Life on Mars : Complete BBC Series 2 [2007] [DVD]
July 15th, 2010 by James
Life on Mars : Complete BBC Series 2 [2007] [DVD]
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Product Description
John Simm, Philip Glenister, Liz White, Dean Andrews, Marshall Lancaster
Details
No features available.
Rating
I have reviewed Series 1 which blew me away – but series two seems to get even better.
The humour, the warmth between characters, the ‘baddies’ – the ’70s kitsch all seem to have been turned up from 10, to 11!
Sam meets his mentor in his younger days and is shocked to see his hero as a pathetic man who takes all the racist jibes thrown at him rather than the strong stalwart of justice he is familiar with.
The supposed-IRA bomber episode was one of the strongest I’ve seen – and the following story about Swingers was fantastic, with Gene (Philip Glenister) giving one of the funniest performances of the series.
And the 7th Episode – what can I say?!!! Absolutely amazing, with the DCI on the run – this was another strong episode helped along with yet another DCI Gene Hunt classic moment – dressed as Tufty the squirrel!
In this episode, Gene Hunt is less jovial (as you’d imagine when on the run) and we see more of his vulnerable side, something which seems to be a theme running through the second series – with the odd line here and there about his past tragedies. Acting DCI Morgan adds a new element to the episode as a Jobsworth character – who interrupts Sam and Annie just as it looks as thought they are about to engage in some over-friendliness!
And then, the finale…
…And what a finale!!!
Is Morgan all he seems to be? Is Sam in a coma? If he is will he return to his own time? Will he stay with Hunt and the team?
Well, if you haven’t seen it then I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I won’t give anything away.
The finale is without doubts one of the TV highlights of the last decade, and then some! Emotionally charged to the point that your hair starts to tingle whilst you watch it. This really was the perfect ending to the series. It looks as though there won’t be a series 3, but rumour has there’ll be a Spin-Off called “Ashes to Ashes” (another David Bowie reference). I don’t know if it’ll be as good as this. This was television dynamite. Intelligently written, gritty realism along with spiritualism, I am really quite sorry to see this amazing programme end.
Rating
Five stars aren’t enough… having missed three of Series 1′s episodes, I immediately bought the DVD set upon release and watched the whole series over one very wine-fuelled night. I was hooked. For me, Series 2 was even more infectious and, having been a kid in ’73, I could relate to so much that it often proved to be an emotional experience. I cannot remember a more gripping and entertaining TV series. It’s a work of sheer genius. Naturally, I pre-ordered my Series 2 DVD set weeks ago. Time to buy more wine and unplug the phone!
Rating
If series one of Life on Mars was about Sam Tyler adjusting to his new-found surroundings, wondering how he got there and what he was going to do now he was, series two is certainly more about why he is there and how he gets back home.
Series one was wonderful and I thought it would be near impossible to top, but they’ve managed it. John Simm retains his concurrently bewildered and menacing mood, while this time really managing to convey those periods of being temporarily and dangerously unhinged. Phil Glenister is just magnificent, playing what is likely to be the role of his career throwing out one-liners like he’s using a flamethrower. Subtle he isn’t, but then that wouldn’t be Gene Hunt would it?
And let’s not forget the supporting characters: each of them imbued with some depth and likeabilty (yes, even Ray) that most actors would kill for. But then that speaks volumes for the quality of writing and direction, which could have left us in a 70′s nostalgia graveyard, but didn’t. Instead, the show touched on some of the rather more uncomfortable memories of that period and didn’t, on the whole, (no pun intended) cop out.
In all honesty I can say that I did see the end coming, but I certainly didn’t see how it would get there, which made it all the more satisfying to watch, putting a grin on my face almost as big as the one on Sam Tyler’s.
Shows of this quality are rare, so savour what there is and thank heaven that they left before overstaying their welcome. Can I give it six stars please?
Rating
I think in many ways series 2 of this quality drama exceeds the first.
It is more driven and piles on the plot in ways that are imaginative and complex.
The extra’s on this DVD are also more slickly put together and professional.
I still have some extras left to watch but can only say at the end of the series I felt that I’d just watched something highly significant and wonderful.
The two complete series as drama will no doubt be studied forever by budding film students. And watched by new generations as it is repeated down the line.
I thought it was wonderful that something this bold could be made now amidst a ‘reality tv’ society. And perhaps it will lead the way for other production companies to take risks as the writers here did in order to push boundaries and bring more quality to the screen.
As said before in my review of series one – though it lacks the masterful genius of Dennis Potter (see The Singing Detective, which is simply one of the best dramas I’ve ever seen) – it brings an intelligent thought provoking drama to mainstream. Particularly in this series – this drama is entitled to 5 stars of its own.
Watch it then tell all your friends to watch it!
Rating
I’ve loved this whole series since the very first episode and now own both Boxsets, which take pride of place in my DVD collection. The concept is so original, although now copied or mimicked in a number of other shows, but it is the casting that makes this really work – John Simm and Phil Glenister have such a great on-screen chemistry that keeps you glued to every scene and every now infamous line of narrative, particularly for Gene Hunt. Like many over the age of 35 it is great to remember when lifestyles were less complex and more innocent (although not always for then better) and see the sharp contrast with the modern world.
Rating
Count me in with those who absolutely LOVED the ending of Life on Mars. I’ve watched that last episode a dozen times now, and it remains the best piece of TV I’ve seen all year. And I know in advance I’m gonna hate the American remake due sometime next year; the ending is what iced the show for me, and there is NO way an American network will air that ending. It’ll get altered, focus-grouped and censored into oblivion. Buy this set, and don’t even bother with the other, if it ever airs. This is a true classic of the television medium, not to be missed.
Rating
People always complain that there is a lot of rubbish on modern TV. And then something like “Life on Mars” comes around and, wow, it blows you away. Somehow I missed both series when they were originally broadcast. One episode on the BBC4 rerun and I was hooked. The writing is taut, the production is paced, gripping and totally authentic, and the actors all perform out of their skins. This really is as near to perfection as you can get.
For me, Series 2 gets the nod over Series 1 simply because all the characters are now fully bedded in and we can watch them growing as people with every episode.
Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt, the leading characters, are flawed but totally sympathetic, which is a tribute to the actors playing them. Sam may be a gratingly PC modern policeman but we empathise with his decency, kindness and isolation in a strange world. Gene may make us blanche, but we know that he too is a decent man who has to be hard to keep a bad world away from good people. Forget all the questions still unanswered at the end of the saga: for me the biggest is why on earth Philip Glenister has not yet won a BAFTA.
But it’s not just the leading two men turning in the stellar performances. The lovely WDC Annie Cartwright (she could grind corn at my windmill any day) not only provides the love interest but lightens the tone in what could otherwise have been a grim show. The sexism she faces is shocking, yet her response is to win over her colleagues by making herself indispensable. By the end of the show, she still gets the banter but not worse than any other male character. In other words she’s fully accepted. It would have been easy to make her a raging feminist who gets to rub men’s noses in the dirt, but the approach taken by the writers is far more subtle and worthwhile.
I think “Life on Mars” worked best when it capitalised on its humour. The famous Camberwick Green sequence is wonderful. And as for Gene Hunt at the wife-swapping party … His body language as he follows Mrs Luckhurst to the bedroom is worth the price of the DVD on its own. Hilarious.
Re. the last ever episode, thankfully it didn’t close like “Blake’s Seven”. That would have been a slap in the face to the audience. In fact Episode 8 might be the best of the whole lot as the show comes to a spectacular end. “Ashes to Ashes” has an awful lot to live up to and I just can’t wait to see the Gene Genie in 1981.
As for the DVD features there are several excellent behind-the-scenes documentaries where the enthusiasm of everyone connected to the show comes across. There is also a hilarious double act in the cast interviews from Dean Andrews (Ray) and Marshall Lancaster (Dave), and I just hope that “Ashes to Ashes” can exploit them even better than “Life on Mars”. It’s just a shame that there are no episode-by episode commentaries, particularly as the show reached its climactic end. But that doesn’t change the fact that if you don’t buy both series then you really must be mad or in a coma …
Rating
Life on Mars has to be one of the best TV series around. Series two, although it’s very close, is in my opinion even better than series one. It’s funny, tence, dramatic everything you could want. Definately worthy of five stars!
Rating
NOT TO BE MISSED –
Life on Mars is undoubtably one of the best series on tv for some considerable time. If you loved Series 1 – you will love this also. The chemistry between the characters is brilliant – excellent script writing. When you start to watch – do make sure that you have at least an evening free, for you will not be content to watch just one episode – Fantastic stuff – buy it, watch it and tell all of your friends to do they same – they will not be disappointed.
Rating
I am one of those sad individuals who learn about a rave new TV show two thirds the way into the second series and as such, having missed the first series and a half, had no idea what to expect. The first episode I watched in both series was the final one of series 2. My timing has never been that good!
So when Ashes To Ashes came on I watched all of that – and look forward to the chance to get my hands on Keeley Hawes (did I mean that?) again when it comes out on DVD. So, to get the gist, I bought series 1 a couple of weeks ago and series 2 last week. Then, after a lot of watching DVDs I understood that final episode – or did I?
The whole idea is unique in a sense, unless you discount Dr Sam Beckett, for that is another series altogether, and the creation of DCI Gene Hunt is altogether fantastic but what entertainment! Laugh? There were moments I was crying with laughter. My wife says he reminds her of me – Mmmm.
But I was not prepared for the opening sequence for the later episode in series 2 which began with a mock version of Camberwick Green, with Sam Tyler coming out of the box to be asked how he was doing. What happened next was a coffee moment – if I had a cat it would have been covered!
Buy this, along with series 1 and have a great time. I cannot wait to sit and watch the whole thing once again, from start to finish.
Great TV. Worth the licence fee just to watch this!