Fire up the reboot... is there still life on Mars?
IT’S TIME to break out the denim flares and 70s vinyl again – Life on Mars, set in 1973 but made in 2006, is set to roar back on to our TV screens, maybe as soon as next year.
Lead actor John Simm and cowriter Ashley Pharoah have confirmed that talks are at an advanced stage on an unexpected third series.
It has a working title of Lazarus, again named after a David Bowie song.ashes toashes was the title of the 1980s sequel to Life on Mars.
Pharoah, who co-wrote and cocreated the series with Matthew Graham as a homage tothe Sweeney, said: “We’re writing an episode one, there is broadcaster interest... can’t say much more than that right now.”
Asked if we might see a third series next year, he said: “If it gets greenlit soonish I guess we’d film later this year – so possible. God only knows what the actors’ diaries are like.”
Meanwhile Simm, who is currently starring in Grace on ITV, said: “There has been talk of it coming back. Me and Phil [Glenister] talked to Matthew and Ashley.
“They gave us this brilliant idea about how it could come back and we talked to them about it.
Obviously I can’t tell you what it is, but it is called Lazarus.”
It is not yet known if the BBC will screen the new series. A source said: “We have nothing to add.”
Life on Mars was a ratings hit, with its timeshift storyline and use of period music proving to be an irresistible draw for audiences. The finale for series two drew more than seven million viewers, but it was never expected to return.
In the original plot, Simm’s character Sam Tyler goes into a coma after a car accident in 2006, in Manchester. He wakes up in 1973 at the same police station. The show’s title Life on Mars comes from the fact the Bowie track is playing on his ipod in the car when he is run over.
Glenister plays his police boss in 1973, DCI Gene Hunt.
The plain-speaking cop drew much controversy at the time, some accusing him of being homophobic.
The 1980s sequel Ashes to Ashes, starring Keeley Hawes, revealed that Sam had actually lived for a further seven years, which may prove to be the inspiration for a new series.
The Audi Quattro sports car became synonymous with the sequel, just as the Ford Cortina took pride of place in Life on Mars.
‘Period storyline was ratings hit’