The 21st century is when everything changes.
British science fiction has been a lot of things. It was both cheesier and campier than its American counterpart, and yet also darker, grittier, and less afraid to tackle grown-up themes and bleaker outcomes. It had been a joke, and critically acclaimed, and it had all but died off except for some under-the-radar contenders.
And then something major happened: Doctor Who came back. It was always going to happen eventually – just look how many times The Tomorrow People has been remade. But Doctor Who didn’t just come back, it came back and became the biggest show in the country, on purpose.
Suddenly, the people in charge thought that maybe TV shows about ideas, and technology, and realities ahead of and besides our own could draw an audience, only this time they were taking it seriously and spending actual money on it. And...
British science fiction has been a lot of things. It was both cheesier and campier than its American counterpart, and yet also darker, grittier, and less afraid to tackle grown-up themes and bleaker outcomes. It had been a joke, and critically acclaimed, and it had all but died off except for some under-the-radar contenders.
And then something major happened: Doctor Who came back. It was always going to happen eventually – just look how many times The Tomorrow People has been remade. But Doctor Who didn’t just come back, it came back and became the biggest show in the country, on purpose.
Suddenly, the people in charge thought that maybe TV shows about ideas, and technology, and realities ahead of and besides our own could draw an audience, only this time they were taking it seriously and spending actual money on it. And...
- 4/5/2024
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
There’s an elite tier of TV dramas that stay with you, vividly, for decades after they air, and seventies-set sci-fi crime drama Life on Mars was the perfect example. So fervent was the show’s fanbase, that even 15 years after it aired – introducing us to detective Sam Tyler (Grace’s John Simm), who has a car crash in 2006 and wakes up mysteriously trapped in 1973 – the news of a planned revival during a lockdown live tweet-along in 2020 was enthusiastically received.
This revival was later fittingly dubbed Lazarus – once again named after a David Bowie song, like Life on Mars and its sequel Ashes to Ashes – but we’ve now received the sad confirmation from the show’s creators that the reboot won’t be going ahead after all:
It is with a heavy heart that the creators of #LifeOnMars have confirmed that the highly anticipated revival show, #Lazarus, will no longer be moving forward.
This revival was later fittingly dubbed Lazarus – once again named after a David Bowie song, like Life on Mars and its sequel Ashes to Ashes – but we’ve now received the sad confirmation from the show’s creators that the reboot won’t be going ahead after all:
It is with a heavy heart that the creators of #LifeOnMars have confirmed that the highly anticipated revival show, #Lazarus, will no longer be moving forward.
- 6/5/2023
- by Lauravickersgreen
- Den of Geek
Life on Mars was one of the UK’s most popular dramas when it aired a decade and a half ago, and its many fans were geared up for the highly anticipated revival show Lazarus.
However, the show’s creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah have announced this will no longer be happening. The team took to social media on Saturday to report to fans:
It is with a heavy heart that the creators of #LifeOnMars have confirmed that the highly anticipated revival show, #Lazarus, will no longer be moving forward.
Many thanks to Matthew Graham & Ashley Pharoah for these past 3 years in your efforts to reunite Sam Tyler & Gene Hunt...
However, the show’s creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah have announced this will no longer be happening. The team took to social media on Saturday to report to fans:
It is with a heavy heart that the creators of #LifeOnMars have confirmed that the highly anticipated revival show, #Lazarus, will no longer be moving forward.
Many thanks to Matthew Graham & Ashley Pharoah for these past 3 years in your efforts to reunite Sam Tyler & Gene Hunt...
- 6/4/2023
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
In 1973, the killer of Welsh teenagers Sandra Newton, Pauline Flynn and Gwendoline Hughes was not caught, despite a high-profile and widespread investigation by South Wales Police. The girls’ families spent the next three decades not knowing who was responsible for brutally taking the lives of their loved ones, or whether he still lived alongside them in the local Neath and Port Talbot communities.
In 2002, a development in forensics changed everything. The cold case was reopened with much pared-down resources, and crime scene DNA was successfully used to identify Wales’ first recorded serial killer. Steeltown Murders is the story of the loss, guilt and suspicion that followed the 1970s murders, and of the perseverance of the officers who were eventually able to provide the victims’ families with the answers they’d been denied years before.
Here are the actors making up the cast behind Steeltown Murders‘ dramatisation of real-life figures and events.
In 2002, a development in forensics changed everything. The cold case was reopened with much pared-down resources, and crime scene DNA was successfully used to identify Wales’ first recorded serial killer. Steeltown Murders is the story of the loss, guilt and suspicion that followed the 1970s murders, and of the perseverance of the officers who were eventually able to provide the victims’ families with the answers they’d been denied years before.
Here are the actors making up the cast behind Steeltown Murders‘ dramatisation of real-life figures and events.
- 5/15/2023
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Back in February (remember February? Pubs and high streets and butterflying blithely in and out of shops and cafes as carefree as a 19th century Parisian flaneur? I digress), Den of Geek ran an interview with Life on Mars co-creator Matthew Graham.
Speaking with us to mark the forthcoming tenth anniversary of the Ashes to Ashes finale, Graham revisited his and Ashley Pharoah’s cult BBC sci-fi crime shows, and bemoaned the lack of a proper ending for John Simm’s character Di Sam Tyler.
“We never got to tie up John,” said Graham, referencing John Simm’s premature exit from the role after two series.
A revival idea however, that would give Di Sam Tyler a final exit and close the Life on Mars door for good, was in the works.
During a Twitter watch-along of Life on Mars’ first episode by Graham and Pharoah held last night at...
Speaking with us to mark the forthcoming tenth anniversary of the Ashes to Ashes finale, Graham revisited his and Ashley Pharoah’s cult BBC sci-fi crime shows, and bemoaned the lack of a proper ending for John Simm’s character Di Sam Tyler.
“We never got to tie up John,” said Graham, referencing John Simm’s premature exit from the role after two series.
A revival idea however, that would give Di Sam Tyler a final exit and close the Life on Mars door for good, was in the works.
During a Twitter watch-along of Life on Mars’ first episode by Graham and Pharoah held last night at...
- 4/2/2020
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: A+E Networks UK is exploring more true crimes with its latest British origination – a series that looks at what killers do after their crimes, fronted by Life on Mars and Outcast star Philip Glenister.
The British arm of the U.S. cable giant has commissioned What The Killer Did Next, produced by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Catastrophe producer Avalon Television, for its Crime & Investigation (Ci) channel.
The eight-part series explores the aftermath of a series of gruesome killings. Each episode begins with a murder and aims to find the killer’s motive and discover what kind of person could commit this crime: not by looking at what happened before the murder but by studying the killer’s behavior after the heinous event.
Set to air in early 2019,What The Killer Did Next was ordered by VP of Programming Dan Korn and is exec produced by...
The British arm of the U.S. cable giant has commissioned What The Killer Did Next, produced by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Catastrophe producer Avalon Television, for its Crime & Investigation (Ci) channel.
The eight-part series explores the aftermath of a series of gruesome killings. Each episode begins with a murder and aims to find the killer’s motive and discover what kind of person could commit this crime: not by looking at what happened before the murder but by studying the killer’s behavior after the heinous event.
Set to air in early 2019,What The Killer Did Next was ordered by VP of Programming Dan Korn and is exec produced by...
- 9/14/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Gabriel Bergmoser Dec 1, 2016
Despite its teething problems, Life On Mars sequel Ashes To Ashes went on to surpass even the heights of its original show...
Sequels are hard to get right. Go too far in a new direction and you run the risk of betraying the original, hew too closely to an established formula and you’ll be accused of repetition. Television spin-offs arguably have an easier time of it as they can essentially recreate themselves in the image of whatever aspect of the original show they’re putting front and centre, but the tricky balancing act of creating something new while giving people what they want remains.
See related Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works review Sensible Software 1986-1999 book review Britsoft: An Oral History book review
Ashes To Ashes is a television rarity; while it is often referred to as a Life On Mars spin-off, it’s actually a direct sequel,...
Despite its teething problems, Life On Mars sequel Ashes To Ashes went on to surpass even the heights of its original show...
Sequels are hard to get right. Go too far in a new direction and you run the risk of betraying the original, hew too closely to an established formula and you’ll be accused of repetition. Television spin-offs arguably have an easier time of it as they can essentially recreate themselves in the image of whatever aspect of the original show they’re putting front and centre, but the tricky balancing act of creating something new while giving people what they want remains.
See related Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works review Sensible Software 1986-1999 book review Britsoft: An Oral History book review
Ashes To Ashes is a television rarity; while it is often referred to as a Life On Mars spin-off, it’s actually a direct sequel,...
- 11/30/2016
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Oct 11, 2016
We salute the film work of one of Britain's very best, and most versatile, film actors: Mr Eddie Marsan...
Eddie Marsan isn't just one of the best British actors working today – he's also one of the busiest, appearing in all kinds of supporting roles in major movies, while also appearing on TV a lot, on both sides of the Atlantic. He was fantastic as the latter lead in BBC One's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell last year and he's also a regular on Showtime's Ray Donovan as Ray's brother Terry, an ex-boxer suffering from Parkinson's disease.
On the big screen though, it's Marsan's versatility that really makes him so watchable. He's had attention grabbing turns in minor roles in blockbusters like Hancock, Mission: Impossible III and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, but he's also at home amongst a big ensemble in more serious fare like Spielberg...
We salute the film work of one of Britain's very best, and most versatile, film actors: Mr Eddie Marsan...
Eddie Marsan isn't just one of the best British actors working today – he's also one of the busiest, appearing in all kinds of supporting roles in major movies, while also appearing on TV a lot, on both sides of the Atlantic. He was fantastic as the latter lead in BBC One's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell last year and he's also a regular on Showtime's Ray Donovan as Ray's brother Terry, an ex-boxer suffering from Parkinson's disease.
On the big screen though, it's Marsan's versatility that really makes him so watchable. He's had attention grabbing turns in minor roles in blockbusters like Hancock, Mission: Impossible III and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, but he's also at home amongst a big ensemble in more serious fare like Spielberg...
- 10/10/2016
- Den of Geek
[caption id="attachment_49965" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Life on Mars TV show image via BBC One./caption]
Never say never. Philip Glenister who starred as Dci Gene Hunt on the BBC's Life on Mars TV show would be happy to resurrect the character. He reprised the role in the Life on Mars sequel series, Ashes to Ashes.
Glenister currently plays Reverend Anderson on the Outcast TV series, which officially premieres on Cinemax, Friday, June 3, 2016 at 1o:00pm Et/Pt. Watch the first episode of Outcast early, now.
Read More…...
Never say never. Philip Glenister who starred as Dci Gene Hunt on the BBC's Life on Mars TV show would be happy to resurrect the character. He reprised the role in the Life on Mars sequel series, Ashes to Ashes.
Glenister currently plays Reverend Anderson on the Outcast TV series, which officially premieres on Cinemax, Friday, June 3, 2016 at 1o:00pm Et/Pt. Watch the first episode of Outcast early, now.
Read More…...
- 5/31/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
The BBC has finally made an official announcement regarding the future of Top Gear, with DJ Chris Evans becoming the show's new lead host.
Following Jeremy Clarkson's departure, it also looks as if James May and Richard Hammond will not be returning, although this has yet to be officially confirmed.
Evans has said that a female co-host will "definitely" be joining him, but who is in line for one of the biggest TV shows in the world? Here's a list of potential options tipped by bookmakers and fans alike.
1. Jodie Kidd
One of the most popular choices at the bookies, Kidd is a good friend of Clarkson and the Top Gear team, and knows her stuff when it comes to motors.
Primarily known for her modelling work before a career in TV, she is a keen motor racer and has taken part in the Gumball 3000 several times. At one stage,...
Following Jeremy Clarkson's departure, it also looks as if James May and Richard Hammond will not be returning, although this has yet to be officially confirmed.
Evans has said that a female co-host will "definitely" be joining him, but who is in line for one of the biggest TV shows in the world? Here's a list of potential options tipped by bookmakers and fans alike.
1. Jodie Kidd
One of the most popular choices at the bookies, Kidd is a good friend of Clarkson and the Top Gear team, and knows her stuff when it comes to motors.
Primarily known for her modelling work before a career in TV, she is a keen motor racer and has taken part in the Gumball 3000 several times. At one stage,...
- 6/17/2015
- Digital Spy
Penultimate episodes can provide experimental fun, a new start and closure, as Star Trek, The X-Files, Buffy, Quantum Leap and more show...
Endings are difficult, especially in an art form designed to produce weekly adventures that can continue in the same format for an indefinite period of time. Not all TV shows are lucky enough to get a designated series finale, as many are cancelled unexpectedly or at short notice, leaving a season finale to act as their de facto conclusion. For those lucky enough to have the time and notice to prepare a proper conclusion to their story, the pressure is on to make that final episode meaningful, emotional and memorable, preferably for the right reasons. Afterwards, if you’re lucky, that finale will be celebrated for years as a fitting tribute to a show people loved.
With all that focus on the finale, it’s easy to forget...
Endings are difficult, especially in an art form designed to produce weekly adventures that can continue in the same format for an indefinite period of time. Not all TV shows are lucky enough to get a designated series finale, as many are cancelled unexpectedly or at short notice, leaving a season finale to act as their de facto conclusion. For those lucky enough to have the time and notice to prepare a proper conclusion to their story, the pressure is on to make that final episode meaningful, emotional and memorable, preferably for the right reasons. Afterwards, if you’re lucky, that finale will be celebrated for years as a fitting tribute to a show people loved.
With all that focus on the finale, it’s easy to forget...
- 3/5/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
From Battlestar Galactica to Farscape, Doctor Who and more, Juliette cheers on 10 TV characters who made a big first impression...
Some characters slip onto our TV screens quietly and sneak into our hearts slowly. We watch them develop and grow, and come to love them over time, sometimes despite very inauspicious beginnings (being eaten by a wheelie bin springs to mind).
Others make more of an impression from the get-go.
In this list, we’re celebrating some of the most memorable and impressive entrances of characters from TV shows. To make the list, a character had to be (or eventually become) a regular or frequently recurring character – no one-shot wonders here. And note this is a list for TV characters, so you won’t see any Captain Jack Sparrow or even the Borg Queen – all of these had to make their big impression on the small screen.
10. Madame Vastra and Jenny,...
Some characters slip onto our TV screens quietly and sneak into our hearts slowly. We watch them develop and grow, and come to love them over time, sometimes despite very inauspicious beginnings (being eaten by a wheelie bin springs to mind).
Others make more of an impression from the get-go.
In this list, we’re celebrating some of the most memorable and impressive entrances of characters from TV shows. To make the list, a character had to be (or eventually become) a regular or frequently recurring character – no one-shot wonders here. And note this is a list for TV characters, so you won’t see any Captain Jack Sparrow or even the Borg Queen – all of these had to make their big impression on the small screen.
10. Madame Vastra and Jenny,...
- 11/2/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Philip Glenister is ''scared'' of his co-star Bernard Hill. The 51-year-old actor - best known for his portrayal of police officer Dci Gene Hunt in 'Life on Mars' - has admitted to feeling intimidated by the 69-year-old actor, who plays his father in new BBC One drama 'From There to Here'. Bernard was specifically chosen for the part by scriptwriter Peter Bowker to match the macho personalities of Philip and his on-screen brother Steven Mackintosh. Philip told The Sun newspaper: ''Peter Bowker said they had two alpha males with me and Steven. So they needed someone that was going to scare even...
- 5/22/2014
- Virgin Media - TV
The British public's top ten favourite TV detectives have been revealed.
Britain's Favourite Detectives - a celebration of the UK's greatest fictional crime solvers - will air on Saturday, April 19 on Channel 5.
Benedict Cumbarbatch's dashing Sherlock Holmes, David Suchet's intellectual Hercule Poirot and Life on Mars double-act Sam Tyler (John Simm) and Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) are among the top 'tecs featured.
Digital Spy can reveal who has made the top ten - though you'll have to tune in at 9.25pm on Saturday to find out which order they come in, and which detective has claimed the top spot.
The top ten list is as follows...
Jonathan Creek (Jonathan Creek)
Miss Marple (Marple)
Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock)
Inspector Morse (Morse)
Di Alec Hardy (Broadchurch)
Di Frost (A Touch of Frost)
Sam Tyler & Gene Hunt (Life on Mars)
Hercule Poirot (Poirot)
Dci Tom Barnaby (Midsomer Murders)
Detective Columbo (Columbo)
Britain's Favourite...
Britain's Favourite Detectives - a celebration of the UK's greatest fictional crime solvers - will air on Saturday, April 19 on Channel 5.
Benedict Cumbarbatch's dashing Sherlock Holmes, David Suchet's intellectual Hercule Poirot and Life on Mars double-act Sam Tyler (John Simm) and Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) are among the top 'tecs featured.
Digital Spy can reveal who has made the top ten - though you'll have to tune in at 9.25pm on Saturday to find out which order they come in, and which detective has claimed the top spot.
The top ten list is as follows...
Jonathan Creek (Jonathan Creek)
Miss Marple (Marple)
Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock)
Inspector Morse (Morse)
Di Alec Hardy (Broadchurch)
Di Frost (A Touch of Frost)
Sam Tyler & Gene Hunt (Life on Mars)
Hercule Poirot (Poirot)
Dci Tom Barnaby (Midsomer Murders)
Detective Columbo (Columbo)
Britain's Favourite...
- 4/17/2014
- Digital Spy
Feature Alex Westthorp 16 Apr 2014 - 07:00
Alex's trek through the film roles of actors who've played the Doctor reaches Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy...
Read the previous part in this series, Doctor Who: the film careers of Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker, here.
In March 1981, as he made his Doctor Who debut, Peter Davison was already one the best known faces on British television. Not only was he the star of both a BBC and an ITV sitcom - Sink Or Swim and Holding The Fort - but as the young and slightly reckless Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small, about the often humorous cases of Yorkshire vet James Herriot and his colleagues, he had cemented his stardom. The part led, indirectly, to his casting as the venerable Time Lord.
The recently installed Doctor Who producer, John Nathan-Turner, had been the Production Unit Manager on...
Alex's trek through the film roles of actors who've played the Doctor reaches Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy...
Read the previous part in this series, Doctor Who: the film careers of Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker, here.
In March 1981, as he made his Doctor Who debut, Peter Davison was already one the best known faces on British television. Not only was he the star of both a BBC and an ITV sitcom - Sink Or Swim and Holding The Fort - but as the young and slightly reckless Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small, about the often humorous cases of Yorkshire vet James Herriot and his colleagues, he had cemented his stardom. The part led, indirectly, to his casting as the venerable Time Lord.
The recently installed Doctor Who producer, John Nathan-Turner, had been the Production Unit Manager on...
- 4/15/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Life on Mars, “Episode 1”
Written by Matthew Graham
Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Originally aired January 9, 2006 on BBC One
“I had an accident and I woke up 33 years in the past. Now that either makes me a time traveler or a lunatic or I’m lying in a hospital bed in 2006 and none of this is real.”
Nothing about Life on Mars should have worked. Its premise sounded ridiculous- an English cop gets hit by a car and ends up in the 1970s trying to figure out if he’s crazy or if he really did travel through time. But with “Episode 1”, its pilot, the series hit the ground running, with immediate well-defined characters, an enthralling plot, witty dialogue, and an intriguing mix of sci-fi and character study.
“Episode 1” starts in 2006 and finds detective Sam Tyler (John Simm) hunting for a serial killer. After his girlfriend, a fellow cop, is kidnapped,...
Written by Matthew Graham
Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Originally aired January 9, 2006 on BBC One
“I had an accident and I woke up 33 years in the past. Now that either makes me a time traveler or a lunatic or I’m lying in a hospital bed in 2006 and none of this is real.”
Nothing about Life on Mars should have worked. Its premise sounded ridiculous- an English cop gets hit by a car and ends up in the 1970s trying to figure out if he’s crazy or if he really did travel through time. But with “Episode 1”, its pilot, the series hit the ground running, with immediate well-defined characters, an enthralling plot, witty dialogue, and an intriguing mix of sci-fi and character study.
“Episode 1” starts in 2006 and finds detective Sam Tyler (John Simm) hunting for a serial killer. After his girlfriend, a fellow cop, is kidnapped,...
- 3/3/2014
- by Tressa
- SoundOnSight
Warner Home Video
The British don’t just do villains the best, they also do wayward heroes, both in terms of the skewed, tragic fools like David Brent or Ray and Ken from In Bruges, and also the morally ambiguous heroes with a defining dark side. The good guys who aren’t afraid to bend the rules – not just like Sherlock Holmes, but to the point of breaking – who charm and disarm in equal measure and who are inifinitely forgivable for their moments of darkness.
Not only are they sympathetic figures, despite their lack of inherent goodness, and their broken moral compass, but they actually make their manifesto for sticking a middle finger up at the authorities and regulations look attractive.
They aren’t just good at being bad, they make it look like a good idea, and for that, they deserve to be heartily saluted. So from the worlds of Film,...
The British don’t just do villains the best, they also do wayward heroes, both in terms of the skewed, tragic fools like David Brent or Ray and Ken from In Bruges, and also the morally ambiguous heroes with a defining dark side. The good guys who aren’t afraid to bend the rules – not just like Sherlock Holmes, but to the point of breaking – who charm and disarm in equal measure and who are inifinitely forgivable for their moments of darkness.
Not only are they sympathetic figures, despite their lack of inherent goodness, and their broken moral compass, but they actually make their manifesto for sticking a middle finger up at the authorities and regulations look attractive.
They aren’t just good at being bad, they make it look like a good idea, and for that, they deserve to be heartily saluted. So from the worlds of Film,...
- 2/7/2014
- by Simon Gallagher
- Obsessed with Film
We're here to get you pumped about another great week of telly with our latest edition of Must-See TV, which features the end of The White Queen, the return of Gordon Ramsay and David Walliams going back to school.
And although, shockingly, it's not on TV over here, we feel a duty to inform you that Monday (August 12) will see the final episodes of Breaking Bad arrive on Netflix UK. We can practically hear the cries of "yeah, bitch!" already...
Ramsay's Hotel Hell: Monday (August 12) at 10pm on Channel 4
Spending years shouting obscenities at people in kitchens apparently qualifies Gordon Ramsay as an expert of the hotel industry, as he turns his attention from ropey restaurants to gruesome guest houses in this Kitchen Nightmares spinoff.
The format is pretty much the same - Gordon goes into a struggling American business and magically turns their fortunes around through his...
And although, shockingly, it's not on TV over here, we feel a duty to inform you that Monday (August 12) will see the final episodes of Breaking Bad arrive on Netflix UK. We can practically hear the cries of "yeah, bitch!" already...
Ramsay's Hotel Hell: Monday (August 12) at 10pm on Channel 4
Spending years shouting obscenities at people in kitchens apparently qualifies Gordon Ramsay as an expert of the hotel industry, as he turns his attention from ropey restaurants to gruesome guest houses in this Kitchen Nightmares spinoff.
The format is pretty much the same - Gordon goes into a struggling American business and magically turns their fortunes around through his...
- 8/11/2013
- Digital Spy
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