BBC’s ‘Ashes to Ashes’

is_that_so

Bumping this again now that it has passed the halfway mark and I was wondering what people think of it so far. My own feelings is that it has become fairly humdrum and that it is slowly going downhill. I've only seen up to episode 4 but it seems to get weaker as it goes along. There is far too much focus on Alex, her mother, who she thinks she is and her big moral crises (or the writers' version of it).

Perhaps this is where it was always going to fall down as we've already seen Sam travel the same road. Not sure there is much scope for letting it go beyond the current run.

Anyone else still watching?

mike65

I'm still with it - last nights episode was improved on last weeks which was in turn much worse than episode 3 (they end up in the safe, best one so far). I've found the series is at its best with Alex internal world and wanting to connect with her mother, as the police procedurals are pretty basic in terms of plotting. Last night it nearly hit a poetic note at the end complete with Ghosts by Japan on the sountrack. The first few lines being apposite.

Mike.

lostexpectation

its terrible

OPENROAD

I think it has been getting better imo, still Life on Mars was still better.

ixoy

I enjoyed last night and ep 5 but conversely thought episodes 3 (the safe) and 4 were quite weak. Indeed it was those that really made me doubt the whole show. I'm more in favour of it now even if it's not up to the quality of its father series.

Arthur Daley

Really into this series, the first time in years I don't want to miss an episode of something. I know there have been a few weak storylines alright, such as breaking into the intelligence HQ and I didn't much like last night's episode with the charity fundraising bloke.

On the whole it's entertaining, the music is brilliant as is the quattro. Keeley Hawes is gorgeous, and the humour with Ray is great. Lol at his appearance in a gay club, being a hard nut as he is.:D

I'm more into this than Life on Mars, probably because '81 in London is cooler than a downbeat Manchester in '73, and I think you have to watch it as a seperate series entirely from LOM.

It's due another series - hopefully.

iguana

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Keeley Hawes is gorgeous,

Is she? I think she's very plain looking and very aged for 31.

mike65

She looks in her late 30s but frankly that just makes her more attractive to this old geezer!

The final episode is next week so will it be a wrap or the launch pad for another series? Glennister says this is his last go as Hunt. I doubt they'd kill him off and continue on.

Mike.

Lux23

iguana wrote: »

Is she? I think she's very plain looking and very aged for 31.

Plain? If shes plain, im a complete minger.

I found Thursdays episode very disturbing, there has been so much written and talked about in relation to police brutality in Britain (and here) and I always felt that any copper who either beat someone in custody or stood over and watched was scum. But I could really empathise with the charcters the other night, it was very difficult viewing for me.

I will devastated if there isn't another series with Gene Hunt, there are loads more stories to be told about him. I think this series has been as good as Life On Mars, if not better in some ways.

Arthur Daley

Lux23 wrote: »

I will devastated if there isn't another series with Gene Hunt, there are loads more stories to be told about him. I think this series has been as good as Life On Mars, if not better in some ways.

Phillip Glenister was saying that A2A could possibly go to a third series, but that by then he will have had enough of playing Gene. I think it's fairly certain there will be a second A2A, and that would leave only 16 Life on Mars and 16 Ashes to Ashes, which isn't much considering how long some series have run on.

iguana

Lux23 wrote: »

Plain? If shes plain, im a complete minger.

I don't know, something about her reminds me of my mother. Except plainer, especially when my mother was 31.

mike65

iguanas ma is hot everyone.

Mike.

DublinWriter

They've written themselves into a corner as they've yet to explain how the 'coma' worlds interact with the real worlds.

A2A is basically a parody of Life on Mars. Too much melodrama and music. The compelling darkness of the original serious has been cashed-in for so much self-referencing parody.

Cue the inevitable 'Nirvana' S3 set in the late 90's.

mike65

Final episode of the series (ever?) at 9 pm.

Mike.

Arthur Daley

Well now. A second series. Great. The Gene Genie returns. I'd say they'll take on board whatever criticism there has been about it and make the second series better than the first. From what I've watched of Life on Mars the second series was definetely better than the first, they found their feet.

Actually I know some with real rose tinted glasses who dismissed Life on Mars out of hand straight away after episode one without giving it a chance, so you have to be fair.

Bought the soundtrack to A2A today but disappointed Roxy's 'same old scene' isn't there. Still. Top music.

mike65

I thought they pulled off a pretty good series ending there. I will have to admit that 60 mins of Keeley Hawes in slow motion would probably keep me happy. Its an age thing.

You can watch the soundtrack on youtube (I'll put up tonights songs later)

Mike.

Wheels

There's something I haven't been able to warm to about the series. I just can't help but question every scene and everything that happens in a "but if she's in a coma, why does this happen" etc. I liked tonights ending but again felt couldn't figure out how on earth her being in a coma would lead her to realise her dad was the one who killed her mum. That said it's exceptionally well made!

Arthur Daley

mike65 wrote: »

I thought they pulled off a pretty good series ending there. I will have to admit that 60 mins of Keeley Hawes in slow motion would probably keep me happy. Its an age thing.

You can watch the soundtrack on youtube (I'll put up tonights songs later)

Mike.

Mike - Well after tonight that's one less MkIII escort for the boys on the classic forum to worry about.:eek:

The way music has been worked in this series hasn't been in question, and it has revived some stuff or introduced new people to brilliant original music like Dexy's, that Japan tune or the Beat etc.

Good work fella.

aidan_dunne

I'll say one thing about Keeley Hawes, she sure as hell knows how to scream! That "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" last night was f**king epic!

With her ability to scream like that, someone needs to cast her in some sort of horror/slasher movie pronto....... preferably with her running around in some skimpy underwear throughout!

Basq

Just watched the last episode there... and I have to admit - it was a top-notch finale. And without doubt the best of the season.

It was obvious allusions to Evan were a red herring... but the realisation of the father and morph to the 'Ashes To Ashes' clown was fantastic. And she's some set of lungs on her alright - she must have been watching 'Darth Vader' in Episode III for inspiration on that "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

All-in-all, I really enjoyed the series. Although I think it wasn't a patch on 'Life on Mars' - less Gene Hunt quotables (although this episode's 'baboons arse with a moustache' comment to Ray and the 'beaver munchers' comment to Caroline and Alex were both great), John Simm's a far better actor than Keeley Hawes and Shaz was possibly the dimmest character ever committed to screen.

Still, roll on February 2009!

Mr E

The whole car scene was very well done, but my jaw dropped with the clown revelation. It came from nowhere, and its up there on the same pedestal as Keyser Soze and Bruce Willis's ghost.

That said, the series isn't as good as LOM, and the whole fictional construct babble was getting really old. I'll still be watching next year though.

ixoy

Thought the finale was very good and I too went "Ohhhhh" when we saw the clown morphing. It did explain why we saw so little of Daddy until the final episode - in case we twigged it by seeing his face too much.

I overall liked the show but it's not up to its parent series standard. I didn't think Luigis worked very well for example - he seemed very stereotypical and I kept having an image of him with a green plumber's hat on and going "Hello, it's me Luigi! Welcome to my game!"
I think they did some good with Ray this year, expanding a lot on his character (with potential "he's gay" storyline woven in) and Chris was good too. I didn't warm to Shaz though - she's not fit to lick Annie's boots.
Hunt was on fine form, even if his one-liners weren't quite as cutting as before.
Alex was sufficiently different to Sam that it was the right move to make. At times I did have difficulty accepting her as a police officer, but I felt her performance and role improved sharply towards the end as she made more use of her skill set and her determination to stop her parent's death. Oh and that was one hell of a scream!

I'm also curious if they're trying to imply Gene Hunt is somehow real - is it that she has just plastered his face onto the man who held her? Or is it something more?

JupiterKid

I can't wait for Ashes to Ashes's second season early next year. I think it's a great show, a bit more light hearted than Life On Mars but Keeley Hawes is a good actress and easy on the eye too - I think people have been too harsh on her performance - she was never going to be another John Simms and there was no point in expecting her to be.

I like the soundtrack - it takes me back to being 7 again. I really hope they put in Jon & Vangelis's December 1981 hit "I'll Find My Way Home" into the second season as it's a very apt song for Alex's situation. If the new series goes into 1982 I'd expect "Come On Eileen" to feature somewhere.

I don't think there will be a third series - Gene Hunt has ruled that out.:D

JupiterKid

Bump. Anyone know when Ashes to Ashes Series 2 starts? I guess it must be some time this Spring.

Can't wait!:)

Arthur Daley

Still no word. Probably mid March.

denishurley

The first series started this time last year but there's no news at all this year.

Bought the DVD a few weeks ago so really in the mood now.

Basq

From the Ashes to Ashes Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashes_to_Ashes_(TV_series)) page:

Filming for a second series started in Summer 2008, to be broadcast in 2009.[4] It will be set in 1982, during the Falklands War, moving on almost six months after the events of the first series, which was set in July - October 1981. [5]

omahaid

denishurley wrote: »

The first series started this time last year but there's no news at all this year.

Bought the DVD a few weeks ago so really in the mood now.

This article here suggests April http://www.denofgeek.com/television/209795/ashes_to_ashes_april_return_roland_rat_and_mrs_cluskey_to_cameo.html .The BBC are making us wait for this one

omahaid

Official press release

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/03_march/26/ashes.shtml

Getting closer

Mr E

Big press release, but no bloody date.

omahaid

Mr E wrote: »

Big press release, but no bloody date.

Ya, I know, can't be more than two - three weeks though..... Only eight episodes again though, can't figure out how the american shows can get 24 episodes per season of rubbish for shows and class shows like Ashes to Ashes only do 8, ah well, c'est la vie

mike65

Resourses is the quick answer, in the US a series is written by a team in British tv a series is usually the work of one man/woman (occasionally two like Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais) Asking themn to write 23-26 hour long scripts would be asking too much!

In the UK drama series used to last 12 episodes (so a slot could have 4 different series a year plus a couple of weeks of for Easter/Christmas schedule changes) the move to 6-8 episodes seems to be a result of stations wanting flexibilty and not haveing to commit too much to a series that may not be popular.

omahaid

Trailer for season 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJzsmkbuFSc

JP Liz

Ashes To Ashes series two starts later this month on BBC1.

mike65

Life on Mars (USA) cancelled.

omahaid

I see the beeb have given the official website a bit of a refresh also, looks good

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ashestoashes/index.shtml

Hobbes

Anyone who likes Ashes to Ashes should not watch "Life on Mars USA". Especially the final episode!

The nice thing about the UK version was it never really told you what was going on or why, Likewise with Ashes to Ashes.

But I saw the finale of the USA one and it feck's up the endings for the UK programs. Hard to say if the ending was written by the US writers or was intended for the UK series but annoying.

omahaid

Hobbes wrote: »

Anyone who likes Ashes to Ashes should not watch "Life on Mars USA". Especially the final episode!

The nice thing about the UK version was it never really told you what was going on or why, Likewise with Ashes to Ashes.

But I saw the finale of the USA one and it feck's up the endings for the UK programs. Hard to say if the ending was written by the US writers or was intended for the UK series but annoying.

I couldnt resist, so I had a look at a spoiler online, what an atriocious ending, feck... Not planning to watch it so as far as I'm concerned the whole US series doesn't exist

Basq

Oh Christ.. that's bad!

Below is the Wikipedia entry for the end of the US version of 'Life on Mars'.. it contains spoilers if you do intend to watch it at some stage... though I really don't know why!

At the end of the series it is revealed that Tyler's 2008 & 1973 realities were both fictitious, created by the futuristic computer - named Windy - aboard a space ship that is carrying Tyler, Hunt, Norris, Carling and Skelton on the first ever manned mission to the planet Mars. Tyler's actual reality is the year 2035, and the crew he worked with in the past are just virtual reality versions of his fellow spaceship crewmembers. The reason why he had travelled back to 1973 was due to a temporary malfunction on board the ship: to sustain their lives, all of the crew were routinely kept active while asleep using virtual reality "neural stimulation" programs of their own choosing, but a meteor storm caused a momentary glitch in the program (Sam had chosen his 2008 identity as part of his VR program, but the program accidentally kicked him back to 1973). Frank Morgan is the Mission Control flight director, Annie Norris is the Colonel in charge of the mission, and Gene Hunt - "Major Tom" - is also revealed to be Sam's father.

In a final wink to its fans, the writers describe the mission as one of science; looking for evidence of life.... a "gene hunt".

:rolleyes:

mike65

Was this filed on April 1st?

omahaid

More updates

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2009/wk16/unplaced.shtml#unplaced_ashes

It's definite for week 16, just no specific date or time during that week.

Arthur Daley

Confirmed as back on Monday nights at 9, starting on the 20th April.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2009/wk16/unplaced.shtml#unplaced_ashes

Basq

Cheers Arthur Daley.. marked that in my TV calendar anyways.

Speaking of which... never seen this clip before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O91jip0HtYM

2fivers

Fun clip, but I have a question - how does Gene know enough about Aled Jones is in 1982 to use him as a reference when threatening someone with castration?

The kid didn't record his first album til 1983, and didn't have a hit record until Christmas 1985...

(I appreciate the whole A2A/Top Gear timing anomaly, but I'm picky, ok? )

iguana

2fivers wrote: »

Fun clip, but I have a question - how does Gene know enough about Aled Jones is in 1982 to use him as a reference when threatening someone with castration?

The kid didn't record his first album til 1983, and didn't have a hit record until Christmas 1985...

Perhaps he'd seen one of his early live performances?:p

tony1kenobi

Aled Jones sung on the Snowman soundtrack in 1982......I suspect Hunt was engineering those sessions.....or some other daft answer.

Leaderbored

tony1kenobi wrote: »

Aled Jones sung on the Snowman soundtrack in 1982......I suspect Hunt was engineering those sessions.....or some other daft answer.

No he didn't. Peter Auty sang on that soundtrack.

Aled Jones' cover of walking in the air didn't come out until 1985. Damn good effort at an answer though. Nice and ridiculous, as befitting A2A.

mle1324

for all those ashes to ashes fans it has defently been 100% confirmed,its finaly back to our screens on the 20 of april (monday) 2100-2200 for series 2

__________________________________________________________________________________

OFF THE RECORD ON THE QT AND VERY HUSH HUSH
(LA Confidential 1997)

lostexpectation

Ashes to Ashes' Glenister hits back at critics
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/showbiz-news/celebrity-interviews/2009/04/10/ashes-to-ashes-star-phil-glenister-hits-back-at-critics-of-co-star-keeley-hawes-ahead-of-new-series-86908-21268669/

its not her we don't likeMR HUNT its the silliness of the character,it doesn't work

mike65

Bumpity-bump.

9 pm.