On paper, Life on Mars sounds completely nuts. It's the story of Sam Tyler, a devoted yet rather repressed detective chief inspector in Manchester circa 2006. Something happens to him within the first ten minutes of the series, and Sam finds himself in an alien place - Manchester in 1973. Is he in a coma, has he gone back in time, or is he mad? Whatever the answer, he feels utterly out of place.
This could have been a disaster, but in the hands of Kudos - the company that made Spooks - it is a triumph. It looks fantastic; they have recreated 1973 beautifully, right down to the David Cassidy poster and a troll doll next to a young woman's hospital bed. The music is wonderful too (lots of David Bowie, Sweet and T-Rex), as are the clothes, the cars and the bland food.
But what really makes this work is the scripting and the performances. It is very funny, moving and gripping, often all at the same time. The interactions between the characters work beautifully, particularly between Sam and his boots-and-all boss Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), and Sam and the sweet, strong WPC Annie Cartwright (Liz White).
But while the entire cast is wonderful, what really makes Life on Mars so special is John Simm, who plays Sam. He is in every scene in Series One (and virtually every scene of the second series), and absolutely holds it together. He makes Sam's outlandish predicament real because he has the rare ability to communicate the hero's bewilderment, disbelief, loneliness, anger, despair and joy in such a believable way. Life on Mars unfolds over two series - 16 episodes in all. Thanks to the magic of DVD, I've seen all of them. It really is must-see TV.
