Ashes to Ashes BBC One Tonight

[Bob The Skutter]

Starkers said:
I liked it, although both Gene and Ray seemed much more subdued, hell Ray was practically nice!

Nice to see mention of Sam, and by God Keely Hawes is sexy!

It didn't feel as well put together as LOM, but that might just be because 1981 is more recognziable to me than 1973 as I was ten or eleven rather than two or three!

I like the explanation for time travelling far slower in the past than in the present. Finally the end of LOM makes more sense!

Best bit? Zippy and George obviously

Zippy and George was great. I personally thought it was just as good as Life on Mars, perhaps slightly stranger, but the dialogue was there, the characters were there, and the fact that she was trying everything she knew Sam did seemed a logical enough choice, if it did kinda slow the pace down a little.

 

[dark angel_707]

it was really good, they had to fit in a lot. I think next week will be more paced.

Loved it when Ray was smacking the banker's head against the car. The clown was quite creepy, you see it walk past in the background when Alex is searching for the book. Best thing on UK TV since life on mars

Zippy and george :thumbsup:

 

[wamdue]

I saw it, will watch next week.

finding out what happened to Sam was a nice touch, and Alex flirts with the 4th wall, its almost like she knows her coma fantasy is a TV show sometimes.

its odd she did everything Sam tried to get out in the first episode, knowing it wouldnt work.

 

[Crewman47]

I liked it. Did think the clown was creepy and I wondered what part of her conciousness he plays. Do you think we'll ever find out the source of whatver is doing this to people by sendding them back in time at critical points in there lives or is it all apart of the minds?

When hearing about Sam I wondered how that could happen with him, as he chooses to live his life in the past only to be killed seven years later in a robbery. I would have thought it'd be cool if he lived onto 2007 and somehow met himself, or just obeserved himself in the present. Saying that though didn't someone suggest a while back that the guy who ran over Sam in 2007 was an older version of Sam from 1973, that'd be cool if they used that?

 

[ITL]

I'm watching it on iPlayer right now, and I paused it so that I could say this:

When Gene said "Let's fire up the Quatro" as The Clash ripped their way into "I fought the law" I started grinning like a silly twat.

That is all.

*unpause - back to the action*

 

[Bob The Skutter]

ITL said:
I'm watching it on iPlayer right now, and I paused it so that I could say this:

When Gene said "Let's fire up the Quatro" as The Clash ripped their way into "I fought the law" I started grinning like a silly twat.

That is all.

*unpause - back to the action*

I was grinning like a silly twat a few times watching it, so don't feel bad.

 

[ITL]

Oh, I'm perfectly comfortable in my silly twattyness. How could I not be, when I know that Gene Hunt is the A-Team?



Avie, anyone?

 

[wamdue]

maybe im to young but I thought Quatro was a type of razor

 

[Angel4576]

Good start. It was never going to be quite as good as LoM, but it came close enough. Great to have Keeley Hawes back on the screen, and what's not to like about the Gene Genie?

Nice explanation for Sam, and it leaves the way open for a guest spot at some point in the future if John Simm's up for it. No mention of Annie though....

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Crewman47 said:
When hearing about Sam I wondered how that could happen with him, as he chooses to live his life in the past only to be killed seven years later in a robbery. I would have thought it'd be cool if he lived onto 2007 and somehow met himself, or just obeserved himself in the present. Saying that though didn't someone suggest a while back that the guy who ran over Sam in 2007 was an older version of Sam from 1973, that'd be cool if they used that?

Wait a minute. I thought the trip to 1973 was just a coma dream of Sam's?

 

[firehawk12]

I think that's the accepted interpretation.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ So how could there be two versions of Sam meeting? Did Ashes to Ashes do something weird with this?

I always assumed that even if the original series left it open-ended as to which of Sam's lives was real, Ashes *proves* that 1973 was the dream, since Alex was supposedly poring over reports he left behind (i.e. reports of his experiences in the 1973 dream after he woke up). Is this not what happened? How could it be anything else?

I mean, there is never any real, actual *time travel* going on in either series, is there? Just two people who get knocked unconscious and have dreams of the past.

 

[firehawk12]

I was saying that the fantasy/dream was the accepted intepretation.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

firehawk12 said:
I was saying that the fantasy/dream was the accepted intepretation.

But now that we have Ashes, it's pretty much the ONLY possible interpretation, isn't it?

 

[firehawk12]

My alternative theory is that Hunt is crazy and is dreaming all of this up himself.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

firehawk12 said:
My alternative theory is that Hunt is crazy and is dreaming all of this up himself.

The fans would probably riot if that happened.

 

[firehawk12]

Maybe it's all Bob Newhart's dream?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If it's that damn Tommy Westphall again, *I* might riot.

 

[firehawk12]

So, just watched the episode... and I'm glad the tension with her wanting to go back is there. In Life on Mars, pretty much every connection Sam had to his real life was cut off by the time he recovered, so that he was perfectly happy just going back and dying in his state.
Maybe I missed it, but does this take place before Sam does his final leap off the building in 2007?

As for the 80s... the run down grey look is kind of neat I guess. Dystopia and Thatcherism seem to go hand in hand.
The characters are all so unlikeable though... Chris was so much better in Life on Mars, and now he's just an asshole like the other two. And you have "Shar" acting pretty much like Annie in the first episode of Life on Mars... which makes me wish that Annie was back for this series instead.

I'll definitely tune in for the "Lost" aspect of the show... but the characters don't really work for me... and my greatest fear - the fact that they'll throw Alex and Gene together in a ship-fest - seems to be closed to being realized if that final shot was any inclination.
At least Sam didn't try to make out with Gene.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

firehawk12 said:
So, just watched the episode... and I'm glad the tension with her wanting to go back is there. In Life on Mars, pretty much every connection Sam had to his real life was cut off by the time he recovered, so that he was perfectly happy just going back and dying in his state.
Maybe I missed it, but does this take place before Sam does his final leap off the building in 2007?

As for the 80s... the run down grey look is kind of neat I guess. Dystopia and Thatcherism seem to go hand in hand.
The characters are all so unlikeable though... Chris was so much better in Life on Mars, and now he's just an asshole like the other two. And you have "Shar" acting pretty much like Annie in the first episode of Life on Mars... which makes me wish that Annie was back for this series instead.

I'll definitely tune in for the "Lost" aspect of the show... but the characters don't really work for me... and my greatest fear - the fact that they'll throw Alex and Gene together in a ship-fest - seems to be closed to being realized if that final shot was any inclination.
At least Sam didn't try to make out with Gene.

No, it's after. The notes on Sam were stamped "SUICIDE". And Alex mentioned something along the lines of "In the minutes it took him to die, he lived 7 years, a whole life in here."
Chris seemed pretty much the same to me, perhaps slightly more confident. He seemed to take offence at being called "The nervous one." but he was as much of a div as ever.
Ray seemed slightly softer, still a prat, but more reasonable.
And Gene, well he knows his type of policing is on the way out, his wife has left him, his colleague died trying to emulate his style, so while he's still the Gene Genie, he did seem somewhat more subdued, and caring.
At least that's how I took it all.

As for whether it's a dream or whatever. It's more definitely a dream. The creators said so, and said they were surprised anyone took the "Mystery" part of it seriously. I'd still like to think there was more too it, but if it is just them working out issues in their head, at least it's entertaining.