Let’s see: State of Play, remade. Life on Mars, remade. What are the chances the Americans will redo Tuesday?
I think there is a conspiracy to remake anything that John Simm and Philip Glenister appear in.
Let’s see: State of Play, remade. Life on Mars, remade. What are the chances the Americans will redo Tuesday?
I think there is a conspiracy to remake anything that John Simm and Philip Glenister appear in.
For Lifers who wanted to know how the Spanish version of Life on Mars ended, Antena 3 has put up the closing minutes of La chica de ayer on YouTube. I blogged about this back in June; however, this should be easier for readers.
My Spanish is pathetic at best, but a bit of context: the tunnel is a portal of sorts where Sam travelled from 2009 to 1977. In the final episode, he saves Ana from being killed by his father (the same as episode 8 of the UK original and episode 7 of the US remake). It appears this was the purpose of his trip back to 1977, and explains the meaning of the Spanish title. With that completed, the tunnel lights up again and Samuel has the chance to return to 2009. (Hence, it seems some sort of Divine Intervention or cosmic force is behind Sam’s trip back in time, and he is not in a coma or mad.) However, rather than the dark ending of the original, and the inexplicable one of the US remake, the Spanish have opted for something more upbeat:
Despite fairly healthy viewing figures, Antena 3 will not commission a second series of La chica de ayer. A member of the Railway Arms discussion board said two endings were filmed in case there was not a renewal. The aired finalé was quite good and certainly better than the American one that left me and a few others thinking it was a cruel April Fool’s joke.
It was a remake of the eighth UK episode. Samuel saves Ana from being killed by his father, José, and lets him go. Unlike the original, Samuel does not prevent his younger self from seeing part of the attack, but steps in and intervenes. José is let go in similar circumstances to the original, but the ending is quite apt given the title (which translates to yesterday’s girl). Samuel’s mother, Rosa, has to tell his younger self a similar white lie to the original about his father’s disappearance (Ernesto Alterio does a touching scene in the foreground, remembering what his mother told him, as her explanation takes place simultaneously in the background).
Where the series departs is that Samuel and Ana finally kiss in this episode. As the relationship between Samuel and Ana had developed more quickly in the Spanish series than in either the UK original or US remake, this seems well timed. Samuel sees the light at the end of the tunnel, literally, which could take him back to 2009. His purpose of being in 1977, it seems, is to save Ana’s life. (It is not explained if he is in a coma or if there is some cosmic force that sent him back in time.) He wishes to take Ana through, but she opts to stay. As she walks away, the light goes off, but we then see Samuel run to her, choosing to stay in 1977 with Ana.
The opening scene in last week’s La chica de ayer is hilarious, even if your Spanish is as bad as mine.
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.
I never realized that these two characters were played by the same actor—and I have extra admiration for him as a result. I’d seen a few of Ralph Brown’s work of late but never know I was watching the same actor in some of his earlier works.
First, DCI Frank Morgan from Life on Mars:
Next week’s Ashes to Ashes in the UK:
I finally saw the first La chica de ayer (Spanish Life on Mars) after Antena 3 put the whole episode online. It plays out more closely to the UK original than the US remakes, with most of the scenes intact, albeit with some name changes (e.g. Maya is now Sonia; and the others, such as Quin Gallardo, the Spanish Gene Hunt, I have noted on this blog before). However, there are additional scenes and from what I can sense, the pilot is a bit longer than both the original and US remakes, at around 65 minutes excluding commercials.