Ashes To Ashes

I finally got my hands on the first season of the BBC show Ashes To Ashes. This is sort of a “sequel” to Life On Mars, with all the main characters except Sam Tyler. This time it's a woman, Alex Drake who gets to “go back in time”.

I won't give away any huge spoilers (I'm hoping BBCAmerica will be kind enough to run these at some point). The story goes that Sam Tyler supposedly lived out the remainder of his life in the 70's, and criminal profiler Alex Drake has been studying his notes about having traveled back to 1973. Of course, she thinks he's a complete loon, until she's shot and finds herself back in 1981 London (instead of 1973 Manchester) with Gene Hunt, Chris Skelton and Ray Carling.

I blew through the 8 episode series in about a week, and it was very cool. Especially Gene Hunt. The writing wasn't as good as Life On Mars though. There were cringe-worthy scenes with Alex meeting her parents, and I found myself thinking, “If Alex Drake studied Sam Tyler's notes on his experiences in 1973, then why didn't she learn something from them?”.

The best episodes were the very first one and the very last one. In between those episodes, adventures ensued. Oh, and there's a David Bowie clown who starts off creepy, then just becomes annoying. Like a stalker. If I was Alex Drake, I think I would've decked him after the 3rd sighting – imaginary construct or not.

Overall, I enjoyed this series and would definitely go back and watch them again. I understand a second series has been commissioned, and I'm looking forward to seeing that eventually.

So here's a bit of the first episode, courtesy of YouTube. A most excellent introduction of Alex Drake to the infamous Gene Hunt.

Sis - if you're reading this, I think you'll enjoy!