Life On Mars: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
John Simm's detective finds himself thrown back to 1973
Year: 2006-2007
Certificate: 15
On paper this sounds silly: a Manchester detective in 2006 is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. Is he dead? Hallucinating? Or really back in time? But what made the show a runaway hit when it aired were the characters and, crucially, the knowing clash brought about by a generation gap of three decades.
John Simm plays the out-of-time detective Sam Tyler, with Philip Glenister an unlikely heartthrob as Tyler's boss DCI Gene Hunt, two products of very different eras who, despite their differences, forge a deep respect. It would be easy for the show to look down on Hunt and his old-timey ideals, but in fact it celebrates his heroic qualities. Yes, he's a chauvinist, but how is he to know? The times are a-changing in the 70s, but they haven't changed yet.
The nostalgia, as pleasing as it is to watch Hunt's Audi Quattro screech onto the scene, is also only part of the appeal. Each week, there are crimes to solve and we get to know the rest of the cop-shop colleagues, including Liz White, Dean Andrews and Marshall Lancaster as Annie Cartwright, Ray Carling and Chris Skelton.
We also get the overarching story of Tyler trying to get back to the future, and the show doesn't just leave you hanging. We get answers in sequel series Ashes To Ashes, which unites Hunt with Keeley Hawes's back-in-time-tec in the 1980s. (Two series)
