Ashes to Ashes is a sequel series to the fantastic Life on Mars, the show depicting a Manchester policeman sent back in time after being nearly killed in a hit and run accident.
That show ended on a massive high after 2 seasons, and I thought there was no way they could replicate its quality or success. But, having just finished all of Ashes to Ashes season 1, I can say they’ve out-done themselves.
There’s a brilliant arch-plot spanning the season, reminiscent of the way they did Season 1 of Dexter, if not better as I didn’t guess the mystery until almost the end. There’s the usual completely un-politically correct banter and wise-cracking of the ‘Gene Genie’ Gene Hunt, DCI. There’s Alex Drake the lead character spooling around and going a bit mental, while taking everything with a pinch of salt as she believes it to be unreal. There’s the same support cast of coppers on the team, taking the pratfalls as well as shouldering sub-plots and one-liners.
Add to that generally excellent scripting, some genuinely moving emotional moments, high production values and delicious tongue-in-cheek retro humor, and you’ve got an all-round excellent show. The best thing on British television, I’ll say, by far superior to the creatively exhausted doddering-along Dr. Who.
Here’s a clip of a BBC trailer:
To watch this you’ll have to either wait for the DVD’s or go grab it from a torrent site like thepiratebay.org. The next season is not coming until October 2009- the writer’s say it’s going to be darker, better than LOST, with bigger and better mysteries being solved. Cool.