Telly Addict!: June 2009

Life on Mars

I posted a while ago on my other Blog about how much I enjoy watching detective shows and I decided to write some postings about them. So here's the first.

Life on Mars was a brilliant concept for a TV detective series. Sam Tyler a 21st Century detective in the Greater Manchester police force, has an accident and wakes up in 1973 wondering whether he is mad, in a coma or has travelled back in time. The series cleverly spanned the genres of science fiction, crime and comedy with its various layers.

First there’s the story of Sam trying to get back to the 21st Century as well as finding out about his past and what has happened to his father. Then there are his relationships with Gene Hunt and the other police officers he’s working with. On top of this are the stories of crimes they’re trying to solve.

The show gave a contrasting view of 'seventies and 21st century policing styles. The ‘seventies policing is shown as rather sexist, racist, brutal and tainted with minor corruption. This image was apparently refuted by John Stalker (Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester in the early 1980s and a Detective Inspector in 1973). However I think we should accept that the series used artistic licence, after all it was TV drama not a documentary.

Although the ‘seventies are still fresh in lots of people’s minds it comes as a shock to see just how much has changed in our lives, like the attitude to women, the styles of the cars and the clothes, pubs without TVs and so much smoking in public places to name but a few.

The humour and language were gritty and because it was set in the 'seventies it allowed them to get away with politically incorrect language that would be unacceptable in scripts today. Very clever! '

I especially liked the way that frequently the characters are talking at cross purposes, neither having a clue what the other is talking about. Sam is referring to 21st Century topics and the others are talking about the same topic but from a ‘seventies perspective. One particular scene comes to mind where Charlie is talking about The Fugitive, the David Janssen TV series. Sam however is talking about the Harrison Ford film. Great script writing because only the audience has the full picture. Well not all the audience will get it, only those of a certain age who remember lovely David Janssen holding us in suspense for five years. Watch out for this scene in the last of the You Tube clips below. Classic!

Don’t expect the wonderful scenery of Inspector Morse’s Oxford, Bergerac’s Jersey or Magnum’s Hawaii! No you get the backstreets of downtown Manchester in all their ‘seventies glory, building sites, factories, grimy pubs, motorway construction, the lot! This is real everyday stuff not Holllywood glamour. The clothes are not the Miami Vice designer gear, no their clobber was more likely from C&A.

Interestingly there were a number of references to The Wizard of Oz in the series. Gene Hunt occasionally calls Sam, Dorothy, because he’s not the rough tough copper that he’s used to working with and also Sam seems to be living in a fantasy world. When Sam returns to 2006, the song Over the Rainbow features. Look out for other similarities.

There were anachronisms too which viewers became addicted to looking out for. Satellite TV dishes and UPVC window frames often featured.

A while ago I heard an interesting interview with Russell T Davies who wrote the recent scripts for Doctor Who. He was discussing what makes a TV series a classic. One of the ingredients he felt was that if you set a series in the past then it never looks dated. The scenery, clothes, accessories, cars are already dated. I think he's right, well only if it is produced accurately and not tarted up and plasticised like lots of Hollywood westerns were, then it risks becoming a laughing stock. Take M*A*S*H set in 'fifties Korea and filmed in the 'seventies. That's stood the test of time for over thirty years and is a classic.

The characters from Life on Mars were wonderfully drawn. Sam’s was sensitive, caring, clever, and haunted. The two sidekicks, Don and Charlie, sometimes termed Laurel and Hardy, were not the brightest and their antics certainly made for great humour. However Gene Hunt frequently stole the show with his macho behaviour, politically incorrect language and snakeskin shoes. Irresistible!

What was also fascinating was watching how the relationships between the characters developed. It made for great acting, this series wasn't just about car chases and fights. Mind you there were a few of these too.

This is one TV series that will go down in the history books. It would make a fantastic film too as all the ingredients are there for the big screen. You’ll gather I loved it.

Now I haven’t seen the US version, it’s unlikely I will, as it obviously won’t be shown here. Apparently it wasn’t particularly successful in the USA and never ran to a second series. I don’t know why, but often when a show is transferred to another country with changes of actors and settings it loses its freshness and appeal. Perhaps this is what happened in the case of Life on Mars.

However I’m not sure why they thought the original BBC version wouldn't succeed. Maybe the powers that be in their "wisdom" felt it was not only too British but it was also too regional. I watched some of the clips last night and perhaps there were parts that would have been lost on a foreign audience but doesn't that happen when we watch American or Australian TV programmes? Often it makes us think about it and research what we didn't understand. After all the Internet is at lots of fingertips now, we don't have to trek out to the local library.

Perhaps these people need to rethink their strategies as maybe they underestimate the audiences' ability to relate to other nationalities and their quirky language and behaviour. Well it's a global audience and maybe we're all just a tad brighter and more globally savvy than they give us credit for!

One final fact. According to Wikipedia, Philip Glenister and John Simm who both starred in the BBC version, had been approached to play the lead roles in the USA series, but had turned them down. This was partly due to family commitments, and in Philip Glenister's case, partly due to a fear of becoming "a nutter in The Priory”. (Just in case you don’t know The Priory is a medical centre well know for providing alcohol and drug treatment.) Sounds about right for Gene Hunt!

Check out Life on Mars BBC website for more information about the series. The photo at the top is a screendump from the site.

If anyone is interested in scripts and scriptwriting, the BBC has a Writers Room on their website where they make some scripts available to download. The script for Episode 1 of Series 1 of Life on Mars is there BBC Writer's Room.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the series or wants to relive the memories, take a look at You Tube. There are lots of clips but some have the embedding disabled. I’ve spent ages laughing at them and reliving the series. I had forgotten how brilliant it was, must buy the DVDs!

Here are some You Tube clips if you want to find out more:

If you haven’t seen the show, take a look at the initial trailer for the BBC for the series to get an idea of what it's all about.

BBC Life on Mars Trailer