“Mars” Departs, “Ashes” Arrives

By ElaineB

ABC announced Monday that it is canceling Life on Mars – bad news for fans of the quirky American version of the British series. But if there is one thing the network folks have learned from the disastrous season a few years back – in which heavily plotted shows like Surface and Invasion simply Vanished from the air – it’s that even short-run series must have a resolution. So if you have been immersed in this throwback-to-the-past police drama, you’ll at least be able to find out what happened to Sam before the series takes its final bow in May.

Meanwhile, BBC America is about to begin airing Ashes to Ashes, the British sequel to Mars, in which a female officer (Keeley Hawes, pictured above) is shot and finds herself back in 1981, working with Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) and the same gang of cops Sam had to deal with a few years earlier. That she knew Sam in our era makes her more able to cope with misogynists and sexists she encounters in the early ’80s. Having seen the original Mars, the U.S. remake and Ashes, I think Ashes is the best of the three. It premieres March 7.

Credit: © Kudos/BBC All rights reserved.

1 Comment

  1. I wholeheartedly agree. I really like the original LOM, thought the U.S. version was odd (if I hadn’t seen the original it would have been better?) and thought A2A was the most entertaining and creepiest of the lot.
    It suffered in the first couple of episodes with “tone” issues cartoon vs. seriious but by after the fourth episode they were off and running.
    The last episode in Series I is a wonderful primer for how to resolve a huge mystery without giving away everything. Beautifully done! Glenister and Hawes are terrific together and her timing is just perfection.

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