Life on Mars

Life on Mars is a critically acclaimed British drama. The series centre around Sam Tyler (John Simm) who appears to have travelled back in time to be a detective in the Manchester police force in 1973. His boss, Gene Hunt (Phillip Glenister), is portrayed as politically incorrect, brutal and corrupt.

On the whole viewers loved the programme, often stating that with only two series the writers made the right decision not to repeat and rehash old plot lines but just get on with it and finish the story. The soundtrack was particularly popular with such iconic hits as “Life on Mars” by David Bowie, “Blockbuster” by Sweet, “Whiskey in the Jar” by Thin Lizzy and “Rock On” by T.Rex.

Sam Tyler is a Detective Chief Inspector in service with the Greater Manchester Police in 2006. He is involved in a car accident and “wakes up” in 1973 in the same police force with a lower rank (Detective Inspector) and does not know how he got there, if it is real or how to get back.

The plot often revolves around the love/hate relationship between Tyler and Hunt and highlights the changes in British society in the last thirty years.