Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between 9 January 2006 and 10 April 2007. Named after the David Bowie song of the same name, it tells the story of a Manchester police officer from 2006 (played by John Simm) who mysteriously finds himself working as a police officer in 1970s Manchester. Life on Mars, and its sequel, Ashes to Ashes, are notable for combining the mystery, supernatural, science fiction, time travel, period, and police procedural drama genres. It twice won the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series and has inspired international remakes.
An American adaptation of the series was produced by ABC and ran for one season from October 2008 to April 2009. A Spanish adaptation of the series was broadcast from April to June 2009. A Russian adaptation of the series entitled The Dark Side of the Moon was broadcast in November 2012. A Czech adaptation World under the Head was broadcast by Czech Television from January to March 2017. The South Korean adaptation began broadcasting in June 2018. In February 2019, the BBC announced the production of a Chinese version, to be set in the 1990s.
A sequel to the series, Ashes to Ashes, whose title references another David Bowie song, aired on BBC One from February 2008 to May 2010, starring Keeley Hawes in place of Simm. A third series entitled Lazarus, returning Simm to the franchise, was announced in 2020, but its development was formally cancelled in 2023.
Plot
Life on Mars tells the fictional story of Sam Tyler (John Simm), a policeman in service with the Greater Manchester Police (GMP). After being hit by a car in 2006, Tyler awakens in 1973 to find himself working for a predecessor of the GMP, the Manchester and Salford Police, at the same station and location as in 2006. Early on in the series, it becomes apparent to Tyler that he awakes as a Detective Inspector, one rank lower than his 2006 rank of Detective Chief Inspector. As part of the Criminal Investigation Department, Tyler finds himself working under the command of DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Throughout the two series, the plot is based on the ambiguity of Tyler's predicament and the lack of clarity, to both the audience and the character, whether he has died, become comatose or travelled in time.
Production
The programme was conceived in 1998, when screenwriters Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah were sent on a break to the English seaside resort of Blackpool by Kudos Film & Television to think up programme ideas. Originally titled Ford Granada after the 1970s car, the series was rejected by the BBC. In response, Graham stated: "Back then, broadcasters just weren't comfortable with something like that, something that wasn't set in the real world and that had a fantasy element to it." According to Graham, the initial idea was for a humorous, pre-watershed programme that overtly mocked the styles and attitudes of the 1970s, with the comic actor Neil Morrissey envisaged as the central character.
Later, Channel 4 drama executive John Yorke substantially redeveloped the original script, focusing on a double act between Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt. Senior management eventually decided not to pursue the idea, with Graham stating that the reaction to the idea was: "It's going to be silly", as told to Radio Times. The series eventually attracted the attention of BBC Wales' Julie Gardner, who persuaded the Head of Drama for the BBC, Jane Tranter, to commission the programme from BBC Wales for BBC One. John Yorke left Channel 4 to rejoin the BBC and together with Julie Gardner, he acted as joint commissioning editor on the show for its entire run.
The programme's central character was originally to have been named "Sam Williams" but Kudos felt this not to be striking enough and requested Graham devise an alternative surname. Graham asked his young daughter for her opinion and she suggested "Sam Tyler", which became the character's name. Graham subsequently discovered that his daughter had named him after the Doctor Who character Rose Tyler. The initial geographical setting was to be London; this was then changed to Leeds and finally to Manchester, as part of a BBC initiative to make more programmes in the city. The name Sam Williams was subsequently used as a plot point in the second series.