70 posts tagged “ashes to ashes”

There will be a third series of Ashes to Ashes, the BBC has confirmed, and with Philip Glenister—putting to rest once and for all that an English tabloid’s published “facts” to the contrary earlier this year were total bollocks. For now, I will say that I predict that the DVD of this second series will have very good sales.

I think the BBC may have been premature uploading photographs from next week’s Ashes to Ashes. Do not scroll down if you don’t want a spoiler. I’ve tried to put the most revealing pic at the bottom of this bunch.

The second series (or season to our US friends) finalé to Ashes to Ashes looks very good indeed.

Next week’s Ashes to Ashes in the UK:

   Nothing much stands out in this clip. I was hoping to see Morph (who makes an appearance). I still like the fact that Spanish Ray in La chica de ayer is called Raimundo.

Last week, actor Philip Glenister joined Twitter—and began conversing with the Tweeter called GeneHunt. Their dialogue makes for good reading, in a very weird way:

philipglenister: @GeneHunt Have a breath Mr Hunt. I'm not here to try and take over your manor, besides, I'm a lover, not a fighter.

A slightly odd Ashes to Ashes on Monday night. There are clues that Alex has been found by the emergency services and that a crash crew is two minutes away, furthering her first-series theory that she could literally be living seconds of her life while days whiz by in 1982.
   Last night, Matthew Graham’s script was good for some of the Gene Hunt lines, and the freemasonry parts were suitably spooky, but there was relatively little from the stalker that we saw in Ashley Pharoah’s first episode last week. I don’t have too much to add, other than the use of a Leyland Princess for the opening car chase, to which Gene utters, ‘Death of a Princess’—again tying in with the Lady Di boat in the first episode last year, and the many Princess Diana references last week (Pont de l’Alma, England’s rose, and 1982 TV footage). And why does Alex keep hearing a helicopter?

   Alex’s body in 2008 must be somewhere connected with Diana—maybe the pier is named for her? Anyone a bit more familiar with the Greenwich–Milwall area?
   Next week, the preview indicates that Morph will appear, in the same manner as the Camberwick Green parody in Life on Mars and Zippy and George last year. Roland the Rat is also scheduled for an appearance in this second series.
   The cast of Ashes to Ashes has been told the entire plot and Marshall Lancaster (whose role has been expanded this year—and I like this direction) has been quoted as saying it is far more complicated than we expect. I think we can presume that it’s “real” and not just in her head—Alex has somehow done a Quantum Leap into someone in 1982. Unlike Life on Mars, there are scenes without her, indicating that the characters have lives outside of her mind. But is there any spiritual meaning behind Gene Hunt?

I like Keeley Hawes’s new VO at the beginning of Ashes to Ashes but why replace Helvetica Black (which was around in 1982, even though the cut used last series was not) with Arial Black (which didn’t exist in 1982)?

So what’s the deal with ‘England’s rose’, Princess Diana, and Alex Drake? Have we moved from David Bowie to Elton John this year? Why is there a Lady Di reference in the two series of Ashes to Ashes so far (think back to series 1, episodes 1 and 2)?
   There were some great Life on Mars-esque touches with the new series of Ashes to Ashes: viz. mystery phone calls and glimpses of the present day (2008). But those who liked Alex Drake’s self-awareness about the situation she might be in might not take to the darker tone of the new series; those of us who like an extra mystery thrown in, à la Life, will love it.
   The problem was the relative absence of surprises, especially after the way US Life on Mars ended (can’t get more whack than that) but Alex Drake’s mystery stalker, who taunts her with a red rose and even captures her momentarily, is enough to keep me watching. (Also, what is it with tunnels—both the one where Diana and Dodi were killed and the motif used heavily in Spanish Life on Mars, La chica de ayer?)
   I know there are those little things appearing in the show that couldn’t have existed in April 1982, such as the particular model of Audi Quattro or Roger Allam’s Rover SD1 (it’s a Vanden Plas, launched December that year), and on Twitter someone mentioned the SLR camera wasn’t available.
   But as with Life on Mars, it’s telly. Was it good telly? I say yes, with viewer numbers peaking at 7·2 million in the UK last night—identical to the première.