Life on Mars premiered on TVOne the other night. It’s from the gang who gave us Spooks and Hu$tle, so I had to try it. The Goddess found it all a bit laddish but I enjoyed it immensely despite the broadcaster squeezing in ad-breaks every eight minutes or so.
It’s a typical cop show – the Gruff Old-Style Copper partnered with an Enlightened New Policing Detective, who butt heads with each other as they solve crimes with a mix of street-smarts and technical nous – except there’s three decades of policing between them. Aficionados of police procedurals – like myself – who remember 1970s-style t.v.-policing (The Sweeney‘s swashbuckling crime fighting, anyone?) should get a kick out of this.
As always, the Vidiots gave me the heads-up here.
btw, I can confirm that the programme is only running for 2 seasons…for more check out the Feb 2007 issue of SFX magazine:
http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?catname=/Previous%20issues
February 2007 (SFX153)
We’ve got a behind-the-scenes extravaganza for you this month! We kick off on British shores by talking to the cast and crew behind both the BBC’s massive hit series Life on Mars, and ITV’s new Saturday night offering Primeval. Then we hop across the pond to visit the set of Heroes, the biggest new US TV hit since Lost, and for all the movie fans out there, we’ve also got interviews with Darren Aronofsky and Hugh Jackman about The Fountain. You can also check out our guide to the hottest new film releases due out in 2007, our interview with Terry Gilliam about what makes him tick, our very special Couch Potato with guest stars Matthew Graham and Philip Glenister, and a whole lot more! Oh, and for the cherry on top of this sci-fi sundae, every issue also comes with free Doctor Who and Torchwood badges. We spoil you, we really do.