The first season BBC Wales/Kudos production Life on Mars was a hit with critics and viewers alike when it was broadcast. Although here in the UK we’ve still got a bit of time to wait before the second, even freakier, series, those lucky Americans get to enjoy the first series in all its glory on cable channel BBC America from tonight. So, here at TV Today, we thought we’d take a look at what those Americans are making of a very British show.
“Life On Mars” — Get it on the DVR immediately or at least be home for it — is a brilliant, clever and studied take on retro police work, set in Manchester, England, circa 1973… So many disparate elements collide here that you can’t quite figure out what’s the most engaging. There’s the premise itself — wonderful and full of possibility, playing out over eight episodes — and [John] Simm’s superb turn as the befuddled, angry, worried and vexed Detective Sam Tyler (not to mention Philip Glenister as his ethically challenged, punch-happy superior, Gene Hunt).
Ultimately, what works best is the entire thing. The whole of it is seductive, mostly because it’s the anti-“CSI” and Sam, schooled on hair fibers and perfectly maintained crime scenes and ultra-fast lab work, is suddenly in a world where computers are no help and he has to revert to old-school wits.
IGN.com gives it 10/10:
The show is a well-crafted mix of genres — part cop drama, part comedy, part Twilight Zone-esque thriller — that deserves to be placed in a category of its own. On the merits of this first episode alone, Life on Mars proves itself to be worthwhile viewing and should be checked out by any fan of good TV.
On one level, “Life on Mars” can be seen as a witty response to the modern police procedural, with its emphasis on cutting-edge forensic science and impossibly good-looking rainbow casts. Here the detectives are all rumpled white men with bad facial hair and bad teeth, working in a dark, messy, smoky room lorded over by genially thuggish DCI Hunt (the mighty Philip Glenister), for whom “evidence” means whatever he can plant on a suspect and the phrase “excessive force” an oxymoron. (Though all in the service of good.) Tyler, who comes from more enlightened times, literally bumps heads with him…
We want them to get along, and when they sync up — as when they jump over a desk in tandem on their way to crack a case, as though they lived in an old episode of “Starsky & Hutch” — it’s almost stupidly exciting.
If you’ve seen the great miniseries thriller State of Play, you know that I’m going to tell you that star John Simm is trustily excellent as Sam: emotionally on target as a lost soul and charmingly smart as a by-the-book sleuth. And he’s well-matched with Glenister, who has an engaging snarl and a wonderfully light touch playing the humor of an old dog — remember, he’s also experiencing his own measure of head scratching, thanks to his often puzzled-looking, future-obsessed new investigator. Everyone’s take on Mars is relative.
In the end, Life on Mars makes us realize we’ve all been crime-show accident victims in a collective trance for far too long — and it’s time to wake up.
If the show were just “Tops of the Pops” salted with Diet Coke and Playstation jokes, it would be a mere confection. (That reminds me to mention that David “Ally McBeal Boston Legal” Kelley owns the U.S. rights to “Life on Mars.”)
This BBC version is more. It’s an ambitious and ever-shifting examination of the lack of foresight in a culture addicted to rapid change.
Finally, dailynews.com looks to the whole series rather than just the first episode:
As the series progresses, a few episodes play a little too much as regular crime melodramas, with clumsy plotting or clues too easily tipped to viewers. But the season finale returns to the brilliance of the first episodes, as Sam discovers what accounted for the disappearance of his father when he was a young child.
Glenister is the show’s breakout star as Hunt, whose arrogant swagger, poorly bottled rage and cranky wit have reportedly transformed him into a hero among current British policemen.
At last, Philip Glenister is getting the full recognition that he so richly deserves. I run a PG forum, and know firsthand, that his American fans are thrilled that Life on Mars is airing across the pond. For those of us in UK, we look forward to series II. Philip Glenister is a wonderfully versatile actor and his fans believe that he will go from strength to strength in his career. The best is yet to come!
Further to my earlier comments, dated August 14th: If you would like to participate in discussions on Philip Glenister's work and a wide-range of other topics, please go here:
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