Series 2: Episode 7 (Life on Mars)

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“Episode 7”
Life on Mars episode

Sam tries to smuggle a suspended Gene into CID.
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 7
Written by Mark Greig
Directed by S. J. Clarkson
Original airdate April 3, 2007
Episode chronology
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List of Life on Mars episodes

The seventh episode of the second series of the British time travel police procedural television series, Life on Mars, was first broadcast on 3 April 2007. It was produced by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

A water-tight court case fails to put away a local gangster. Unable to cope with a guilty man walking free, DCI Hunt turns to alcohol but soon finds himself in a spot of bother. When it appears as though Hunt may have killed someone, it's up to Sam, torn between Gene and his replacement, a DCI who actually uses Sam's modern police techniques and vocabulary, to help him out and Hunt calls Sam when he finds the body.

[edit] Plot

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Boxing manager Terry Haslam is deemed not guilty of seriously assaulting retiring boxer Davie Mackay despite Gene Hunt's testimony that he witnessed the brutal attack. The fact that Mackay claims he fell down the stairs didn't help the chances of a conviction.

Later that evening, Sam drives a severely intoxicated Gene back home, but the DCI directs him to Haslam's house instead. Gene storms out the car, puts a brick through the window and pulls out his gun. Sam drags him back to the car with Haslam giving chase on foot. Further on, Gene realises he has left his gun behind and heads back, alone.

Next morning Sam receives a call from Gene saying it appears he's killed a man. It transpires that he has woken up in Haslam's house to find him shot dead, with no recollection of events after leaving the pub. Sam finds Gene's gun, which has been fired, under the bed before the rest of the police turn up and arrest him.

An Acting DCI - Frank Morgan - is brought in from Hyde and both impresses and mystifies Sam with his very modern policing methods and public relations talk. When interviewed, Gene suggests that there was something suspect about Davie Mackay's behaviour in court and Sam pays him a visit. The boxer admits to stealing cash from Haslam, which prompted the beating.

Gene's drunk lawyer manages to secure his client's release, although Morgan insists that he secretly be watched. However, when Sam pays him a visit the next day he discovers that the murder suspect has evaded the detection of Ray and Chris, parked outside, by slipping away.

Sam visits Haslam's boxing gym and talks to trainer Pete Wilkes, who claims that Mackay didn't take any cash from the place, instead taking an envelope. He also implicates Gene Hunt with the letter, saying he and Haslam go back a long way. Following a road safety lesson with some children, Annie is told by Sam that he thinks a bribe for Gene was in the envelope. They are then called to the gym where Pete Wilkes has been murdered. Two witnesses claim to have seen Hunt at the gym shortly before the death. The news hits Chris and Ray hard as they are resigned to losing their DCI.

Gene is waiting for Sam in his flat and pleads his innocence, whilst conceding that he used to take backhanders from Haslam. He claims that Haslam tried to blackmail him into not giving evidence against him in the assault case, but he had an attack of conscience and did so.

The pair head to the station with Gene in a rodent inspired disguise so as to look at the details of the case more closely. They then pay the crime scene a visit in a bid to jog Gene's memory but to no avail. However, Sam notices that Haslam's body was slumped on top of a heating vent which was preset to turn on at 2am every morning. This means that the time of death would have occurred hours earlier than previously thought.

Whilst driving through town, Gene recognises a familiar television shop that jogs memories from the night of the murder. An alibi is then found when an elderly lady says she saw him drunkenly slumped in a doorway that night - until a man mataching Mackay's description bundled him into the back of a van. Gene then theorises that Mackay had motive for killing Mackay because he was supposed to have thrown his last fight - but didn't - thus incurring the assault.

After evading Chris and Ray yet again, Gene - with Sam's help - confront Mackay at the gym where the former boxer confesses all. Gene, returned to DCI duties, then lambasts his fellow officers for believing he was capable of being a murderer. However, they are all soon drinking to celebrate his proven innocence.

Sam corners Annie on her way out from the party and the pair almost share a kiss, but the departing Morgan ruins the moment. Sam has a quick word in private with him, where he says that he is doing all he can to bring him back home. The ambiguity of this statement leaves Sam stunned...

[edit] Cast

[edit] Cultural References

The character of Frank Morgan is a reference to The Sweeney. His name is a pastiche of the character DCI Frank Haskins and Garfield Morgan, the actor who played him. It also can be seen as a reference to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz as Frank Morgan was the name of the actor who played the wizard in that production. Further references to The Wizard of Oz appear in the next episode.

[edit] Production

[edit] Music

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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