, a surreal hallucination repeatedly encountered by
Sam Tyler After the premiere, each of the remaining fifteen episodes begins with a short teaser before a
monologue in which Sam repeats, as part of the moving imagery of the title sequence: My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and I woke up in 1973. Am I
mad, in a coma, or
back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home. This questioning is a central plot device throughout the series, displaying both the character's and the audience's uncertainty about what has happened. Throughout the course of
Life on Mars, Sam's uncertainty is reinforced by frequent
paranormal phenomena, such as hearing voices and seeing images from 2006 on radios, telephones, and televisions. The voices discuss his medical condition, leading him to partially believe that he is in a coma. Other elements suggest to him that he is insane, such as his frequent and unexpected encounters with the
Test Card Girl from
Test Card F, who speaks directly to him. Annie Cartwright partially persuades Sam that he is truly in 1973, arguing that his mind would be unable to fabricate the amount of detail and tangibility in the world where he finds himself, evidence that he is in fact in 1973. Sam's uncertain situation is not the focal point of most episodes, remaining a sub-plot. In most episodes, the main plot centres on a particular crime or case relating to the police, such as
drug trafficking,
a hostage situation,
murders and
robberies. For this reason, most episodes follow a conventional police drama format. As the series progresses, Sam focuses on how he will get home in almost every episode. A recurring motif throughout the series is the overlapping of the past and present. For example, during Series 1: Episode 6 Sam hears the voice of his mother in 2006, telling him his life-support will be switched off at 2:00 pm. At the same time he is called into a
hostage-taking situation, where the perpetrator states that he will kill his victims at precisely the same hour. Sam also encounters as their younger selves people whom he knows in the future, including suspects, friends, his own parents, and himself as a child. Sam comes from an era in which suspects' rights and the preservation of
forensic evidence are stringently observed. His background leads Sam into conflict, as other characters exhibit openly
sexist,
homophobic, and
racist behaviour, and often indulge all these prejudices while carrying out their police duties. The series frequently makes use of
Gene Hunt's comical rudeness in the form of jokes and dramatic irony about a future which the audience already knows, but which the characters in 1973 do not. For example, in Series 1: Episode 5, Hunt declares, "There will never be a
woman prime minister as long as I have a hole in my arse." However, in line with the ambivalence of the Hunt character, the irony is qualified by the fact that, in the real 1973,
Margaret Thatcher herself told the BBC's
Valerie Singleton in an interview, "I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime." The clip of this remark had often been replayed on British TV and the audience would be familiar with it. Another theme in the show is Sam's confusion about police work in 1973, as he often mistakenly mentions techniques and technologies that were not used in 1973, such as two-way mirrors. One such theme is that Sam continually gives criminals the updated version of the
right to silence warning, which was changed in 1994. When he does so, someone around him usually points out that he is giving the warning incorrectly.
Finale It is revealed in the final episode that Tyler's coma had lasted so long because he had a
tumour of the brain. Tyler comes to believe the tumour is embodied by Hunt, and begins to think that by bringing Hunt down, his own body can recover. To this end, Tyler begins to collaborate with
Frank Morgan (
Ralph Brown) to bring Hunt down. While Hunt and the team are engaged in a firefight with armed robbers, Sam returns to 2006. He eventually comes to realise that he has become used to, and enjoys, the 1970s, seeing it as his "real world". In an attempt to get back to 1973 to save Annie and the rest of the team from death, Sam leaps off the roof of the
police station, arriving back in 1973 and saving the team, promising never to leave them again. Writer Matthew Graham wrote the scene to indicate that Sam is now in the afterlife, but acknowledged that the ending is ambiguous and open to other interpretations, such as lead actor John Simm's belief that Sam may not have returned to the present. The first episode of
sequel series Ashes to Ashes shows that the protagonist, DI
Alex Drake of the Metropolitan Police, has been studying Tyler's notes and 2006-era personnel file, in which his photograph is overstamped with the word "
SUICIDE" – consistent with what happened in the series finale.
Ashes to Ashes implies that Gene Hunt's world is in some sense real, and states that Sam lived on in that world, during which time he married Annie but had no children. In the final episode of "Ashes to Ashes" a fuller explanation for Sam Tyler's experience is provided, when the role of Gene Hunt in both
Life on Mars and
Ashes to Ashes is revealed.
Depiction of 1973 Life on Mars is a
1970s retro series. During an interview
John Stalker,
Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester in the early 1980s and himself a Detective Inspector in 1973, has stated that the depiction of the police "has got nothing to do with real policing in the 1970s. It could not be more inaccurate in terms of procedure, the way they talk or the way they dress. In all the time I was in the CID in the 1970s I never saw a copper in a leather bomber jacket and I never heard an officer call anyone 'guv'. ... Actually, there were a few police officers in London who started to behave like Regan and Carter in
The Sweeney, but that was a case of life following art, not the other way round". The
journalist who interviewed Stalker, Ray King, remarks that the depiction of the police can be defended if we assume that Sam is indeed in a coma and that we are seeing his imaginary idea of 1973, filtered through 1970s police shows. Minor historical
anachronisms such as this are present throughout
Life on Mars. Some, as above, were made out of artistic licence whilst others were deliberately inserted to confuse the issue of whether Sam Tyler was in a coma,
mad or really
back in time. Many inaccuracies were visible such as modern street furniture, cable television cabinets, satellite television dishes,
CCTV cameras, LCD
digital watches and double-glazed uPVC window frames, which were all unintentional. During DVD commentaries for the series, the programme makers acknowledge these as errors but also point out they are perfectly feasible, given Sam's situation.
Greater Manchester was formed in 1974, consequently the show references the police officers working for
Lancashire Constabulary, rather than
Greater Manchester Police. However, in 1973
Hyde would have been covered by the
Cheshire Police area. Therefore, an undercover officer from Hyde working in Manchester would suggest Lancashire Constabulary was being investigated by a different police force. The brown Ford Cortina used by Gene throughout both of the seasons was a 1974 model, which makes it anachronistic. In production, three different cars were used.
Cultural references Hyde, a town to the east of Manchester, is used as Sam's former
police division as a clue that his 1973 self is an
alter ego, as in
Robert Louis Stevenson's
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. == Reception ==