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Contains spoilers up to and including the episode discussed, but is spoiler free for subsequent episodes of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
“If you’ve failed to be a hero, be content to be a villain… I’ve tried to be a heroic nobody, it didn’t work. So now, I’m a famous villain… I die famous. You die coppers.”
This is only the sixth episode of Life on Mars, and yet the tone, plotting and style of the series has been already been well established: smart one-liners; clashes between Gene and Sam; a few amusing juxtapositions of 70s life and 20th century life; and some brilliant uses of 70s songs.
The deviation from that format in this episode is both surprising and intriguing. The clashes between Sam and Gene are on a smaller scale; the funny lines are intentionally sporadic; and the only 70s song on the soundtrack comes at the very end.
Sam’s two worlds intersect here more than they’ve done in the previous five episodes. He hears his mum in 2006 say that his life support machine will be turned off at 2pm; in 1973, a hostage taker at the local newspaper offices is going to start killing at 2. Throughout the episode, the audience is reminded of the time, as is Sam. This just about avoids being clunky or contrived, although other people might disagree.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. The moment in which Gene is saved by a hipflask of scotch in his pocket deflecting a bullet is classic Life on Mars, especially when he points out that it wasn’t that lucky, as there are actually several hipflasks dotted about his person.
What this is all about really is glory and heroism. Litton (a welcome return) is obsessed with getting praise on the front page of the news paper. Reg is sick of being a “heroic nobody” and wants to glory at any cost. For Sam, being a police officer means being a hero. Gene thinks it means that you “clean out the gutters”. And the fabulous reporter Jackie McQueen chooses who gets the glory, who gets to be a hero – and she certainly doesn’t want to give it to Gene.
And yet what ultimately matters is who Sam is still hero worshipping. The man he wants to give glory to, even after all these years: the dad that walked out on him. In 1973.
Next time: A suspicious death in the cells pits Sam against the rest of the team.
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