7 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Fantastic follow-up

SuzieMaragh from from Manchester, 22nd February, 2008

Ashes to Ashes is a brilliant follow-up to Life on Mars - Keeley Hawes is excellent as the lead character, Philip Glennister is fantastic as the hilarious but deplorable Gene Hunt again and his 'sidekicks' Marshall Lancaster and Dean Andrews (DS Chris Skelton and DS Ray Carling respectively) do a great supporting job as always. It's so easy to get drawn into this show from the very first episode you watch - as with Life on Mars, there's all sorts of weird stuff going on around DI Alex Drake (remember the test card clown/girl from Life on Mars? well, this time we have another strange, scary clown!) which is always entertaining and just a little bit creepy, and there are the usual emotional encounters with people who have been a part of the character's life in the present day. What makes this different, however, is the overall attitude of DI Alex Drake - she is considerably more light-hearted and laid back than Sam Tyler, and that makes for seriously entertaining viewing. Also, the 80s backdrop provides a fertile ground for all sorts of stories to be told, as well as allowing Keeley Hawes to look fantastic in fabulous 80s fashion and providing the show with a great, eclectic soundtrack. I love it - and if you loved Life on Mars, you should give this a try!

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6 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

"Were coppers not spies .Look at us ...tinker tailor soldier t**t"

Northernsky from , 14th April, 2008

Where Life On Mars garnered an across the board positive critical reception Ashes To Ashes has had a more mixed reception. Obviously the concept is not as fresh this time around and the whole series has a slightly contrived ambience to it. For instance even taking into account it’s a series with a fantastical element what are the chances of Gene Hunt (Philip Glennister) ,Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster) and Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) all transferring from London to Manchester at the same time? Still willing suspension of disbelief is required with this series so what the hell. The central concept is that police psychologist Alex Drake(Keeley Hawes) who is tied into the series having worked on Sam Tyler’s case is shot in 2008 and wakes up in 1981 to find the same principal characters that invaded Sam’s world existing in hers. The “imaginary constructs” as she calls them must also aid her in that old sci-fi staple of changing the past in order to influence the future. In this case Drake wants to prevent her parents becoming victims of a car bombing -a consequence of their involvement in civil rights campaigning and as defence lawyers. Mixed up with this is lots of stuff about Drake questioning her parents commitment to her with their busy professional life’s, her relationship with her uncle and her burgeoning fractious relationship with Gene Hunt. Not to mention her motherly feelings for young policewoman Shaz Granger( Montserrat Lombard)who is a kind of surrogate daughter for the one left behind in 2008.Then there is the clown from the Bowie video haunting her dreams and more worryingly her waking moments as well. The series takes time to get going and too often the writers resort to having Hunt and co run around spouting pithy one liners- though admittedly some of these are very good. The will they ,won’t they thing between Hunt and Drake is wearily predictable but thankfully is not consummated and although the series hints at the socio-political climate of 1981 ( The Blitz club scene , homophobia, the anti-nuclear movement, Princess Di,s wedding ) it too often relies on it’s soundtrack to give it a period feel -often using music from the wrong era rather annoyingly. The one time it tackles the times head on is the last episode with Geoffrey Palmer playing Lord Scarman and it’s no coincidence that this is the finest episode of the series , though the electrifyingly tense and emotional conclusion to Drakes obsession with her parents death helps tremendously as well. Keeley Hawes has come in for some stick for her portrayal of Alex Drake and it is true that she relies on her luscious pout a little too much but I feel she does invest the character with some depth and handles the big scenes well. The rest of the cast are excellent with Amelia Bullmore as Alex’s mother especially good and there are some choice lines -usually from Gene Hunt though Ray Carling gets a few as well . The DVD has audio commentary from Keeley Hawes and the shows producers for episodes one and two(Why not the whole series?), a making of documentary , a set tour and outtake scenes. Compared to Life On Mars Ashes To Ashes suffers , but take it on it’s own merits and it’s an entertaining series that gradually gets better and ends with a genuinely edgy and affecting finale. It will be interesting to see how the writers approach the dilemma of how to get Alex Drake back to 2008 for if she was sent back to 1981 to solve the mystery of her parents death then what is there left for her to do?

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4 out of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Bad writing and bad casting

A Customer from Scotland, 9th May, 2008

Graham etc earned a lot of good will to take into this sequel to the wonderful Life on Mars and, at first, it almost seemed that it wouldn't be needed to admire and enjoy Ashes to Ashes. And then the second episode started. There are so many ways this went wrong. Yes you'd expect a change - the concept of Hunt and the team would change with someone who knew Sam's story and was female to boot, so had different experiences. And yes you knew she dressed like a tart because the extremes of fashion are what her child's mind remembered. But that didn't excuse the shodding writing. I'm sorry - but 5 minutes of zinging lines an episode can't make up for the other 55mins. I don't know anyone who didn't cringe when the mother turned up as the writing fell apart and so, increasingly, did Hawes performance, which wasn't overly praiseworthy to begin with - her casting was the worst mistake on the show. The series seemed to work on the basis of one nice idea (eg meeting Scarman, rip-off Edge of Darkness (and I'm sorry - Sam remembered race hate, drugs, IRA vaguely as a child - and created plots. Did a girl Alex's age actually remember Edge of Darkness!!) - then stretch to an hour - then try to fill. And while some of the actual plots in LoM were a little dodgy, they were held up be the quality of what was else was going on and dialogue/performance. And that just didn't happen here. The death of the colleague was particularly atrocious and, frankly, the clown just didn't work in the way the test card girl did. And clowns are supposed to be scary anyway - how come this one wasn't even that? Rainbow was underused too. So now left with a choice I didn't want to have - do I really bother watching the 2nd series at all? Just for the hope of writing that matches lines like the twanging of the royal whatever? Because frankly, all good will now gone, I'm minded not to waste anymore of my time on it.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

I recommend Life on Mars instead

superjim from from Newcastle, UK, 5th June, 2008

First episode was great, however the series is little more than a Life on Mars remake in a different time zone. After 'three' series it feels every tired now. Watch Life on Mars instead

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1 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Awful

A Customer from Solihull, 18th June, 2008

Based on life on mars follow on. Female lead instead of previous male cop. Not worth watching.

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