.

Life on Mars Analysis - Series One, Episode Two

So, we’ve had the first episode that nicely set up not just the premise and the relationships of the characters, and it has to be said, as far as first eps go, it was pretty bloody brilliant. So, does the 2nd ep fail to match the high standards set by the opening instalment?

Does it fuck.

If anything, it almost improves on what the first ep did: taking the already setup themes and expanding them greatly, whilst adding a huge amount of tension and, most of all, really exploring how different people can have a different way of judging what right and wrong is, without somehow sounding ridiculously preachy about it in the process. It is probably in the higher number of my top 16 favourites.

I think I’ll start with that opening scene: the best use of McCartney’s Live and Let Die that I have ever seen, in two very different but equally wonderful parts. First, we have Sam looking in the mirror while shaving, a mirror that’s partially broken, with McCartney singing on the radio. We have him staring at it, saying, “Real…unreal”, desperate to see a clear difference between the worlds of 1973 and 2006. Of course, his deep moment is abruptly stopped when he cuts himself on his razor, bringing him back to…well, a form of reality, anyway. A nice, subtle and philosophical moment before we cut to…

“Say ‘Live and Let Die’.”

A fantastic sequence featuring Sam, Gene and Chris in swimming gear, chasing a suspect from a swimming pool. I can’t get over how brilliant this sequence is, matching the big and loud part of the music perfectly, going from a great use of slow motion to a fast paced chase (with my favourite part of course featuring all four, an old lady and her bag), and ending with the return of the slow, quiet part of the song, as Sam looks up at the sky, exhausted but laughing, the first genuinely clear sign that maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t hate 1973 completely. That opening scene is just absolutely amazing – to think, it’s not even the 2nd episode and yet we have another truly memorable and iconic combination of excellent directing and music that, dare I say it, matches the best kind of moments we have seen in film history. (I also have to give special mention to a good friend and fellow film critic of mine Jean, who pointed out just how excellently directed it all was. To be honest, I never really noticed until then: everything had flown together so well and so naturally that, unbelieveably, the skill that went into that one scene practically went over my head many times before. It’s one of the key reasons I’m writing this ep by ep analysis now: to really make an effort at seeing all the skill and effort that went into a series that I have watched countless times and yet have only recently noticed how beautifully constructed it all is.)

Then, after Sam’s one moment of enjoyment in 1973 so far, that all changes after we’ve had the titles (which are nicely retro without going into cliché, which I quite like). First, we have the interview of the suspect, Kim Trent. There is no attempt by the writers here to give him the slightest bit of humanity, a decision that suits the episode perfectly. This is demonstrated by Sam using one of his 2006 methods to shock him during an interview by showing a few pictures of some of his horrifically injured victims. Whereas in the previous episode, Colin Raimes had the decency to show some reaction to the horrific photographs, here Trent just looks at them calmly smoking his cigarette, not affected in the slightest. The continual use of ironies and parallels used in the series is something I always love to see. What’s also great is how the scene is just wonderfully dark, gritty, but still has the occasional moment of humour with a wonderful quote from Hunt (“If you were Pinocchio, you would’ve just poked my eye out”). But even this adds a little to the tension when Hunt starts laughing with Trent and then just stops, letting you know in advance that Hunt really isn’t messing around with such a man who he considers to be the lowest of the scum. Then we have the wonderful moment where he practically explodes and SMACKS Trent, every time he tells an obvious lie. No punches – this bastard’s so low in Gene’s eyes he doesn’t even deserve to be hit like a man, instead treating him as little more than a child who should not tell lies. It lets us know that while Gene is a man who prefers to use action rather than words (or photos) against scum, he’s not the kind of man to just punch them senseless. There’s a method to his policing, even his violence. 

Not that it makes Sam any more comfortable, especially when Gene makes it clear that he’s willing to “fit him up” with false evidence, evidence that doesn’t even relate to the crime they arrested him for, just to secure a conviction. The interesting problem here is that Gene isn’t just trying to get home early – it’s more because every time the criminal’s in the city, his history is one of doing not one but two jobs, “bang, bang, in, out” in Gene’s words. He knows he did the first crime, purely based on gut instinct and of course, common sense, and even Sam knows it. One problem: Sam believes that planting evidence is wrong, no matter how bad that criminal is or how incredibly likely it is that he committed the crime.

(Thinking about this, I'll just pause my discussion of the ep and think about something I brought up in my previous analysis - that in any other show, Sam Tyler wouldn't be the main character. Now thinking about it, I'll take that point one step further: that essentially, in any other show, Sam and Gene's roles would probably be reversed. Sam would be the guy in charge and Gene would be the main character out to get the suspect by any way possible, but wouldn't have enough power to do it. Watching Life on Mars really makes me think about the traditional characters we root for in such a show: would we like the characters any more - or even as much - if they had the power they wanted? Honestly, I very much doubt it. Then again, it has to be said that Gene is a hugely likeable character in his own right, he's just not the character who's eyes we see through for the series. It's something to think about, anyway.)

So Sam decides to do “the right thing” and decides to let the guy go, until they have more evidence, at least. It’s a decision that doesn’t sit well with Gene or the others, but Sam believes he’s done the right thing.

Of course, that becomes a lot more difficult for him to justify when Trent and his gang rapidly do commit another crime, on schedule, and one of Gene and Sam's colleagues is critically injured in the attack.

The scene following the attack is absolutely gut wrenching to watch, and Simm again proves how much of a bloody fantastic actor he truly is, as we see all the pain on Sam’s face when facing the consequences of his decision. No one’s going to help him, to tell him it wasn’t his fault, because in their eyes it was his fault, and no one makes it clearer than Gene, who tells Sam to clean up their colleague’s precious blood. Sam’s cries that they “had no EVIDENCE!” fall on deaf ears, and eventually, pathetically, Sam cleans up the blood. This fantastic exploration of what different people believe to be right and wrong is fantastically done, and is one of the biggest reasons why I love this episode. Hell, exploring such complex themes is why I love the show in general – generally speaking, the least interesting part of the series are usually the cases, but only because the show is less focussed on solving the crime and more focused on how the cases explore, challenge and change both Sam Tyler and the people around him.

Sam is now more alone than ever, and naturally, desperately wants to get back home. Even Annie strongly implies that Hunt’s method of locking up Trent would’ve worked if Sam had never intervened. When everyone else is against him, Sam decides to be alone in his flat, with nothing but a bottle of wine to drink. Of course, even this gets ruined for him when the Test Card Girl – an image widely seen on tv when a broadcaster had finished broadcasting tv programmes for the night – appears in the room with Sam. This is a moment that, for me, is simultaneously terrifying and hilarious, partly because of Sam’s very believable reaction that can only be described with the letters “W”, “T”, and “F”, followed by both a question and exclamation mark, but also because of the sheer ridiculous of the situation, and yet it’s played completely straight as a well-made scary moment. Again, one moment where two completely different reactions are simultaneously given, once again giving us a form of duality within the show. (Is it any wonder that, out of all the areas near Manchester that Sam could’ve come from in 1973, he just so happens to have come from ‘Hyde’?)

Eventually, Sam goes to visit his colleague in hospital Joan, and eventually, Hunt arrives as well. The two essentially work out their issues. In one of the most ridiculous and yet natural looking punch-ups put to screen, with the two beating each other senseless in the crudest and easiest ways possible. (The interruption by the nurse halfway through before they show their badges definitely deserves a mention for sheer comedy gold.) Hunt’s speech afterwards about how much he loves his city is another excellent line of dialogue that, while it doesn’t put things completely straight between the two, certainly seems to help Sam find the motivation to keep on going and carry on doing what he does: policing. It is interesting to note that, while neither seems to be particularly apologetic about how they police, both seem to accept how the other does it.

Eventually, through thorough methods and witness interviews, Sam finds a key witness to the 2nd robbery that can identify Trent and asks Annie to stick with him while Ray sits outside his house as witness protection. Unfortunately, to both Ray and Gene, a darts match seemed more important, leading to Leonard and Annie getting put in danger. Obviously, Gene and his crew come to the rescue, but it’s interesting to note that with both copper’s methods, neither of them would’ve landed anyone in danger. It’s the refusal of one to accept the fact that the other one’s methods might work that’s the problem. It’s a subtle message, one that avoids being Star Trek-y by being obvious and preachy about it, and instead works because it’s not the focus of the ep. There’s too many things explored in this episode for it to be that. There’s even time for a nice nod to the obvious influence of Wizard of Oz near the end, with Gene pointing out that, no matter how much Sam wants to go home, he “wanted to come”.

The pushing forward of Sam and Gene’s relationship really makes this a key episode. It barely had a chance to begin in the previous episode, pushed things to near breaking point in this one, but by the end, it does establish one thing: these two may bicker, fight, outright hate each other at some points, but one thing they are not is enemies. These two are working towards the same goal, they just have very different ways of doing it. This ep allowed them to accept that. Not much, but a little, at least. Enough for Sam to relax a bit by the end by playing a hand of poker with Gene.

Until the next fight, anyway.

Life on Mars Analysis - Series One, Episode One

First episodes are always important. They help set the scene, establish the characters, give the audience an idea of what to expect over the coming weeks. Many will miss it, but come back to it later to see how it all began. With Life on Mars, as with many other shows, the first episode had to prove that this was going to be something special, something a little bit different from the rest.

Not that you’d guess that, if you watched the first ten minutes.

When we are introduced to Sam Tyler, his world is pretty much the same as the world of a ton of other cop shows these days: a fast edited and very quickly resolved chase scene, an interview with the subject that goes nowhere, discussion of forensics, all done to strict procedure, with Sam being the embodiment of all of it. His gut feeling is telling him that suspect Colin Raimes is either behind the attacks or knows something, but he refuses to do anything about it, or even let his DI (and girlfriend) Maya investigate him, due to procedure.

He comes across as so flat and one dimensional in these scenes – even when his girlfriend has clearly been kidnapped – that you’re left wondering if this series can hold your interest with such a bland main character. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that in any other cop show, Sam Tyler would definitely not be the main character. If the first ten minutes are anything to go by, then Sam Tyler is arguably closer to being the general dick in charge, the guy who’s not so much antagonistic to the usual main characters who aren’t afraid to occasionally bend the rules so much as the guy who always slows things down and makes things frustratingly difficult for our heros because it’s “against procedure”. The guy who would never be considered interesting enough to be given any kind of depth in favour of the real main character.

However, this changes in Sam Tyler’s case about ten minutes in, in two ways. The first is when we see the first sign of emotion from him, that he actually gives a shit about anything and not just another soulless boss in a suit: when he’s driving his car and crying about Maya. Actually, he does more than just cry: he has a fucking breakdown over it. He’s so used to not letting anything get to him at all that it takes the disappearance of his girlfriend to break down that wall, and boy, does that wall break down completely. In this moment, a character who would normally be the least interesting in the audience’s eyes in most cop shows is suddenly humanised and earns our sympathy, a character we can suddenly sympathise and empathise with. Credit should be given to Simm for not trying to show off and show a whole range of emotion from Sam: instead, he plays the role as it should be played in that first ten minutes - ultimately, boring. Until that amazing moment of seeing what he can really do as an actor and convincingly show us a mental breakdown.

Which makes the second (and rather less subtle) thing that makes Sam Tyler interesting all the more important: suddenly, out of nowhere, he’s hit by a speeding car.

I’ve watched this first episode too many times to remember, and to this day, I still absolutely love how the writers were willing to risk losing viewers by having a boring first ten minutes that, on reflection, feel completely necessary as buildup to that all important moment. Now I know what was coming from when I heard about the show months before, but honestly, if I hadn’t known a thing about what I was watching at the time, I probably would’ve switched over during those ten minutes. Not afterwards, though. Because that’s when the whole show opens up in a big way.

When Sam wakes up, in 1973, with David Bowie singing and everything slowed right down, it truly is a magical moment. Suddenly, Sam has gone from a world of bright colours and blandness to a world of muddier, browner colours, a world that looks, sounds and feels real but feels completely alien to Sam. He has no clue what the hell’s happening to him, and this is truly sold by Simm’s performance, as we follow his journey of Sam every step of the way. Even the building he works at looks completely different, even though, on the outside, it’s exactly the same as the one we saw in 2006. Just a really effective use of different angles used and a slight change in tone really make a great impression that this isn’t the building that Sam knows.

And on the inside, we’re proven right: far from the ordered world we saw Sam come from, we are treated to mess and clutter, terrible lighting, and smoke coming from everywhere, with not a computer in sight (something that Sam not only picks up on but leads to a nice moment of misunderstanding from his new co-workers). And the office matches the office staff perfectly, as we’re introduced to DC Chris Skelton, someone who seems keen to see a new face around, and DS Ray Carling, who’s definitely not so keen. We’re not given much on these characters in this first episode, but both feel lively, three dimensional, men who are believeably of their time and are completely unprofessional when it comes to their work.

But neither really matches the brilliance of Sam’s new DCI: Gene Hunt, who beats up Sam the moment he’s woken up by him. From the first moment, Philip Glenister owns this role – a behemoth of a man who spends all the time chain smoking and drinking but most of all, he’s committed to his job – of arresting bad guys by any means necessary. In this aspect, him and Tyler clash almost instantly, and we come to another hugely important aspect of Life on Mars: Sam and Gene’s relationship. How reluctantly they get on with each other, how the methods of one conflict completely with another, and how both are equally challenged by the partnership. It’s not always a matter of “Sam is always right because he’s from 2006”: Gene absolutely believes what he’s doing is completely and morally right - after all, what good is “the law” if it actually stops you from protecting innocent citizens? Through a combination of great writing, acting and directing, it’s a relationship that is far from clichéd as it could’ve been and instead feels completely real.

And of course, it’s not just Gene who seems completely real to Sam: it’s the whole world, something that, logically, Sam cannot accept. (Kudos must be given to, erm, Kudos Productions for making 1973 come alive as it does, not just with the hair styles and the attitudes but also the very look, one that is gritty and grimy, feeling very reminiscent of 70s cop shows like the Sweeney, something that the creators have said was their intention.) It’s not just the obvious sign that earlier that day he distinctly remembers being hit by a car in 2006 and waking up in 1973 – there’s also the messages from the tv and distinct sounds that Sam hears that clearly suggest he is in a coma in 2006. This psychological aspect is another driving force of what makes Life on Mars work: it’s less the ‘mystery’ of how Sam got to 1973 that’s interesting, it’s the fact that Sam is in a world that appears to be completely real and yet he knows it cannot be. By the end of the episode, he is desperate to get back to 2006, by any means necessary, but Annie, the one person he has talked to about his situation, stops him to suggest that maybe there’s a reason he’s in 1973. The most fascinating aspect of that moment is that it’s the first moment of Sam wondering why the world feels so real around him if it is his mind, all because of some sand on Annie’s hand. That level of detail, of how even the tiny things matter, even when they happen off screen (such as Annie tripping over the fire bucket) just gives the show a level of depth that you just don’t see in most shows.

As far as first episodes go, we are given a lot, theme wise, all of which considerably complex, psychologically, morally and socially speaking. It’s also hard to fault in many other areas, in terms of writing, acting and directing. Not to mention that, with its excellent use of humour, jumping over desks in slow motion and car chases, a huge amount of fun. 

Thank god the last 50 minutes of the show were nothing like the first ten!