3 posts tagged “ian wylie”

Ian Wylie at the Manchester Evening News, a big Ashes to Ashes fan, has info on the second series—and there may even be a third.
   Highlights from his blog:

ASHES To Ashes is set to get slightly darker in series two, on the road to unveiling greater mysteries. …

2) Matthew: “Then we started talking about what we call our three year plan, which is if, all things being equal, we can run Ashes To Ashes – if we have a series two – if we can run it beyond series two to series three, as is our hope, we can actually unveil a bigger mystery, a bigger plan. And ultimately reveal a lot more about the characters.”

3) Matthew: “The first series of Ashes To Ashes was more about laying the ground rules again, and just kind of having fun and getting people into the ’81 groove. And then we’ll start playing out the bigger mysteries.” …

14) Matthew: “We changed the mystery in Ashes To Ashes for series one, in that we made it about what the clown represented and what the clown was, and we played a twist with the clown. Because what we wanted to do was play with the idea of someone who thought they knew exactly what was going on, and establish all of that, because we thought that the audience knew exactly what was going on. So we thought, ‘Let’s have a character who is the audience, who has seen Life On Mars and knows what’s happening.’ And then, as I say, refer to the three year plan. The next phase of the three year plan is to undermine that, so that you realise you don’t know what’s going on, and nor does Alex. So it was a bit of a gamble, but we kind of thought we’d get away with that a little bit in the first series because we wanted it to be fun. And we wanted to establish a different tone. And if we’d put a big esoteric mystery into Ashes To Ashes – I mean, I think we’ve got a fairly big mystery. She’s pursued by death, who turns out to be her father. That’s pretty esoteric. But if we’d gone even further with that, I think it would have felt that we were just replaying Life On Mars.” …

28) The American version of Life On Mars. Ashley: “It’s being re-made by a guy called David E Kelley, who is a hero of both of ours – so we went out to Los Angeles to meet him. He was very charming. And, no, we’re having nothing to do with it. We’ve seen a script and it’s…interesting.” …

   So: I am excited about Ashes in 2009 and a little worried about the new Life on Mars in the US—though still hopeful that the two Irish lads who are the new Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt will give it a bit of gravitas.

Ian Wylie, one of the journalists championing Ashes to Ashes, points out on his blog that a fan called Wibble refers to the figure on the lower left of the mural in Luigi’s trattoria. Spooky as heck.

N.B.: Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes spoilers below.

Ian Wylie of the Manchester Evening News, one of the best Life on Mars–Ashes to Ashes bloggers, revealed more about the fate of Sam Tyler in a post last week, after seeing the first screening of the new series.
   In case the fans who have not finished Life on Mars can see this from peripheral vision, I have cut the first two paragraphs pretty brutally.

The last episode of Life On Mars featured Sam ….
   His leap also took him …
   In the first episode of Ashes To Ashes, Ray explains to Alex how Sam had spent a further seven years with the team.
   He tells her that Sam then died during a jewellery robbery the year before—1980.
   Sam’s car ended up in the river, but his body was never found.
   Which, of course, gives some hope to those fans who believe Sam may return one day.

   This is making me wonder a bit more about the finalé in 2007, even if Matthew Graham told us all that it was a straightforward case of Sam dying and returning to 1973, his idea of Heaven.
   One fan, Soozanne, posted a theory which still fits given the premise of Ashes to Ashes.