By Our British Correspondent
This past Monday (1/9) saw the premire of Life on Mars on BBC1. Made at the home of Doctor Who, BBC Wales, in conjunction with the production company responsible for successful shows such as Hustle and Spooks (apparently known as MI-5 to you in the States), Life on Mars isn't so much about time travel as it is about time shifting. Or something like that.
Here's the setup: Sam Tyler (John Simm, 24 Hour Party People) is a present-day Manchester detective working on a murder case with his collegue (and girlfriend) Mia. When Mia is kidnapped by the killer, a distraught Sam is accidently hit by a car. Instead of waking up in a hospital bed, he finds himself back in 1973. Understandable disoriented and not too keen on spending the rest of his days in the backward 70's, Sam goes into denial. With the help of a female PC (Liz White), he pulls himself together enough to help catch a killer, the same one he was persuing in 2006.
The big question of the series is why is Sam in 1973? Is he in 1973? Or in a coma? Or mad? The first episode does an excellent job of hooking the viewer to stay around a seven more weeks to find the answers to those questions. Acting is ace all around and the period detail is spot on. And the good news for Doctor Who fans, the series was created by Matthew Graham, who was recently announced as a writer for the second series of DW. Now that I've seen what he is capable of in regards to science fiction (or science fantasy or quasi-science fantasy or whatever you might want to label Life on Mars), I'm anxiously awaiting his contribution to DW.
So if Life on Mars ever makes it to your shores, check it out.
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