Life On Mars (UK) (1 Viewer)

[Garrett Adams]

Last night BBC America ran two the first two episodes of season 2. The show will conclude this season.

 

[NeilO]

In case you missed them, the last three episodes are scheduled to repeat on Sunday starting at Noon.

I am not yet sure what I really think about the series finale.

Neil

 

[Marty M]

I, too, am not sure about the finale. It was definitely not the way I thought that it would end.

 

[NeilO]

By the way there are two trailers for the sequel - Ashes to Ashes on You Tube
YouTube - Ashes to Ashes trailer
and
YouTube - Ashes to Ashes promo trailer

You should watch them in that order.

Neil

 

[NeilO]

Also, I just saw on the BBCA forum reference to this article:
The Life of Wylie: Life On Mars: The Answers
which is an exclusive first interview with lead writer and co-creator Matthew Graham.

Neil

 

[LCD22]

Has anyone heard if BBC America will be rebroadcasting Series 1 and 2 of the original?

 

[EricW]

just thought i'd revive this thread. having watched the pilot of the US series i thought i'd go ahead and watch the UK series.
liked the UK version. well acted and great scripts. obviously a very original concept, yet the series didn't rely on this hook. i felt the first series was complete in itself and the 8th episode could have been the end of the show, as finding out about his dad was something important to him and reason enough to wake up. the entire 2nd series, while enjoyable in itself, didn't have anything to do with why Tyler was there. being a good cop and changing the way cops did business in the 70's isn't a personal journey.
the finale: pretty good, and i can understand why the writers did what they had to do, but a minimalist ending with Sam standing on the roof with the camera circling around him, and finally resting with a close up of him looking regretfully at the audience would have been great too, and a bit more 'realistic'?

btw i just watched the first episode of Ashes to Ashes, and WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP. it's just totally ridiculous. i get that they're trying to channel the 80's with Miami Vice-like action, but what was great about LoM was it had contemporary sensibilities. LoM wasn't Starsky & Hutch with a guy from 2006, whereas AtoA ~is~ like a bad 80's Stallone cop movie with a 2008 female cop. anyways, that was just the pilot (a very, very badly written pilot), so i'll give it a chance.
but seriously, going from LoM to AtoA was jarring.

 

[Ted Kontos]

Give Ashes to Ashes a chance! Yes, it took 2-3 episodes to get itself together, but the final episode IMO is more powerful than any episode of LoM. It also develops the characters we already now much more fully. I can hardly wait for series 2 next year!

 

[Joe_H]

Wow, I just finished this (after having watched the US version). I thought that they were both good, but the ending in this was way too telegraphed.

I mean, with the heavy-handed way that they'd been hinting at the coma aspect for all 16 episodes, it ends up being a crappy ending. (Though I'll admit, the jumping off a building, which I took to be real and that he ends up in a coma again, though I could be wrong... that caught me way off guard.)

At least in the US version, the hints that were towards the real ending were much more subtle, and they had a ton of fake hints too.

As for a comparison between the two in general, I actually think I liked both equally but in different ways. This one was definitely darker at times, that's for sure. I just wish the US episodes weren't ripped directly from this for like 3/4 of the episodes. I didn't realize that so many episodes were nearly identical.

 

[NeilO]

While it may be open to interpretation after seeing the UK Life on Mars, it was revealed in Ashes to Ashes that Sam Tyler basically lives for just a few more seconds after jumping off the building and his remaining life in the 70s "takes place" during those few seconds.

With so many good UK scripts, it makes sense that they would reuse them. While it may have been some deja vu for those who watched both series, for people who only saw the US series, it made it stronger.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Just finished the second series; still not sure quite what to make of it. I'd like to believe that 1973 Manchester is a sort of purgatory, a world between the worlds, instead of a creation of Sam's imagination. If it's not real on any level, than Sam's suicide is just that, a suicide. If Annie is real on some level, somewhere, then he's fufilling his promise.

I'll probably get around to Ashes to Ashes eventually, but I've been told the transition is quite jarring. That being the case, I want to give myself some space from this universe before I jump in.

 

[mattCR]

I can't explain how much superior I think the UK version of this show is. I think the casting, especially simply allows for a bigger diversity between the current and the past.
I think the US version in casting didn't create such a big difference between characters ... Sam in the US version especially was just too.... "butch" in a way to fit with the "fish out of water" moments that made the UK version so good. The difference in characters in the UK version really gave you the feeling that Sam was being "tested" for those that like the concept of it being purgatory or a waiting ground. The US version just couldn't get the differences in characters to pull that off.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by mattCR

I can't explain how much superior I think the UK version of this show is. I think the casting, especially simply allows for a bigger diversity between the current and the past.
I think the US version in casting didn't create such a big difference between characters ... Sam in the US version especially was just too.... "butch" in a way to fit with the "fish out of water" moments that made the UK version so good. The difference in characters in the UK version really gave you the feeling that Sam was being "tested" for those that like the concept of it being purgatory or a waiting ground. The US version just couldn't get the differences in characters to pull that off.

I quickly stopped watching the US version once I realized that it, unlike the US version of "The Office", wasn't going to branch off onto its own scripts any time soon, but the biggest difference is that in the US version Sam Tyler is firmly the main character and Gene Hunt is firmly the supporting character. In the UK version, if anything, the opposite is true. Quite a bit of the American version takes place outside the relationship Tyler and Hunt.
Part of the issue is the difference between the US and the UK in 1973 (after all, Great Britain didn't do away with WPCs until 1999!) and that the US version didn't tilt strongly enough toward the issues that resonated here.

 

[Ray H]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

but the biggest difference is that in the US version Sam Tyler is firmly the main character and Gene Hunt is firmly the supporting character. In the UK version, if anything, the opposite is true.

I don't agree as I think Sam Taylor was very much the main character of the UK version. I think with the exception of one episode in the second series where he was sick, every scene featured Sam and the entire show is still seen through his eyes. This really helped the viewer get into the mind of the character especially during many of the quieter and more emotional moments John Simm was so good at pulling off. Even though "Ashes to Ashes" similarly follows Alex Drake, it sometimes feels like Gene is the lead character as he's much more heroic. Hell, Philip Glenister even gets top billing for it!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Ray H

I don't agree as I think Sam Taylor was very much the main character of the UK version. I think with the exception of one episode in the second series where he was sick, every scene featured Sam and the entire show is still seen through his eyes. This really helped the viewer get into the mind of the character especially during many of the quieter and more emotional moments John Simm was so good at pulling off. Even though "Ashes to Ashes" similarly follows Alex Drake, it sometimes feels like Gene is the lead character as he's much more heroic. Hell, Philip Glenister even gets top billing for it!

What I meant is that in the original UK version, Sam Tyler (while being our window into this slightly skewed 1973) is a repressed, reactive character. Gene Hunt's actions and decisions are the driving force behind how each episode plays out. UK Sam's role each week is to steer the raging bull in a different direction. From what I saw of the US version, its Sam Tyler is a relatively agressive, proactive character. Gene Hunt is an important presence, but not the dominating presence. While equally masculine, Harvey Keitel's Hunt is physically smaller than Philip Glenister's and much further past his physical prime. The opposite is true when comparing Jason O'Mara's Sam Tyler to John Simm's Sam Tyler.

Since we all expect the a protagonist like Jason O'Mara, the John Simm model was the more interesting way to go. Simm's take is also more cerebral and persistent.

 

[NeilO]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

I quickly stopped watching the US version once I realized that it, unlike the US version of "The Office", wasn't going to branch off onto its own scripts any time soon

There were a good number of original US scripts. Of course some people complained that the US version was too similar to the UK and others complained that it went off in its own direction. More comments about that are in the US series thread.

If you liked Philip Glenister in Life on Mars you should enjoy him in Ashes to Ashes.

 

[mattCR]

He's also very good in "Demons" which, although I found that show really wanting, he was good in it.

 

[Cees Alons]

Originally Posted by NeilO

...

If you liked Philip Glenister in Life on Mars you should enjoy him in Ashes to Ashes.

He was also very good in another series (quite another: a 'costume piece' set in the 1840's): Cranford.

I have both, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, my only gripe is, that the two series of the first are released on Blu-Ray, while those of the second are not.


Cees