You know ABC’s “Life on Mars”? Okay, forget about it for a moment and jump back in time to the original BBC version of “Life on Mars.” After that series left the air in April 2007, rumors immediately began to swirl that there would be a sequel to the story, and in February of 2008, those rumors became a reality with the premiere of “Ashes to Ashes.” Sadly, however, we poor Americans have been stuck waiting around for the show to make its debut on BBC America ever since.
Thankfully, that wait will come to an end on March 7th.
If you’ve somehow managed to restrain yourself up ’til this point and don’t already know the storyline of “Ashes to Ashes,” here’s the deal: just as Sam Tyler was a modern-day cop transported back to the ’70s on “Life on Mars,” now it’s single mother and Detective Inspector Alex Drake who finds herself back in 1981…and, yes, she’ll be facing everyone’s favorite politically incorrect cop, Gene Hunt.
Music-wise, I’m particularly excited to hear what tunes will be offered up, given how many ’80s songs have been part of the soundtrack of my life, and it sounds like co-creator and writer Ashley Pharaoh has got quite a treat in store.
“In actual time, I was 21 in 1981, so I sadly was a New Romantic and had too much makeup and ribbons in my hair, so it was very dear to me, that stuff, and it was always going to be the soundtrack of ‘Ashes to Ashes,'” said Pharaoh. “Actually, we recreate a very famous New Romantic club from Soho: The Ritz Club. And Steve Strange, who ran the Ritz Club, guested in the episodes. Steve very Strange, we think he is, though.”
One of the first things Pharaoh wanted to do with a “Life on Mars” sequel was to change the male-male dynamic of the original series and bring a woman right into the heart of things.
“‘Life On Mars’ references back to sort of very male, British cop shows in the ’70s,” he explained, “and we wanted more sort of a ‘Moonlighting”’ feel, a brighter sense. And we thought it would be really good fun to take Gene Hunt on a journey with a very strong woman, feminist, intellectual from our time. The actress, Keeley Hawes, I’d worked with her before; I did a Thomas Hardy adaptation with her, ‘Under the Greenwood Tree,’ and I was knocked out. Whenever we met the producers and the writers with our little short list of actresses, she was always on the top, so it was a no-brainer, really, and I think it was a wonderful performance she gives as Alex Drake.”
