"Life on Mars" Episode #1.5 (2006)

Director:

S.J. Clarkson

Writers:

Mathew Graham (co-creator) &
Ashley Pharoah (co-creator) ...

TV Series:

"Life on Mars" (2006)

Original Air Date:

6 February 2006 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

The death of a Manchester United fan may send the city into a riot when a City fan is suspected, so Sam, Gene and Annie go undercover at a pub to get clues as to the murderer. |

Plot Keywords:

Reference To Columbo | Car Accident | Hospital | British TV | Hallucination

Cast

John Simm	...	Sam Tyler
Philip Glenister	...	Gene Hunt
Liz White	...	Annie Cartwright
Dean Andrews	...	Ray Carling
Marshall Lancaster	...	Chris Skelton
Noreen Kershaw	...	Phyllis Dobbs
Tony Marshall	...	Nelson
Michael Lawrence	...	Ryan
Ian Barritt	...	Stanley Cooper
Anthony Flanagan	...	Pete Bond
Kris Mochrie	...	Craig
Steven Blower	...	Paul
John Wilson	...	Man in Pub
Joe Duttine	...	Malcolm Cox

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 | USA:TV-14 | Netherlands:12

Company:

Kudos Film and Television

Quotes:

Sam Tyler: I used to go to football with my dad. United and City fans used to walk to the match together. Our next door neighbour, he had a City flag up in his window. Kids used to play together in the street - red and blue. But then people like you came along and you took it away from us.
Pete Bond: A good punch up's all part of the game. It's about pride. Pride in your team. Being the best.
Sam Tyler: No it isn't. This is how it starts and then it escalates. It gets on the telly and in the press and then other fans from other clubs start trying to out do each other. And then it becomes about hate and then it's nothing to do with football any more...

Movie Connections:

References Prescription: Murder (1968) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Would You Believe

I could drink all that lot under the table and still stop off for a pint on my way home

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This was my favourite episode of the classic cop drama 'Life on Mars'

Manchester United are to play Manchester City. The violence starts already as a Manchester United supporter, Colin Clay, is found murdered in a valley with his United scarf next to him. Gene is just convinced that it is done by a City supporter, so his idea is to pull in all the football hooligans. Sam isn't convinced this is the right idea. In the ally, he finds a Blakey (to put in damaged places on the soul of shoes) and on this Blakey is the carpet from the pub where Colin Clay was drinking and there was no need for a Blakey on the back of Clay's shoes, so it must be his killers. Sam has an idea to go under cover. Gene goes along with him. He gets Ray to arrest the landlord of the pub, 'What for' 'Think of something on the way'. He arrests him for Cattle Rustling. Gene acts as the temporary landlord and Sam and Annie are barman/barmaid. In the pub, called 'The Trafford Arms' which is a United pub, Sam gets talking to a Pete Bond, who seems like a nice bloke and a big United fan. Then a Malcolm Cox comes in who seems a bit violent. Then a Malcolm Cox comes in, who seems a bit violent. Gene gets talking to them. All of a sudden Cox gets a bit paranoid at all the questions he's being asked, leading to him starting on Gene. Gene easily sorts them out and they all become friends again. In the end, Gene gets really drunk. When Sam goes to visit, Ryan, Colin Clay's Son, he tells him that he has his Dads scarf, so the one at the scene can't be his. At the station, Sam smells the scarf and it is the same aftershave as Malcolm Cox. So Cox is arrested. At the station, the Blakey fits perfectly in Cox's shoe. He tells them that he wanted to attack Clay, make it look like a City fan had done it to want the reds to lay in to the City fans. But he reveals that it wasn't just him, but Pete Bond. Sam arrests Bond, takes his ticket and gives it to Ryan. Then Sam sees himself as a young kid walking to the match.

This was a great episode. It was strange when I watched 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' last week because Phillip Glenster (the actor who plays Gene Hunt) was on it. He is a Londoner and it sounded strange listening to him with a London accent. Of course though, the spin-off 'Ashes to Ashes' is now under way. First impressions of the opening episode 'Not Bad' But I think that the show will improve greatly as the series goes on.