(2006-07: Seasons One & Two)

Though my friend Nancy swears up and down she told me about this show, I dont specifically recall her saying anything (sorry, Nancy). I do recall a friend at work explaining to me the basic premise, which is that a detective wakes up one day and its 1973. I was hooked immediately a show taking place in the 70s? Cool. I added it to my Netflix queue at once. In the last two weeks it finally rose to the top of the heap, two eight-episode seasons, and I took it in well, after the first episode devoured it, really. The series centers around one Sam Tyler (John Simm, who was so excellent in State of Play), who is hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973. Its uncertain throughout the show (until the very end) whether Sam is in a coma, crazy, or has really been transported back to 1973. He stays in Manchester, his home in both the present and the past he has apparently traveled to, and is still a police officer. But hes hardly at home back in the bad old 70s, when the cops were on the take, rude, lude, rough, crude, smoked like chimneys and drank like fishes. Sam seems almost prissy next to these boys, and none epitomizes the gruffness of the era more than Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Genes a mans man, popping in at the pub every night and generally breaking skulls and throwing his weight around. Sam and Gene develop an antagonistic relationship; Sam disapproves of Genes methods and Gene finds Sams fussy attention to detail a waste of time and a terrific irritant. And if Gene has his issues with Sam, Detective Inspector Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) simply loathes him. Rounding out the main cast are DI Chris Skelton (Marsall Lancaster), sort of this groups Ringo (theres even a vague physical resemblance), who sort of takes a liking to Sam, and a policewoman, Annie Cartwright (Liz White), who definitely does. Shes the only one Sam trusts with his secret that hes possibly a time traveler and hes also the only one who sees her as an intelligent person first and a woman second (Annie is subjected to all kinds of sexist banter that Sam, and we, find degrading, but she mostly shrugs it off). Much of the meat of the show comes from Sams fish out of water situation and his continuing attempts to bring some sort of modern techniques (never mind restraint) to the department. This only earns him more grief from Ray and Hunt, but the DCI is willing to admit that Sam gets resultsjust as Sam must admit in his own way that Hunt is an effective, if bent, policeman. Each episode delves into a particular crime and investigation as well as Sams continuing efforts to try and contact the real world (he can hear voices from 2006 on the radio and over the TV; one particularly effective if creepy method of contact is when the little girl and her doll pictured on the after hours test pattern suddenly appear in Sams flat, dropping almost Lynchian-obscure clues). While Sam is pre-occupied with getting home, he also gets to know each of the inspectors better (except Ray), and runs into various people from his past (his mom, his dad, his aunt, even his girlfriends mother). The show balances the police procedural aspect and the more supernatural/possible time travel element flawlessly just when you get caught up

Life on Mars (UK)

in the chase of a possible IRA suspect or local gangster, bam, Sam will get some weird message from the future (while everyone else just sees the soccer game on TV). Every character is well cast and finely acted, and Simm is really excellent as Sam; we gravitate toward him and like him at once, and of course he is our Virgil on this tour through his Seventies hell. We share his likes and dislikes and attitudes about how different the Seventies is, and we are rooting for him to get home, pretty much up until we realize, like he comes to, that getting back to the present will mean leaving all this behind. In particular he will have difficulty cleaving from Annie; they never begin a relationship during the show but the spark flickers here and there, and they seem an excellent fit. As good as Simm is and thats very good he is outdone by Glenisters Hunt. Gene Hunt is such a colorful and textured character, full of contradictions and barely contained energy and rage, that he fairly explodes across the screen. Yet for all his flaws, Gene Hunt is a man who is deeply comfortable in his own skin, warts and all. Gene thinks pretty well of himself and so does everyone else, generally referring to him by the affectionate respectful title of guv. For such an angry, bigoted man to be so compelling and so pleased with himself startles the viewer at first, but I think in his own way Gene Hunt is the modern equivalent of Archie Bunker, a hugely important character in the evolution of television, who transcended the show he starred in and became a cultural touchstone. I have no idea if Hunt managed this feat in Britain, but he deserved to; Gene Hunt is one of the top ten finest characters ever created for television. Hes a perfect foil for Sam and yet underneath it all the two are friends and even respect one another late in the series, when Hunt is a possible murder suspect, Sam is the one he turns to for help in getting him out of it. There are many, many reasons to watch this show, but foremost among them must be simply to watch Gene Hunt. The show is also archly clever, employing Seventies culture (and some damn fine music) to really immerse the viewer in the time period (everyone everyonebut Sam smokes). The dialogue is sharp and snappy, the references to Sams possible coma condition that pop up and sometimes interweave with the plot even the occasional tip of the hat to the Wizard of Ozits all insanely well done, exceedingly smart. Its rare that a show has it all brilliant writing, sharp acting, a high concept, a nearly flawless execution, and a satisfying and intelligent (and emotionally satisfying) ending but this one does. If I had to compare it to another show, I would say that Life on Mars is as good or better in many of the same ways as West Wing was when it was firing on all cylinders back somewhere around season two. Yeah, its that good. Maybe better. I guess there is something to not doing shows for seven years you dont piss away all your good ideas and run on fumes. Instead you use them all in a short, potent space and create unforgettable TV. Unless you just cant stomach English TV, I urge you to go out and watch this show (I dont know anything about the American remake but it just cannot be as good).

This is probably the best English TV show Ive seen since The Avengers, and that is the highest compliment I am capable of giving. February 12, 2011