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The first episode of the first series of the British time travel police procedural television series, Life on Mars, was first broadcast on 9 January 2006. It was produced by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One.
[edit] Synopsis
After a road accident in 2006, DCI Sam Tyler awakens to find himself in 1973. Apparently a DI and assigned to work under rough-around-the-edges DCI Gene Hunt, Tyler follows a series of murders which have been committed with the same modus operandi in both 2006 and 1973. The clash-of-cultures between Tyler and others relates mainly to the lack of importance placed on forensic science in 1973. WPC Annie Cartwright stops Sam jumping off the top of a building after he convinces himself that suicide will take him back to 2006.
While investigating a mysterious serial killer, Sam Tyler's girlfriend and colleague Maya is kidnapped by the prime suspect in the case. Sam, stricken with grief, isn't paying attention as he is driving and is hit by a speeding car. When he wakes up, it is in a completely different world. Scratch that. It's the same world, but he's now living in the Manchester of 1973. He is a detective inspector and his new boss Gene Hunt is a living representation of everything the police force has tried to stop itself being in 2006. Gene is a sexist, pompous and arrogant man who uses his weight in the station to great effect. He takes the attitude of "shoot first, then ask questions." The rest of Sam's colleagues are of the same vein. They all think the new boy is a little strange because of his frequent outbursts and what appears to them as erratic behaviour. Only one person reaches out to Sam, the young female police officer Annie Cartwright. She listens to his tale and though unbelieving at first she quickly comes to terms with it. Sam notices a connection between the murder case he is tasked with solving in 1973 and the one he left behind in 2006. He realises that destroying evidence in 1973 could well affect the future. However, a meeting with a doctor speaking directly to his subconscious mind (who tells Sam he is in a coma) leads him to believe that the whole thing is just a dream — a fantasy. Sam is ready to wake up and so stands atop a tall building, thinking that when he hits the floor he will wake up in the future. Annie stops him, telling him that the "doctor" was really her boyfriend playing a cruel joke. Sam is left none the wiser as to whether what's happening to him is real or just a crazy dream. Annie convinces him to stay — at least for the time being — in 1973.
[edit] Cultural References
- The shot after Sam runs away from the policeman and sees a billboard that mentions Manchester's "Highway in the Sky", where he was when he was hit by the car, is lifted straight from Back to the Future. In that film, Marty McFly sees a billboard of the Lyons Estate, where he will live in 1985.
- In the scene where Sam and Gene realize the room where the victim is kept is soundproof, they take a slow-motion leap onto and over a desk, side-by-side. This is a play on a device frequently used in Starsky and Hutch, the seminal buddy-cop drama of the mid 1970s. Frequently, Starsky and Hutch would be seen leaping over furniture, cars, or any other obstruction in a similar manner to get to the bad guys or the victim.
- The title of the show is a reference to the David Bowie song of the same name, which is also playing on an iPod when Sam is hit by the car. The song continues playing when he arrives in 1973, now on an eight-track tape, which was the mp3 of the early 1970's.
[edit] Production
- The initial geographical setting of the series was to be London; this was then changed to Leeds, and finally to Manchester, as part of a BBC initiative to make more programmes in that city.[1]
[edit] Anachronisms
- Women officers at that time were known as PWs (Police Woman) and not WPCs (Woman Police Constable). So Annie should have been referred to as PW Cartwright. The term WPC did not occur until the Equal Opportunities Act in 1975, which among other things re-defined the role and position of women officers in the Police.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
