Watching eitherLife On MarsorAshes To Ashesin isolation means missing out of crucial parts of the overall story.
In retrospect, its remarkable just how muchAshes To Ashesgot right.
Even if that didnt initially seem to be the case.
Life On Marswas one of those rare TV shows that was instantly iconic.
And yeah, Im going to call it now;Ashes To Ashesis better thanLife On Mars.
Much of the character development is achieved through something thatLife On Marsnever really dabbled in; serialisation.
And each is an unqualified success.
Its impossible to talk at length aboutAshes To Asheswithout discussing its ending.
Does it have the iconic power of the wayLife On Marswrapped up?
Could he go himself if he chose?
But he wont because that would mean letting go of being Gene Hunt, the legend.
And so he is doomed to an eternity of doing exactly what he always wanted.
Its big, lofty stuff but part of the brilliance ofAshes To Ashesis that it never felt overblown.
At the end of a hard days work, its time to go to the pub.
In that way,Ashes To Ashescould not have been more true to its predecessor.
Perhaps its unfair to say thatAshes To Ashesis superior toLife On Mars.
The fact is that the two shows are incomplete without each other.
Would I say no to more Gene Hunt somewhere down the line?
Any chance to revisit that world would be pretty marvellous.
You cant ask much more from any show than that.
