"Ashes to Ashes" (2008) TV series 2008-????

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Creators:

Mathew Graham
Ashley Pharoah

Seasons:

1 | 2

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

DCI Gene Hunt is back, but he's no longer the self-styled "Sheriff of Manchester." Flanked by his faithful sidekicks...

Plot Keywords:

London | New Romantic | London Docklands | Thatcherism | Audi Quattro

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Philip Glenister	...	Gene Hunt (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Keeley Hawes	...	Alex Drake (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Dean Andrews	...	Ray Carling / ... (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Marshall Lancaster	...	Chris Skelton (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Montserrat Lombard	...	Shaz Granger (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Joseph Long	...	Luigi (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Geff Francis	...	Viv James (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Grace Vance	...	Molly Drake (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Amelia Bullmore	...	Caroline Price / ... (9 episodes, 2008-2009)
Adrian Dunbar	...	Martin Summers (8 episodes, 2009)
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	Evan White (8 episodes, 2008)
Andrew Clover	...	The Clown / ... (8 episodes, 2008)

Runtime:

60 min (16 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

BBC Wales

Trivia:

The series is full of David Bowie references:- "Ashes to Ashes" is one of his songs, and features a Pierrot clown in its video, and one episode also features a "Laughing Gnome" (which is the name of another Bowie song).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The Audi Quattro used by Gene Hunt was not available for sale in the UK in 1981. He would have had to order it from continental Europe, thus it would be left-hand drive. This is acknowledged to in the extras.

Movie Connections:

Spin off from "Life on Mars" (2006)

certainly not Ashes To Ashes with this series

I was a bit of a newcomer to Life On Mars. I only joined in with the Life on Mars fad halfway through and by the time i finished catching up the spin-off series appeared. But lets face it, it was to be expected.

Ashes To Ashes picks up where Life On Mars left off but this time Sam Tyler is replaced with Alex Drake (Played by the stunning Keeley Hawes) who finds herself shot in the head and in 1981.

Que drumroll for the ALMIGHTY! DCI Gene Hunt. It's the only reason i kept tuning in for the first couple of episodes because of Phillip Glenisters awesome character and his trademark wit.

The show is great but it took me about 3 episodes in to get really into it while some people were hooked on the first episode i lingered in limbo. But have patience with it.

The fact that John Simms male character from Life on Mars has been replaced by an incredibly good looking female brings up plenty of new fresh ideas and story lines. This added a breath of fresh air because it mainly brought up new problems for Gene Hunt being a Mans Man.

The writing and character development was well executed and Gene Hunts comic wit was perfectly written. And Ashes to Ashes knew were to draw the line between comedy and drama. It kept it funny but also very serious.

all round this series is great and i look forward to the next series......even if i have to wait to next year for it.