Series 2: Episode 6 (Life on Mars)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Episode 6” | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life on Mars episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 6 |
||||||
| Written by | Guy Jenkin | ||||||
| Directed by | Andrew Gunn | ||||||
| Original airdate | March 27, 2007 | ||||||
|
|||||||
| List of Life on Mars episodes | |||||||
The sixth episode of the second series of the British time travel police procedural television series, Life on Mars, was first broadcast on 27 March 2007. It was produced by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
As heroin hits the streets of Manchester for the first time, CID and DCI Hunt want culprits for the smuggling, the dealing and ensuing violence, which becomes difficult when Annie is kidnapped by the smugglers. As Sam tries to get to the source of the influx of this deadly drug, he finds himself intractably drawn to a beautiful young woman who was witness to a heroin-related shooting... and who, he later realises, is the mother of his girlfriend in the future. At the same time, Sam's 'visions' reveal that his girlfriend has decided to stop visiting him in hospital, as she can't keep waiting for him to wake up.
[edit] Plot
Sam dreams about Maya, his girlfriend before his accident, fearful that she is bidding him farewell in the present day.
Deepak Gandhi, a Ugandan Asian, is found shot in his record shop with heroin in his pocket and taken to hospital in a coma. Sam hears his name called out from another room, only to discover the voice is coming from the present day via a radio transmitter. The voice belongs to Maya and Sam desperately responds to no avail. He then finds a young lady called Layla hiding in the shop. She claims she was just a customer who hid after hearing gunshots.
Sam believes the drugs were planted, but finds that the racial prejudice of his fellow policemen works against his theory. Gene and the gang visit local drug dealer Rocket to learn more. After some testicular torture he confirms to Gene that Deepak was selling heroin from his shop. Sam is still unconvinced.
Layla admits that she was working as Deepak’s accountant. She tells Sam she didn’t speak the truth before because the police don’t care about his race.
Maya pops up in a screening of a Bollywood film whilst Sam visit’s a local community centre. She is saying goodbye to him, that she’s given up and won’t be visiting anymore. Sam searches for the radio to try and make contact.
Meanwhile, at least seven people have recently died due to heroin overdose, with Gene very angry at this. A man named Toolbox - a local enforcer whose work is tolerated by the police - visits Rocket with some ferrets to bully into revealing more information. It works and he says that Deepak’s brother Ravi is behind importing the drugs.
Layla is probed by Gene about Ravi, who was seen with her earlier in the record shop. She admits she is romantically involved with Deepak. This disgusts Gene, but Sam rushes to her aid by saying that he dated a Pakistani woman once because he loved her. This incurs more abuse from Gene. Later, Layla’s house is scrawled with racial abuse so she stays with Sam, with her personality reminding him of Maya. The following morning Annie pays Sam’s flat a visit and is taken aback to find he has female company.
Ravi, taken in for questioning, reveals he saw a white man leaving the shop when he paid his brother a visit, only to find he’d been shot. Chris then enters the room to break the news that Deepak has died. Sam takes issue with Gene for his insensitivity to the news, but the copper retorts by stating that his brother was a drug addict and hadn’t been seen for ten years.
The police take a look at Deepak’s corpse and Sam makes the grim discovery that a fresh stab wound has been made in the hospital, with an attempt to conceal it by knifing him through the gunshot wound. Ray, who was guarding him, says the only person to have paid a visit was Layla. She then confesses that her real name is Lesley Roy - the name of Maya’s mother - and that she is pregnant but planning an abortion.
Sam pays the local Asian community centre a visit only for the place to be attacked by a couple of skinheads. He chases them and catches one, who claims that the Asians are smuggling things into the country and that he knows when and where they do it.
The police investigate the warehouse where they find several Asians unloading items such as carpets and crockery. However, Sam accidentally uncovers bags of heroin stashed away in a secret compartment of one of the crates. Gene calls in Toolbox to explore the matter further.
Sam and Annie track down Ravi, who claims innocence but agrees to come in for questioning rather than face Toolbox. Sam is suddenly struck down from behind and wakes up to find himself bound and gagged. Gene arrives on the scene to set him free, but there’s no sign of Annie or the assailants.
The police pay Toolbox a visit, with his Asian rugs alerting Sam to his double dealings. Toolbox’s female accomplice shoots Ravi but Chris puts a bullet in her before she can do any more damage. Rocket, who was also in on the act, is also arrested. They find Annie tied up, but safe.
Sam pays a visit to Layla at the hospital. She has changed her mind about having an abortion and has an ultrasound scan and says she will call the baby Maya if it’s a girl.
Gene is busy keeping an eye on Ravi, who is in a hospital bed recovering from being shot. He tells Sam that his brother is dead. Together, they hang around Ravi’s hospital bed and put the music up loud, much to the nurse’s annoyance.
[edit] Cast
- Sam Tyler — John Simm
- Gene Hunt — Philip Glenister
- Chris Skelton — Marshall Lancaster
- Ray Carling — Dean Andrews
- Annie Cartwright — Liz White
- Nelson — Tony Marshall
- Phyllis Dobbs — Noreen Kershaw
- Test Card Girl — Rafaella Hutchinson
- Maya Roy — Archie Panjabi
- Layla — Alex Reid
- Ravi — Paul Sharma
- Rocket — Tim Plester
- Toolbox Terry — Ian Puleston-Davies
- Big Bird — Lorraine Cheshire
[edit] Cultural References
- Sam says "Well, it's better than even I expected. Copper leaps to a conclusion, then finds the evidence to fit. Birmingham Six, here we come." The Birmingham Six were convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings of 21 November 1974 and sentenced to life imprisonment. At a third appeal against the convictions, in 1991, the Court of Appeal considered that new evidence discredited both the men's confessions and critical forensic evidence against them, making the convictions unsafe. The case has subsequently been held up as an examplar of corrupt police work.
- As Gene drives down the streets and then knocks over a bin Sam says "Starsky and Hutch have a lot to answer for". This is a reference to the TV show Starsky and Hutch who drove in a similar style. However since Starsky and Hutch won't air until 1975, Gene replies "who ?".
[edit] Production
[edit] Music
- Dance With The Devil - Cozy Powell
- Breathless - Atomic Rooster
- Snow Flower - Ananda Shankar
- Rocket Man - Elton John
- I Had A Dream - Audience
- Hot Sand - Shocking Blue
- Traveller In Time - Uriah Heep
- Whiskey In The Jar - Thin Lizzy
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
