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Series 2: Episode 8 (Life on Mars)
Encyclopedia
The eighth episode of the second series, and overall finale of the British
time travel
police procedural
television
series, Life on Mars
, was first broadcast on 10 April 2007. It was produced by Kudos Film & Television
for BBC One
.
This was the finale of Life on Mars
, although three characters (DCI Gene Hunt
, DS Ray Carling
and DC Chris Skelton
) returned for the sequel series Ashes to Ashes
in 2008
.
learns that an operation is to be conducted on him in 2006 to try to revive him from his coma
. However, he believes that to return to the twenty-first century, he has to betray his colleagues in 1973 — but can he regard them as real or imagined?
on the radio, that he has a tumour on his brain that is operable and could bring him out of his coma. He then hears his mother Ruth say that the surgeon’s name is Mr. Morgan. Frank Morgan, the policeman from Hyde, then phones him to say that he must destroy Gene Hunt. Sam interprets this to mean that Gene is a metaphor for the tumour and is the remaining obstacle to his return to the present day.
The coppers find a murdered man called Danny who was secretly informing the police. Sam is angry that Gene didn’t offer him protection in return. Frank later explains that Gene must be exposed for his criminal negligence, prompting Sam to explain about what happened with Danny. Then, Frank promises to bring Sam home once he has the necessary evidence and tape recordings.
Annie hears from Sam that he is going far away and wants to spend more time with her. Before they can speak further, a suspect is brought in for interrogation in the store rooms. Sam has hidden a tape recorder and it captures Gene and Ray brutally treating the man in order to gain answers. The methods work and the name Leslie Johns, a notorious criminal, as well as a cop killer, is supplied.
That night, Annie arrives at Sam’s flat for a word. After a heart to heart, Sam asks for one night together with her, but Annie rejects the short term proposition and leaves. He then sees the demonic Test Card girl enter his flat and suggest that he’s being operated on.
Gene Hunt plans an undercover operation to arrest Johns and an armed gang planning to stage a heist on a train carrying wages. Sam believes that without trained firearms experts involved the officers are being placed in unnecessary danger. Gene then meets Johns, using a false identity, and ensures that he is part of the armed gang. After this meeting Gene plans the operation and informs Sam, Annie, Ray and Chris that they are also to go undercover posing as the train’s staff. Sam is still convinced that the operation is risky and irrational but Gene states that Johns "doesn't play by any rules and neither should we." Despite their differing methods of policing, it appears as if Sam recognises and respects Gene's simple honesty and fierce sense of duty in his work.
Sam meets Frank to inform him of the latest developments and evidence. He asks to return home, but Frank says he must stay on as part of an anti-corruption unit. Sam then starts making references to the coma and the brain surgery in the future, but Frank is dumbfounded. Sam is startled to learn he was in a crash several months ago before he went undercover and suffers from amnesia, with Frank listing the symptoms of hearing doctors’ voices.
The pair then visit a cemetery with tombstones of Sam’s dead parents, who have the surname Williams. Next to their graves are tombstones bearing the name Tyler, which is where Frank says he took his undercover name from. Shortly afterwards, Frank gives Sam a radio with which to contact him for backup during the train operation.
Nelson the barman then tells Sam that he is only alive when he can feel. The policeman later gives Annie a big hug and confesses that he was always going to leave and that he is working undercover for Morgan to gather evidence against Hunt. Chris and Ray walk in and Sam also tells them the truth about his links with Hyde. They are not pleased, despite Sam’s protestations that he wants to save their lives. Feeling cheated, Annie slaps Sam hard across the face.
Despite the friction, the team goes ahead with the mission as Gene has already gone undercover. When their train is being robbed, sounds from Sam’s police radio given to him by Morgan alert the crooks to the deception. As shots are fired, Gene breaks his cover to join his colleagues in the shootout. Sam radios Morgan for backup but none arrives. Promising that he will return, Sam makes a break for it and bumps into Morgan at the end of the train tunnel who tells him there is no backup and he is happy to let the officers die to prove a point, thereby discrediting Hunt posthumously.
A bright, white light appears at the tunnel as Sam’s colleagues make a run for it and are shot down one by one screaming for his help. Sam follows the light and wakes up on a hospital bed to see surgeon Morgan’s face. His mother sits silently at his bedside. Later, as Sam leaves hospital to the sound of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
's ukulele
rendering of Over The Rainbow
, we see that he has been in the Hyde Ward, Room 2612: a reference to the phone number with which Sam had been contacting Morgan. There are no jubilant friends or colleagues, or even his former girlfriend Maya, present at his return from a coma.
Back in the present day, Sam rejoins the police force and undergoes psychiatric evaluation. He also visits his mother, explaining to her that in some ways he felt more alive in his coma than he’d ever been before or since. The promise he made to Annie in the train that he’d return starts to haunt him.
At a police meeting, Sam feels nothing. He has no opinion when asked and cannot feel that he was cutting his hand inadvertently. He slips off to the top of the building, alone, and surveys the landscape in the same panoramic style in which he surveyed the landscape in the first episode
upon first waking up in 1973; the music is also the same in the two scenes: David Bowie
’s "Life on Mars?
". With no one to hold him back this time, Sam walks, then runs towards the edge with a smile on his face and leaps off.
Sam then returns to 1973 and shoots Leslie Johns in the train tunnel before he can put a bullet into the wounded Hunt. Now back on good terms with his colleagues and enjoying a drinking session down the pub, Sam slips outside for some alone time with Annie, where he asks her what he should do. She says: "Stay here. Forever." They kiss. Gene interrupts them by pulling up in his Ford Cortina with Ray and Chris to inform them that a robbery is in progress and they must go. The radio on the car has a paramedic’s voice saying that "he’s slipping away from us", but Sam switches channels. The car speeds away into the distance as the banter continues between the pair, David Bowie
’s ‘Life On Mars’ plays on the radio and a group of children run out of a backyard gate; the Test Card girl is among them. She stops, goes up to the camera and reaches out to turn the television off.
Metropolitan
Accountability and
Reconciliation
Strategy
M.A.R.S.
football on ITV1.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
time travel
Time travel in fiction
Time travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. It simply means either going forward in time or backward, to experience the future, or the past.-Literature:...
police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series, Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
, was first broadcast on 10 April 2007. It was produced by Kudos Film & Television
Kudos (production company)
Kudos Film and Television is a British independent film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and its productions include Spooks , Hustle, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard and M.I. High...
for BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
.
This was the finale of Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
, although three characters (DCI Gene Hunt
Gene Hunt
DCI Gene Hunt is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama Life on Mars and its sequel, Ashes to Ashes. The character is portrayed by Philip Glenister in both Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, whereas in the American version he is portrayed by Harvey Keitel.The...
, DS Ray Carling
Ray Carling
DC/DS/DI Raymond Milton "Ray" Carling is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes.-Life on Mars:...
and DC Chris Skelton
Chris Skelton
PC/DC Christopher "Chris" Skelton is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes.- Life on Mars :...
) returned for the sequel series Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (TV series)
Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
in 2008
2008 in television
The following is a list of events affecting American television in 2008. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel launches.-January:-February:-March:-April:-May:-June:-July:-August:...
.
Synopsis
SamSam Tyler
DCI/DI Sam Tyler is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars.In the original British version of Life on Mars, Tyler is played by John Simm and in the American version he is played by Jason O'Mara....
learns that an operation is to be conducted on him in 2006 to try to revive him from his coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. However, he believes that to return to the twenty-first century, he has to betray his colleagues in 1973 — but can he regard them as real or imagined?
Plot
Sam hears, via Jimmy SavileJimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile, OBE, KCSG was an English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality, best known for his BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, and for being the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops...
on the radio, that he has a tumour on his brain that is operable and could bring him out of his coma. He then hears his mother Ruth say that the surgeon’s name is Mr. Morgan. Frank Morgan, the policeman from Hyde, then phones him to say that he must destroy Gene Hunt. Sam interprets this to mean that Gene is a metaphor for the tumour and is the remaining obstacle to his return to the present day.
The coppers find a murdered man called Danny who was secretly informing the police. Sam is angry that Gene didn’t offer him protection in return. Frank later explains that Gene must be exposed for his criminal negligence, prompting Sam to explain about what happened with Danny. Then, Frank promises to bring Sam home once he has the necessary evidence and tape recordings.
Annie hears from Sam that he is going far away and wants to spend more time with her. Before they can speak further, a suspect is brought in for interrogation in the store rooms. Sam has hidden a tape recorder and it captures Gene and Ray brutally treating the man in order to gain answers. The methods work and the name Leslie Johns, a notorious criminal, as well as a cop killer, is supplied.
That night, Annie arrives at Sam’s flat for a word. After a heart to heart, Sam asks for one night together with her, but Annie rejects the short term proposition and leaves. He then sees the demonic Test Card girl enter his flat and suggest that he’s being operated on.
Gene Hunt plans an undercover operation to arrest Johns and an armed gang planning to stage a heist on a train carrying wages. Sam believes that without trained firearms experts involved the officers are being placed in unnecessary danger. Gene then meets Johns, using a false identity, and ensures that he is part of the armed gang. After this meeting Gene plans the operation and informs Sam, Annie, Ray and Chris that they are also to go undercover posing as the train’s staff. Sam is still convinced that the operation is risky and irrational but Gene states that Johns "doesn't play by any rules and neither should we." Despite their differing methods of policing, it appears as if Sam recognises and respects Gene's simple honesty and fierce sense of duty in his work.
Sam meets Frank to inform him of the latest developments and evidence. He asks to return home, but Frank says he must stay on as part of an anti-corruption unit. Sam then starts making references to the coma and the brain surgery in the future, but Frank is dumbfounded. Sam is startled to learn he was in a crash several months ago before he went undercover and suffers from amnesia, with Frank listing the symptoms of hearing doctors’ voices.
The pair then visit a cemetery with tombstones of Sam’s dead parents, who have the surname Williams. Next to their graves are tombstones bearing the name Tyler, which is where Frank says he took his undercover name from. Shortly afterwards, Frank gives Sam a radio with which to contact him for backup during the train operation.
Nelson the barman then tells Sam that he is only alive when he can feel. The policeman later gives Annie a big hug and confesses that he was always going to leave and that he is working undercover for Morgan to gather evidence against Hunt. Chris and Ray walk in and Sam also tells them the truth about his links with Hyde. They are not pleased, despite Sam’s protestations that he wants to save their lives. Feeling cheated, Annie slaps Sam hard across the face.
Despite the friction, the team goes ahead with the mission as Gene has already gone undercover. When their train is being robbed, sounds from Sam’s police radio given to him by Morgan alert the crooks to the deception. As shots are fired, Gene breaks his cover to join his colleagues in the shootout. Sam radios Morgan for backup but none arrives. Promising that he will return, Sam makes a break for it and bumps into Morgan at the end of the train tunnel who tells him there is no backup and he is happy to let the officers die to prove a point, thereby discrediting Hunt posthumously.
A bright, white light appears at the tunnel as Sam’s colleagues make a run for it and are shot down one by one screaming for his help. Sam follows the light and wakes up on a hospital bed to see surgeon Morgan’s face. His mother sits silently at his bedside. Later, as Sam leaves hospital to the sound of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Israel "IZ" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole was a Hawaiian musician.He became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993...
's ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
rendering of Over The Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
, we see that he has been in the Hyde Ward, Room 2612: a reference to the phone number with which Sam had been contacting Morgan. There are no jubilant friends or colleagues, or even his former girlfriend Maya, present at his return from a coma.
Back in the present day, Sam rejoins the police force and undergoes psychiatric evaluation. He also visits his mother, explaining to her that in some ways he felt more alive in his coma than he’d ever been before or since. The promise he made to Annie in the train that he’d return starts to haunt him.
Series 1: Episode 1 (Life on Mars)
The first episode of the first series of the British time travel police procedural television series, Life on Mars, was first broadcast on 9 January 2006. The episode, known erroneously as "The Crash", was produced by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One....
upon first waking up in 1973; the music is also the same in the two scenes: David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
’s "Life on Mars?
Life on Mars?
"Life on Mars?" is a song by David Bowie first released in 1971 on the album Hunky Dory. The song—which BBC Radio 2 later called "a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting"—featured guest piano work by keyboardist Rick Wakeman. When released as a single in 1973,...
". With no one to hold him back this time, Sam walks, then runs towards the edge with a smile on his face and leaps off.
Sam then returns to 1973 and shoots Leslie Johns in the train tunnel before he can put a bullet into the wounded Hunt. Now back on good terms with his colleagues and enjoying a drinking session down the pub, Sam slips outside for some alone time with Annie, where he asks her what he should do. She says: "Stay here. Forever." They kiss. Gene interrupts them by pulling up in his Ford Cortina with Ray and Chris to inform them that a robbery is in progress and they must go. The radio on the car has a paramedic’s voice saying that "he’s slipping away from us", but Sam switches channels. The car speeds away into the distance as the banter continues between the pair, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
’s ‘Life On Mars’ plays on the radio and a group of children run out of a backyard gate; the Test Card girl is among them. She stops, goes up to the camera and reaches out to turn the television off.
Cast
- Sam TylerSam TylerDCI/DI Sam Tyler is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars.In the original British version of Life on Mars, Tyler is played by John Simm and in the American version he is played by Jason O'Mara....
— John SimmJohn SimmJohn Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television... - Gene HuntGene HuntDCI Gene Hunt is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama Life on Mars and its sequel, Ashes to Ashes. The character is portrayed by Philip Glenister in both Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, whereas in the American version he is portrayed by Harvey Keitel.The...
— Philip GlenisterPhilip GlenisterPhilip Haywood Glenister is an English actor, known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in British television series Life On Mars and its sequel Ashes To Ashes.-Television and films:... - Chris SkeltonChris SkeltonPC/DC Christopher "Chris" Skelton is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes.- Life on Mars :...
— Marshall LancasterMarshall LancasterMarshall Lancaster is a British actor. He has appeared in many television dramas, including Coronation Street, Holby City, The Lakes and Family Affairs, but is probably best known for playing DC Chris Skelton in the BBC time-travel police dramas, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.Lancaster is a... - Ray CarlingRay CarlingDC/DS/DI Raymond Milton "Ray" Carling is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes.-Life on Mars:...
— Dean AndrewsDean AndrewsDean Andrews is a British actor.He is most famous for his role as DS Ray Carling in the BBC Television drama Life on Mars... - Annie CartwrightAnnie CartwrightWPC/DC Annie Cartwright is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars. The character is portrayed by Liz White...
— Liz WhiteLiz White (actress)Liz White is an English actress, best known for her regular role as WPC/WDC Annie Cartwright in the BBC time travel drama Life on Mars, which began in January 2006... - Nelson — Tony Marshall
- Phyllis DobbsPhyllis DobbsWPC Phyllis Dobbs is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars. The character is portrayed by Noreen Kershaw, whereas in the American version the character does not exist except for a very minor capacity....
— Noreen KershawNoreen KershawNoreen Kershaw is an English television actress and director.She trained at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre and, at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre, originated the title role of the play Shirley Valentine, later made famous by Pauline Collins... - Test Card Girl — Harriet Rogers
- Frank Morgan — Ralph BrownRalph BrownRalph William John Brown is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in Withnail and I, the security guard Aaron in Alien 3, DJ Bob Silver in The Boat That Rocked, and the pilot Ric Olié in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace...
- Ruth Tyler — Judi Jones
- Leslie Johns — Sean GilderSean GilderSean Brian Gilder is an English stage, film and screen actor, he is also a playwright.Gilder was born in Brampton, Cumbria, England. He is best-known for his portrayal of Paddy Maguire on Shameless from 2005 to 2010, and as Styles on Hornblower...
- Donald Sykes — Jack DeamJack DeamJack Deam is an English actor. He used his Grandfather's name for his stage name. His most notable performance is of the pyromaniac Marty Fisher, who has Tourette syndrome, in Channel 4's Shameless....
- Security Clerk - Philip Lightfoot
- Officer 1 - Jacqueline BoatswainJacqueline BoatswainJacqueline Boatswain is a British actress, based in London.She is best known for playing headmistress Mrs Bassinger in the long-running BBC school drama, Grange Hill, from 2003-2006. The character's first name has never been revealed, but according to the sign outside her head teacher's office it...
- Officer 2 - Mason Phillips
Cultural references
- Ray says "Guv's in like Flint." In Like FlintIn Like FlintIn Like Flint is a 1967 film directed by Gordon Douglas, the sequel to the parody spy film Our Man Flint . It posits an international feminist conspiracy to depose the ruling American patriarchy with a feminist matriarchy. To achieve and establish it, they kidnap and replace the U.S. President,...
is a spy spoof starring James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
as Derek FlintDerek FlintDerek Flint is a fictional world adventurer and master spy featured in a series of movies and comic books. Flint is a parody of James Bond and Doc Savage. Derek Flint is an agent for ZOWIE...
. The film title itself was a play on the phrase "in like Flynn", which had come to mean succeeding easily, particularly in the context of seduction. The 'Flynn' in question is the Hollywood idol Errol FlynnErrol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
(who for a time even planned to give his autobiography the title 'In Like Me'). - Sam references RoboCopRoboCopRoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
(a movie that wouldn't come out until 1987) and dialogue from it several times during the course of this episode. - The character of Frank Morgan is a reference to The SweeneyThe SweeneyThe Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
. His name is a pastiche of the character DCI Frank Haskins and Garfield MorganGarfield MorganGarfield Morgan was an English actor who appeared mostly on TV and occasionally in films.Born in Birmingham, Morgan was apprenticed as a dental mechanic before going to drama school. He started his acting career with the Arena Theatre, Birmingham...
, the actor who played him. - The duality of Frank Morgan as both a 1973 DCI enlisting Sam's aid against Gene, and Sam's 2006 surgeon trying to repair Sam's injuries is another of the programme's allusions to the 1939 film The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, which was replete with actors portraying different but related characters in Dorothy's Kansas reality and her Oz dream-world - most significantly, actor Frank MorganFrank MorganFrank Morgan was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
who portrayed both the Kansas charlatan Professor Marvel and the Wizard of Oz (as well as several ancillary OziteLand of OzOz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
characters). Further references to The Wizard of Oz appear in other episodes.
Production
- In the scene in Morgan's car, he produces a folder titled:
Metropolitan
Accountability and
Reconciliation
Strategy
M.A.R.S.
- The surname on the headstones of the graves of Sam's 'parents' is Williams. This was originally to be Sam's surname on the show, but Kudos felt that "Sam Williams" was not striking enough. Co-creator Matthew GrahamMatthew GrahamMatthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos Film and Television science fiction series Life on Mars, which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has received international critical acclaim....
consulted his daughter and she suggested Tyler after Rose TylerRose TylerRose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
, from Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
and when the series was remade in the US Sam's mother was renamed Rose Tyler.
Music
- My Coo Ca ChooMy Coo Ca Choo"My Coo Ca Choo" is the first successful release for Alvin Stardust, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart in December 1973. The glam rock single fared even better in Australia, where it spent seven weeks at the top and was the best charting single in the country in 1974...
- Alvin StardustAlvin StardustAlvin Stardust is an English pop singer and stage actor.-Career:... - Love Lies Bleeding - Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
- Decision/Indecision - Atomic RoosterAtomic RoosterAtomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
- I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With YouI Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You"I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" is a song written and recorded by Tom Waits for the 1973 album Closing Time....
- Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."... - Over The RainbowOver the Rainbow"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
- Israel Kamakawiwo'oleIsrael Kamakawiwo'oleIsrael "IZ" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole was a Hawaiian musician.He became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993... - Life on Mars?Life on Mars?"Life on Mars?" is a song by David Bowie first released in 1971 on the album Hunky Dory. The song—which BBC Radio 2 later called "a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting"—featured guest piano work by keyboardist Rick Wakeman. When released as a single in 1973,...
- David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s... - One Of The Boys - Mott the HoopleMott the HoopleMott the Hoople were a British rock band with strong R&B roots, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song "All the Young Dudes", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 album of the same name.-The early years:Mott The Hoople...
- ChangesChanges (David Bowie song)"Changes" is a song by David Bowie, originally released on the album Hunky Dory in December 1971 and as a single in January 1972. Despite missing the Top 40, "Changes" became one of Bowie's best-known songs. The lyrics are often seen as a manifesto for his chameleonic personality, sexual ambiguity,...
- David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
Viewing figures
Compared to other episodes in this series, this episode gained a very large audience, with an average of seven million viewers (a 28% audience share), despite competition from UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
football on ITV1.
Critical reception
- Two days after this episode's transmission, Life on Mars was attacked in the British press by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women TeachersNational Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women TeachersThe NASUWT is a trade union representing teachers, including headteachers, throughout the United Kingdom....
, who claimed that Gene Hunt's use of homophobic insults in the programme could encourage copycat bullying in schools. The BBC stated that Life on Mars was targeted at an adult audience, and argued that Hunt's characterisation was "extreme and tongue-in-cheekTongue-in-cheekTongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
".
External links
- Episode 8 at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Episode 8 at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Episode 8 at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...