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Customer Rating:

Summary: Disappointing sequel to the sequel
Comment: WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS A SPOILER TO THE PLOT OF THE STORY

Life on Mars stands
out as one of the best examples of television drama for many years. This spin-off series almost
comes across as a parody of it.

It's a mistake to transplant Gene, Ray and Chris out of
their native Manchester. They look totally out of place in ( a poorly reconstructed) 1980's London.

In Life on Mars, the contrast between Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt is essentially about
how they approach police work and their backgrounds appear generally similiar (working class
Manchester). For reasons best known to the writers themselves, the contrast between Gene Hunt and
this story's protagonist - Alex Drake - is clumsily exaggerated; He, the uncompromising working
class Northerner, she, the plummy voiced daughter of a Barrister.

Contrary to other
reviews, I found the ending fairly predictable. Having seen the scene of Alex's father's face in the
rear view mirror of the car for the upteenth time (real excessive repetition here), it was obvious
who the clown was, and that coupled with the discovery of Alex's mother's affair earlier in the
series, left very little doubt as to the probable cause of the car explosion.

It's
hard to believe that these were the same writers who had written such a tight storyline as in Life
on Mars. Ashes to Ashes is lazy writing.

I would have hoped that this would mark the
end of the story, but I'm afraid it's all too apparent that there will be a follow up. Ordinarily I
would have looked forward to a new series. Now I'm just curious how bad it will be...

Customer Rating:

Summary: A dissapointment.
Comment: A disappointment on nearly every level.
It is such a shame that the legacy of Life On Mars
has been reduced to the caricature that is Ashes to Ashes.

Customer Rating:

Summary: SAME AGAIN!!..
Comment: ..THE SEQUEL TO LIFE ON MARS, THEY ARE BACK MINUS SAM TYLER - IN PLACE A YOUNG FEMALE WHO PLAYSTHE
PART AS EQUALLY AS GOOD. MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS ARE STILL IN IT AND GENE HUNT IS GOD! HONESTLY,
THIS IS A MUST FOR FANS OF 80S POLICE SHOWS! BUY IT!!

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Manc Lion Returns with a Roar
Comment: After much anticipation the Manc Lion returned. The Gene Genie returned more mature and more laid
back. Philip Glenister's on screen chemistry with Keeley Hawes works well, and the storylines have
been excellent - and Gene's one-liners have been up to scratch from "Life on Mars". The music has
been brilliant and the DVD is now well watched. I look forward to the next and final series with
bated breath. Just keep up the good work, writers, actors and BBC.

Thanks for a very
good spin off series.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Well Let's be honest here...
Comment: One can say almost without a doubt that yes, Life on Mars was a better show.
But Ashes to
Ashes is entertainment at quite a high. The premise isn't exactly fresh anymore, but they don't
treat it like it should be in the show either. You have a main character who knows the premise
themselves, which gives it a different air entirely.
Keeley Hawes takes a few episodes to get
used to this, but she does even out after the first couple. And her chemistry on screen with Philip
Glenister's Gene Hunt is fantastic, every bit as good as John Simm, although for entirely different
reasons.
We all know how Life on Mars ended, so there seemed to be no surprise waiting for us
at the end of this show. We still watched though because it was a welcome break from other shows
that seemed to take themselves too seriously. It was also a welcome return of characters we grew to
love. And a great soundtrack didn't hurt either (whether or not some of the songs were earlier than
1981... oh dear..). But the suprise was that after 8 episodes what we thought were foregone
conclusions, weren't.

So sure it isn't as great as Life on Mars. But then that was the
first and those tend to always win out don't they? But this is a bright, flashy, entertaining show,
with great acting, a fine on screen chemistry between the leads, one of the best soundtracks ever
for a TV show, and some of the greatest dialogue you'll hear since well... Life on Mars. If you
liked Life on Mars for the gritty, hard nosed approach, you might not like this latest
incarnation... but otherwise most should be pleased enough. And it likely will attract a larger
audience.

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