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Life on Mars

Year:

2006

Duration:

USA:42 min (16 episodes) (cut) | 60 min (16 episodes)

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi

IMDB rate:

8.4

Awards:

9 wins & 30 nominations

Details

Country: UK

Release Date: 2006-01-09

Filming Locations: Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Cast

Actor

Character

Ian Hanmore

Life on Mars

Archie Panjabi

Life on Mars

Eva Pope

Life on Mars

Katherine Kelly

Life on Mars

John Simm

Sam Tyler

Philip Glenister

Gene Hunt

Liz White

Annie Cartwright

Dean Andrews

Ray Carling

Marshall Lancaster

Chris Skelton

Noreen Kershaw

Phyllis Dobbs

Tony Marshall

Nelson

Did you know?

Trivia

Sam is given messages by the girl off Test Card F, who comes out of the television with her clown doll. At the end of the series, she can also be seen running down the street and switching off the television from the inside. ("Ashes to Ashes" also refers to her with the clown motif.) The real life Test Card girl, Carole Hersee is estimated to have been on British television for 70,000 hours, equivalent to nearly eight years, and so is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for the longest television appearance in history.

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In an interview on BBC's Breakfast News (25 June 2006) John Simm stated that he played Sam Tyler like a fish out of water, because he thought the concept of the show 'was such a ridiculous idea'.

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The character name Superintendent Frank Morgan in later episodes of Season 2 was a tribute to 1970s police series The Sweeney (1975) in which Superintendent Frank Haskins was played by actor Garfield Morgan. Also, Frank Morgan was the actor who played the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

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Quotes

Sam Tyler: [credits introduction] My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident, and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.

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Faq

So what happens to everyone?

In 'Ashes to Ashes' it's revealed that Sam disappeared during a drugs bust and his body was never found. We later discover that he had told Gene Hunt that he was tired of his existence and wanted to move on implying that he had accepted his death and was ready for the afterlife. The characters on 'Ashes to Ashes' can find no trace of Annie suggesting that either she too was dead police officer who had moved on or she was some sort of angelic guide who's work was done once Sam had passed over. Gene, Ray and Chris meanwhile transfer to the Metropolitan Police and continue their adventures in 'Ashes to Ashes'.

What are the differences between the International TV Version and the Original Version?

Just like other TV series, BBC 2 produced two versions of Life On Mars: an Original Version for the UK market and a shorter version for the TV broadcast to have more slots for commercials. Furthermore some of the escpecially in the US TV critical dialogs and nudity scenes were cut out. Often could be read that the shorter version is a so-called "Euro Version", which was produced for other European countries and that the Original Version was produced exclusively for the UK market. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here.

What is going on? (MASSIVE spoilers if you haven't seen 'Ashes to Ashes')

At the end of the follow up series 'Ashes to Ashes' we discover that Gene Hunt was a brand new police recruit who was murdered by a gang of armed robbers in the 1950s. His soul passes to another dimension where the spirits of dead police officers go to come to terms with their passing before moving on to the real afterlife (symbolically represented by Nelson's pub). Gene's spirit stays so long he ends up being in charge of this world between the worlds, the 'Reciever of souls for her Majesty's Constabulary'. Ray and Chris are also dead police officers, Chris having been killed in a gunbattle, Ray having committed suicide. Gene, Chris and Ray started out in the 'Life on Mars' world as fish out of water as Sam is but have been there so long that they've forgotten their origins and assimilated.

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