19 posts tagged “keeley hawes”

Ashes to Ashes’ final-episode viewing numbers were down, sadly, though the series average was still high enough for the BBC to commission a second series.
   They are logically down on Life on Mars because viewers didn’t expect there to be any surprises on Alex Drake’s predicament this time round. (Boy, did we get a big surprise.)
   I believe as word of the final filters out—that Alex Drake’s situation is different from Sam Tyler’s and raises the possibility that Gene Hunt and his team are real—the second series might do slightly better, especially its final.
   Reports are coming in that Ashes “only” scored 5·4 million viewers, still a healthy 23 per cent share, though it is down from the 7 million of the première.
   Compared with Life on Mars, this isn’t too bad given that people thought (and the producers allowed us to think) that there was less novelty to the premise.
   Some figures may help put this into perspective:

• Life on Mars’ first series average: 6·8 million
• Life on Mars’ first series final: 7·1 million

but:

• Life on Mars’ second series début: 5·7 million—despite heavy promotion and YouTube trailers
• Life on Mars’ second series, third episode: 4·8 million
• Ashes to Ashes’ first series début: 7 million
• Ashes to Ashes’ first series, second episode: 6·1 million
• Ashes to Ashes’ first series, fifth episode: 6·6 million

   While the final’s viewing numbers are poorer than episodes during the preceding seven weeks, the series has averaged well and now that there is an apparent twist, those who watched Life on Mars for a mindbender might just tune in to the second series of Ashes to Ashes. The BBC made the right call to renew.

Some of the best lines from the whole series were in Ashes to Ashes’ finalé:

Gene: ‘Is it just me, or are you talking in another dimension?’
Gene: ‘I can grow a moustache but I draw a line at a perm.’
Viv: ‘Pickpocket, a drunk, a guy who thinks he’s Sheena Easton. Same old, same old.’
Gene: ‘I’ve seen your rump, and I’ve seen more padding strapped to Ian Botham’s legs.’

and these only work in the context of the show:

Gene: ‘Bye, little lady. Any problems, you just call the Gene Genie.’
Gene: ‘I’m everywhere, Bolly. I was needed and I was there.’
Shaz: ‘I’m good, thanks to you, a guardian angel.’

   Final line was ‘Luigi, get me a beer,’ which takes me back to the same point in Life on Mars (final line, ‘Pub’).
   Well done Ashley Pharoah!

Keeley Hawes gave an excellent performance in the final of Ashes to Ashes last night—best I’ve ever seen her in anything. And the story—wow (spoiler alert).
   I know some fans are dismissing it as “not as good as Life on Mars” but I say the series was redeemed in that one episode, penned by co-creator Ashley Pharoah.
   Because Ashes finally gave a good mindf*** that makes you now wonder if it’s all inside Alex’s head as ‘constructs’—or is it now her memory?
   That finalé, where it was Gene, not Evan, who takes young Alex’s hand, was a total surprise to me. Her Dad turning into the evil Pierrot clown—amazing. It is better than Sam finding out that his Dad could have killed Annie. It also becomes very apparent why the première’s director, Jonny Campbell, was called back to do this episode.
   Geoffrey Palmer’s guest role as the real-life Lord Scarman, the comic turn of Alex in the tank, the two sides of Gene, the two ages of Alex in the police station—all these were brilliant elements in an episode that finally sees all eight outings of Ashes to Ashes come together. Talk about nicely tied together in a story arc.
   I can now say, ‘I told you so,’ when I said that Alex’s predicament is different from Sam Tyler’s and that Gene, Ray and Chris exist in another timeline—which brings back the validity of Soozanne’s theory penned this time last year.
   We were promised more of the ‘Gene Hunt mythology’ from Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah—and we got it. Fantastic! Best episode ever.
   The scene is now well set for the second series, which, after this, should do incredibly well.

As predicted (though you hardly needed to be a psychic medium to do so), Ashes to Ashes will get a second series, The Daily Telegraph reported today. It might not get a third, even though the BBC has an option for it: star Philip Glenister was quoted as saying, ‘We’ll start shooting a second series sometime in August. They’ve got an option for up to a third series.
   ‘But you tend to get an instinct about when something should finish. And I certainly wouldn't want to drag it on and on.
   ‘The character’s too good for that. I care about the character too much.’
   I know I am reading too much into this but remember, during Life on Mars, Glenister was also the one who said that they didn’t people to begin thinking, ‘Do you remember when Life on Mars was good?’ That, and Simm’s family commitments, saw that series end after two seasons.
   Meanwhile, in the tabloids:

The last two episodes of Ashes to Ashes have got better—either that or we are getting into the new universe of Alex Drake, where she is neither mad, in a coma nor back in time (at least not exactly). Keeley Hawes’s performance as Drake is getting stronger and as she is the protagonist, the show needs this. The whole annoying smart-arsed posh-tart Bolly Knickers approach has been toned down.
   Being a show that has to be shown in order, this development was probably unavoidable. In the old days, with self-contained episodes without story arcs, a TV series could start off with a stronger episode as the “pilot” and a weaker one later on. The Professionals was a good example: the first filmed was not the first aired.
   It is true that Ashes is no Life on Mars: it’s still not of the same quality, and the scripts are shallower. One blogger wrote that it has turned into yet another period cop show. That is not that unfair: Alex Drake doesn’t hear life support machines from 2008 and with the many scenes that do not involve her, it is clear that she is not in the same predicament as Sam Tyler in Life on Mars. Social issues are not dealt with the same contrast as in the earlier show, because the writers don’t feel the 1980s are as different from our present time as the 1970s.
   The characters, too, are shallower, with the exception of Drake, who is getting additional layers, and to an extent, DS Ray Carling (played by Dean Andrews). Philip Glenister seems more a copper put there to react to Alex’s psychobabble—I think I said Gene Hunt Lite a few weeks ago. There are no more memorable Geneisms, at least not of the level of Life on Mars—are we meant to believe he has mellowed since the passing of Sam Tyler? (I only remember two lines in two weeks: ‘You know, you might talk with a plum in your gob, luv, but I would rather go with one of them than waste my money on some bitter, twisted, messed-up, clenched-arsed, toffee-nosed bitch like you.’ And it’s hardly of the ‘armed bastards’ standard. Slightly better is ‘Who’s your mother? Marianne Faithfull?’ when confronting a drug courier who claims he’s transporting garden gnomes for his mother.) Gene’s whiny after being punched by Alex. Marshall Lancaster’s DC Chris Skelton is now there for comic relief. Both characters are shadows of their former selves.
   The story arc surrounding Alex’s parents works well and I am finally getting excited about the final episode for this year, which probably does finish with a bang (viz. the supposed murder of her parents).
   There are still slip-ups on cars: the fourth episode has a mid-1980s Austin Maestro van. Why do these shows get the wrong year Austins in? And I’m pretty sure the Transit in the third episode is newer than 1981—possibly 1984 or 1985?
   Mid-season episodes not written by their creators can become more formulaic and routine—Life on Mars was affected by this, too, in its first year, covered by the novelty of the re-creation of the 1980s. Ashes to Ashes has done well with a couple of episodes which I think are better than co-creator Ashley Pharoah’s second one.
   So, does anyone have any theories about Alex and where she is? Has she really leapt into someone’s body in 1981, in time for returning to 2008 by the end of the 16th episode and being able to find evidence of Sam Tyler’s 1973–80 past, leaving us on a cliffhanger?

So, was anyone bored waiting for something good to happen on Ashes to Ashes on Thursday night?
   I don’t think I have memories of Life on Mars that are filtered-out versions, without all the dull moments on that show. It just held my attention better: the whole mystery element about where Sam was, the romance with him and Annie, the fond memories I had of 1970s cop shows. All these are missing in the 1981 context of Ashes.
   Here we have DCI Gene Hunt a pale shadow of his former self. He may have had a few memorable lines (referring to the consummation of the marriage of Lady Diana Spencer to HRH Prince Charles as the ‘twanging of the royal hymen’) but none that I wanted to learn. Where were the moments such as raising the fingers to children from an ice-cream van or politically incorrect racist or homophobic terms?
   I know he is meant to have mellowed out in a post-Sam Tyler world, and that makes some sense, but I’m just not as entertained.
   The only character that seems to have developed better is DC Chris Skelton, who gets more lines and more humour.
   We have more scenes now that do not take place when Alex is present, which is another clue that her experiences are different from those of Sam.
   Which brings me to Alex Drake. I liked her in episode 1, when she proved to be a capable modern-day copper, thrown initially into 1981 and understandably confused by her new world. In episode 2, she seems more relaxed by her surroundings, no surprise—but goes around like a smart-arsed know-it-all. It’s not a clever self-awareness as Danny had in The Last Action Hero. I didn’t have fun like I did there.
   The scenes with Alex’s mother were not great as I doubt I would be such a cow toward someone I hadn’t seen in 27 years.
   I know there are all these meanings about our creating our own reality in this show, and obviously Alex has a few childhood problems, but at least Sam never crossed swords with his parents—with the exception of the confrontation leading up to letting his Dad go in episode 8.
   I realize that Alex Drake is not the regeneration of Sam Tyler à la Doctor Who, but I am not warming to her.
   And I really, really didn’t want to join the negative reviewers in the pre-début phase, but it seems I must.
   I will keep watching as there is still nothing better, and self-parody is part of this postmodern world, but please give us stronger and more realistic characters.
   Summary: Gene Lite is just not as fun.

The opening title to Ashes to Ashes (BBC1, Thursday, 9 p.m.) has made it on to the internet and makes an interesting study.
   The comparisons to Life on Mars are obvious. Star Keeley Hawes narrates an introduction, as John Simm did with the original parent series. It’s taken from a line of dialogue that she delivered to herself in the mirror in the first episode—I think most of us saw that coming.
   Edmund Butt’s music is obviously a homage to his original theme for Life on Mars but with a more energetic electric guitar.
   The typeface chosen is interesting: the 1983-released Neue Helvetica. It’s not exactly what I would have chosen for the 1981 theme. However, this was also expected from the pilot’s opening, as well as the way the words Ashes to Ashes appear on screen, playing on a 1980s computer program.
   It’s clear that this is a related show even if you never saw the first episode and the designers have conveyed its feeling pretty well. Essentially, this is Life on Venus.

Found today: a great BBC news item with some behind-the-scenes shots from Ashes to Ashes, plus brief interviews with Philip Glenister, Keeley Hawes, Dean Andrews and Marshall Lancaster.

A good start to Ashes to Ashes—but not as good as that of Life on Mars. Aside from the self-referential aspect, I miss the Sam–Gene interplay, even though Keeley Hawes’s Alex Drake is excellent. And that was a good première—just not a great one. OK, it was a very, very good première. But was it really, name change aside, a première, or the third series of Life on Mars? You know, is putting in Alex Drake kind of like putting in Charlie Sheen to Spin City? Or James Franciscus into the Planet of the Apes series? Apart from the sex change here.
   The glitches are there for the car geeks to see. The real Audi Quattro has already been discussed by Audi fans out there as being the wrong year with the wrong grille and the steering wheel on the wrong side, as far as 1981 is concerned; but did toy car collectors notice the Quattro on Gene’s desk? One from Matchbox, one from Majorette—the earliest the former was made was 1982. The Cortinas are a bit too fancy for the Met—one’s a Ghia. Bit plush in the back for a collar, innit?
   However, the present-day scenes are interesting and as this is a British TV show, Alex drives a Toyota in 2008. I mean a Lexus. The Japanese automaker is doing quite a lot of product placement these days. The days of goodies driving UK-made cars in UK TV series are long gone.
   Now on to the stuff that normal human beings noticed. The story is good, but as I said in earlier blog posts, we begin Ashes to Ashes knowing what has happened to Alex. With Life on Mars, we did ponder: is Sam mad, in a coma or really back in time?
   This is why Ashes to Ashes needs something extra, and “sexual tension” is not going to do it. I watched the first one not necessarily comparing the two series, but I didn’t have a decent brainf*** trying to figure out time paradoxes and parallel universes. I did for 16 episodes of the earlier Life on Mars. Unless Matthew Graham, Ashley Pharoah and co. decide to inject an additional aspect to the story on just why Gene Hunt and his team appear, I won’t this time around.
   Last year, people floated ideas of Sam being in Purgatory, while another viewer believed there was a bit of Quantum Leaping going on in that Sam Tyler did jump into the body of a DI Sam Williams from Hyde. They both were involved in accidents and their consciousnesses transferred. If we began seeing some sign of that, then there could be a very fun additional element to Ashes to Ashes.
   Matthew Graham was wise in the first episode to not replicate Life on Mars’ techniques: we don’t hear life-support machines, for instance. We do have a spooky clown and I have to say that the clown from Test Card F did freak me out as a child. An evil clown from the David Bowie ‘Ashes to Ashes’ video makes sense.
   Now to the theories, which is part of the British national pastime. If we take the most obvious theory, which is what my friend Doug cottoned on to when he first watched Life on Mars (he is one of the few people who said very early on, ‘I thought it was obvious that Sam was in a coma’), then Alex hasn’t even made it into the hospital ward. She is living all of 1981 within a split-second and if she does wake at the end of the series, it will be exactly where she was shot.
   Notice the similarities between these lines at the beginning and end of the episode which are clues to the fact that this is all in Alex’s head:

Alex Drake: It’s a hard, screwed-up world, but if you trust me, I can try to help you get through. 

and:

Gene Hunt: Listen, Bolly Knickers. You were seconds away from death just now. It’s a nasty, vicious, messed-up world but if you listen to me, you just might get through it.

plus all the references to Arthur Layton about being trapped at the beginning, and being trapped herself. Notice, too, the quote ‘seconds away from death’. Shaz’s comments about between life and death were also spooky.
   Matthew Graham knows we are being very pedantic and I think he has fashioned some great clues for us.
   But I didn’t think the last 95 seconds—which “Lifer” and Manchester journalist Ian Wylie told us to take extra note of as they were the best on telly—were that fab. Gene has mellowed, but that’s the 1980s’ cop show for you. Those shows were more mellow. Out with The Sweeney and The Professionals and in with Dempsey and Makepeace. John Thaw went from Regan to Inspector Morse.
   Great touch with Zippy and George, but they have aged. Come on, admit it: they looked way more colourful in Geoffrey’s set.
   Edmund Butt’s score is spot on with enough period touches, though the strings leading up to a crescendo each time we see a hero shot of Gene Hunt is a bit much.
   The end credits were really the worst bit: they were blimmin’ hard to see.
   Questions to ponder with the story arc: are the Prices (Alex’s parents) really dead? Notice that Arthur Layton never provides an answer to that. What if Alex’s Dad is still around, staying away from his daughter because he feared reprisals? That we might not know till 2009.
   Regardless of the relatively few misgivings, this is still the best show on telly—and I’ll be pre-ordering that DVD set on the strength of this première.

Will Ashes to Ashes kick off a revival in 1980s fashions? Probably not—or so I say today in the Lucire Insider blog.