My parents have been raving about the time-travelling detective series Life On Mars for ages, so I agreed to watch the first episode of the second season last night. And you know what? It was brilliant.Life On Mars, for those who don't know, is about a detective who is hit by a car in 2006, and wakes up to find himself in 1973. Throughout the series, he struggles to adapt to his new surroundings while trying to persuade his fellow cops to use his modern-day techniques.
The entire show has a great 70s atmosphere - and although I don't know what the 70s were like, I can certainly imagine it being like this. The police are rough and ruthless, balking at the idea of thoroughly investigating a crime scene, women are forced to put up with endless sexism and some people even have afros. ^_^
But there's another side to Life On Mars, which the adverts seem to skip around: it's actually quite dark. Not only are the stories based around fluffy topics such as corruption high in the police force, but the character himself often questions his own sanity. The show's intro sums it up perfectly: "am I mad, in a coma or back in time?".
If you have a Doctor Who or Torchwood-shaped hole in your TV schedule at the moment like me, Life On Mars is the perfect replacement. And even if you're not, it's a damn good drama.
Ps. I didn't manage to get this blog post out in time for the episode tonight - unfortunately, there isn't another episode for two weeks!
3 comments:
I know! Is he in a coma? Is he in the past? Who knows? What's this about two weeks?
By the way, watch the first series if you can. It's just as good and it bulks out the characters quite a bit.
it about time
life on mars is one of the best shows of this year better than doctor who and torchwood.
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