Life on Mars – Nostalgia Central

2 0 0 6 – 2 0 0 7 (UK)
16 x 60 minute episodes

Sam Tyler (John Simm) is a detective chief inspector working in present-day Manchester. After a near-fatal car accident, he wakes up in 1973 . . . or does he?

Confused and desperate (and one rank lower), he ends up working for the wisecracking DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) – “the Gene Genie” – and his motley crew, whose 1970s forensic methods and rough and ready ways clash as loudly with Tyler’s policing methods as Hunt’s bronze-coloured Ford Cortina.

Each episode saw the tormented Sam desperately trying to find ways to return home to 2006, all while solving crimes alongside the belligerent Hunt and the rest of his team, including DS Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) and DC Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster).

His only trusted confidante (and eventual romantic partner) was WPC Annie Cartwright (Liz White).

There were hints that Sam Tyler was possibly in a post-accident coma. Sometimes he heard what he thought was the beeping of a hospital monitor through the TV or radio, or the voice of a doctor calling his name. At other times, he heard 90s music, such as Pulp‘s Disco 2000.

The results were a mixture of comical, heart-rending and downright inventive as Tyler and Hunt disagreed constantly, resulting in some great Sweeney-style one-liners from Hunt.

The show referenced 70s children’s TV programmes like Camberwick Green (and in one episode, the test card girl appeared to be outside the television) and became a huge – and totally unexpected – cultural success.

Life on Mars ran for two series and spawned a sequel, Ashes to Ashes, with Keeley Hawes, which ran for three series.

An American version of Life on Mars was also produced in 2008 and 2009, starring Harvey Keitel as Lieutenant Gene Hunt and Jason O’Mara as Detective Sam Tyler.

DI Sam Tyler
John Simm
DCI Gene Hunt
Philip Glenister
DS Ray Carling
Dean Andrews
DC Chris Skelton
Marshall Lancaster
WPC Annie Cartwright
Liz White