BBC’s ‘Ashes to Ashes’

tony1kenobi

Deleted User wrote: »

I did think it was funny the way Gene went into the prison without riot gear some weeks back and didn't get a belt of one missile which were absolutely raining down on the riot squad + the way he drives the quattro around London like a man possessed. Made me think, is he invincible?'

Is that not because it was his world and he saw himself as a "Gary Cooper" type character.....if it's all of his own making he can be that swaggering hero all he wants....that's what I got from his explaination to Alex when it dawned on him that he was only a skinny kid when he died.....

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Didn't Frank Morgan want to take Sam to Hull? Or did he say he was from Hull? I seem to remeber something to do with Hull, maybe I'm wrong though.

Hyde...it was the name of the ward Sam was on in hospital AND the fictional division he transferred from in 1973.

I think Ray died in Jubilee year for 2 reasons...1) he was watching it on a colour tv which would have been unlikey in the early 50s' and 2) he would not have been able to rock that awesome perm/tache combo in the 50s.

I think Ray,Chris and Shaz forgot they had died/apparently time travelled because of the length of time they spent in limbo.Ray and Chris were with Gene for at least 10 years and hadn't Shaz been there 3 years by the time Alex arrived?

I also don't think Sam ever left the hospital at the end of Life On Mars...I think the coming out of a coma then opting to go back by doing a header off the roof was just his dying..........like when Alex came out of the coma but allowed Gene to bring her back...that's the moment she died......

Of course that doesn't explain how Alex was aware of Sams case.....unless she was already in the coma before we joined the show......which she probably was.....as Layton didn't physically age from 1981 to 2008 did he?....and Molly was reading Sams case file which, if those events actually occured......would mean I am wrong about Sam never coming out of his coma.....which puts me right back at the start.....

Sh*t.

cjmcork

watched it again tonight............this is the point that gets me:

'You are, and always will be.. The Guv'

and then I'm gone.................:o

tony1kenobi

PS...I never knew Alex got a mention at the end of Life On Mars until I read it just then.....and then I watched it....just after just then.

mancduff

Just watched it on bbc iplayer - simply brilliant, always suspected the show was set in the afterlife, from LoM when sam gets in the car at the end and the radio in the car has the surgeons saying they were going to lose him etc etc plus she gets shot in the head, nice to have theories confirmed. Will miss this its the best thing the beeb have done in a while (in my opinion) come on RTE pull your finger out of your arse.

thought it might have been more poignant, rather then have the policeman in b&w talk at the end, have perhaps the test card girl turn off the tv to give it that extra closure like LOM

The Maverick

The black and white clip at the end is from an old BBC police drama called Dixon of Dock Green. I was reading an interview with the Ashes to Ashes creator and he said that the character of Dixon was killed off in an earlier film before being resurected in the tv series. I thought that was a clever little touch, hinting at Gene and the others being killed but living on in their own world.
I agree it was a very good ending and one that does benefit from another viewing. Its hard to know what else they could have done but it is a bit sad that Gene is alone again,waiting on another crew to arrive.

Melia

Deleted User wrote: »

That's a good credible theory. What happens to a cop ala Martin Summers or Viv when they die in the afterlife?

EDIT: <giant spoiler for US LoM>

Come on! Spoilers! Not all of us have seen the US version of LoM yet.

Thought the final episode was fantastic. Going to give it another watch before I make any comments. Loved all the little touches!

tony1kenobi

Melia wrote: »

Come on! Spoilers! Not all of us have seen the US version of LoM yet!

Save yourself about 10 hours of your life....It's is complete dung.

The Maverick

The Maverick wrote: »

The black and white clip at the end is from an old BBC police drama called Dixon of Dock Green. I was reading an interview with the Ashes to Ashes creator and he said that the character of Dixon was killed off in an earlier film before being resurected in the tv series. I thought that was a clever little touch, hinting at Gene and the others being killed but living on in their own world.
I agree it was a very good ending and one that does benefit from another viewing. Its hard to know what else they could have done but it is a bit sad that Gene is alone again,waiting on another crew to arrive.

pretty much explains that so.
what a refreshing piece of tv both LOM and Ashes was, in an age of overbearing political correctness and over dominant sub standard reality tv

oh yeah what Merc was gene looking at the brochure of?

Mr E

You know, I'd heard about the ending to the US LoM, but I'd never seen it. Just watched the last 10 minutes on youtube.

This will be one successful gene hunt? Major Tom? Christ..... :rolleyes:
It was as bad as I imagined it would be.

tony1kenobi

Anyone think Genes' body being found in 2008 and given a proper burial will resolve his limbo issue and let him go for a pint with the rest of them?

tony1kenobi

tony1kenobi wrote: »

Anyone think Genes' body being found in 2008 and given a proper burial will resolve his limbo issue and let him go for a pint with the rest of them?

That's what i thought. Maybe its a choice of his not to.

Arthur Daley

Deleted User wrote: »

oh yeah what Merc was gene looking at the brochure of?

A 190 D!

he seems to be getting all sensible at the end in his old age.

Now if it was a 190 Cosworth, that would've been nice.

Biggins

Good write up on the last episode here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1280359/Ashes-To-Ashes-Im-arresting-murdering-Quattro--Gene-Hunt-makes-bow-finale.html
Warning - if you have NOT seen it yet - contains all spoilers!

Motley Crue

Can I just ask a question,

if Gene was buried in a shallow grave and he was found in 2008 or 2009, who buried him in that grave and why?

And I saw the American Life On Mars and the ending aside, I like the show

The Maverick

Motley Crue wrote: »

Can I just ask a question,

if Gene was buried in a shallow grave and he was found in 2008 or 2009, who buried him in that grave and why?

And I saw the American Life On Mars and the ending aside, I like the show

Gene was shot dead as a young policeman in 1953 when he disturbed a burgular at a rural farmhouse. I persume who ever shot him buried him.

omahaid

I've been trying to figure out why

Genes body was there at all? Shazs body couldn't have been hanging around because she was killed in the 90's, Ray and Chris's body weren't mentioned anywhere, and what about Alex? Is it because it's Genes world?

ixoy

Reckon I prefered this finale to 'Lost''s. More satisfying from both a story and character conclusion.

ardmacha

Having just seen the recording of this, it closed off a lot of themes. The bit about the the trip to Lancashire,

to find Gene's grave

seemed a bit odd and melodramatic to me. Coming across an old newspaper or file to events in the 1950s would have been more realistic (if anything is realistic).

If a policeman went missing in a country village, surely such a shallow grave would have been discovered soon enough. And they all went back in the same car, how did they get there?

While the American series of Life on Mars seems to have taken liberties, the Spanish version La chica de Ayer seems a close copy with different 70s music and I suppose local cultural references. You'd need pretty good Spanish to pick up the subtle references though.

Teasey

Teasey wrote: »

Maybe - My thinking is that that's Gene. I think Gene is dead. He has trouble accepting change and has constructed this world around him because he doesn't want to "move on" - he needs other people around him to keep the world he has made going. So he has built up a loyal team that won't leave him

That's why there's been a theme of trying to make people move away from Gene. It's only by getting away from him that you can either "move on" (which may be what the stars are all about) or else get better.

People are stuck there cos they have unfinished business - And Shaz an Ray have now conquered theirs but have decided to stay there with Gene anyway

Maybe Sam realised all of this and finally moved on - that's why he's gone from that world but no body was found...

Alex sorted her unfinished business in S1, but she's still there - so maybe she has to help Gene undestand all of this and finally accept it



Or maybe I'm thinking about this WAY too much and I'm totally wrong!!!

My god you were fairly on the money in the end

ardmacha wrote:

Having just seen the recording of this, it closed off a lot of themes......

Yeah...

You'd imagine if a cop went missing at any time there would be a huge man hunt out to find him.

ardmacha wrote:

And they all went back in the same car, how did they get there?

Good question.

Alex had her own car and Gene had the Quattro, Jim Keats must have took an express train Who took Alex's car back?

bonerm

Just finished 3x08 now. Great ending. I prob haven't been watching it as eagle-eyed as some of the rest of you but I never saw it coming

that all the principles were real dead coppers (had just presumed they were some sort of figment of someones imagination).

Anyway, my question is, has anyone rewatched the show from the start to finish since the final ep, now that they know the truth? Is it like watching the show with a totally different pov and has there been any vague bits that now make perfect sense upon rewatch?

bonerm

bonerm wrote: »

Just finished 3x08 now. Great ending. I prob haven't been watching it as eagle-eyed as some of the rest of you but I never saw it coming

that all the principles were real dead coppers (had just presumed they were some sort of figment of someones imagination).

Anyway, my question is, has anyone rewatched the show from the start to finish since the final ep, now that they know the truth? Is it like watching the show with a totally different pov and has there been any vague bits that now make perfect sense upon rewatch?

I watched a few episodes alright. picked up on some weird things. chris said "his niece collected blue peter bottle caps". how did he remember?
Shaz mentioned "going to her mums at the weekend". i thought she didnt see her mum

denishurley

And in season two weren't Chris and Shaz talking about their families' seating arrangements for the wedding?

denishurley

denishurley wrote: »

And in season two weren't Chris and Shaz talking about their families' seating arrangements for the wedding?

That's right ep 07 series 2 but then gene butted in and strangely insisted on place at head table come to think of it and said "he was like a father, etc " to chris and shaz

this is hillarious though i think Glenister prbably funnier then guy taking him off

Motley Crue

Deleted User wrote: »

picked up on some weird things. chris said "his niece collected blue peter bottle caps". how did he remember?

I think this was because they remembered their lives but forgot their past and present situations. For them, there was no problem with spending every day on the case, and there was no problem not visiting relatives or taking a sick day.

You remember Life On Mars, when Sam says to Ray that eating out of take away cartons and not going home is his life, well he was right...Ray didn't really do anything...and it never seemed to bother him. Neither did Chris.

They'd forgotten their past and just remembered what made them feel comfortable

grenache

bonerm wrote: »

Just finished 3x08 now. Great ending. I prob haven't been watching it as eagle-eyed as some of the rest of you but I never saw it coming

that all the principles were real dead coppers (had just presumed they were some sort of figment of someones imagination).

Anyway, my question is, has anyone rewatched the show from the start to finish since the final ep, now that they know the truth? Is it like watching the show with a totally different pov and has there been any vague bits that now make perfect sense upon rewatch?

Just finished watching the box set of all three series and i have to take my hat off to the BBC, its one hell of a production. One vague bit that gave us a hint is in series two when Ray is attempting to talk the arsonist fireman out of burning down the house. He (Ray) starts to rant about how he let his dad down and had made a mess of his life in the army, we now know these to be his reasons for committing suicide. Also, he and Alex are up on the roof of the police station in one of series two's episodes. Alex asks him if he's ok and Ray says that often he likes to go up there for air, that sometimes he feels like life is "choking him" - we now know this to be a reference to him hanging himself.

I find it funny that Ray, Chris and Shaz could have forgotten they are in the same situation as Gene and Alex - sure they might have put it to the back of their minds but how could have have totally obliterated it from their memories. If i was dead, and living in purgatory, i think i'd remember it!

On a final note, what i loved about the series is that it was a bit of everything mixed into one. Drama, tragedy, comedy, stupidity, etc. I found the non-PC stuff very refreshing. It reminds us of what women and minorities had to put up with before the era of political correctness/equality. Some of the one liners, from Gene and Ray in particular were hilarious. As for Bollinger Knickers DI Drake, i'd drink champagne with her any day.

Harry Palmr

12 years! :eek:

Anyway [insert Gene Hunt saying here] cos it's coming back for a final short run - set in 70s, 80s and an alternative present (presumably to save on OAP CGI)

https://twitter.com/TremensDr/status/1245806461281808398

Basq

^ Oh nice!

'Life on Mars' was amazing.. and while I enjoyed ‘Ashes to Ashes’, it wasn’t a patch on LoM.

Although Keeley Hawes, Daniel Mays and Philip Glenister’s performances in AtA was bloody top-notch!

pixelburp

Holy heck, this is 12 years old? Had a quick google of Phillip Glenister and he has aged pretty well; he has one of those old faces from relative youth.

branners69

pixelburp wrote: »

Holy heck, this is 12 years old? Had a quick google of Phillip Glenister and he has aged pretty well; he has one of those old faces from relative youth.

I was re-watching a show from 1993 with Jasper Carrot in it called 'The Detectives'. One of the episodes has a very young Phillip Glenister, he must have been in his late 20's!

I love anything Life on Mars, there is a Spotify playlist that has all 103 songs from the show!

Aska

branners69 wrote: »

I was re-watching a show from 1993 with Jasper Carrot in it called 'The Detectives'.

Love that show also

Lady Spangles

I just found this thread after having watched the show (both LOM and ATA) for the first time during lockdown. It's on Netflix and BritBox. Anyway, brilliant series and I loved it and can't think what I was doing ten years ago that meant I missed out the first time around. And, for once, I loved the ending and felt it tied everything up nicely.

Lady Spangles

Lady Spangles wrote: »

I just found this thread after having watched the show (both LOM and ATA) for the first time during lockdown. It's on Netflix and BritBox. Anyway, brilliant series and I loved it and can't think what I was doing ten years ago that meant I missed out the first time around. And, for once, I loved the ending and felt it tied everything up nicely.

same position as you, found it on Netflix recently and it was fantastic...Gene Hunt is now one of my fave characters ever on a tv programme

brian_t

Harry Palmr wrote: »

12 years! :eek:

Anyway [insert Gene Hunt saying here] cos it's coming back for a final short run - set in 70s, 80s and an alternative present (presumably to save on OAP CGI)

https://twitter.com/TremensDr/status/1245806461281808398

The third series will be called Lazarus.

keepwalking

I know this thread is very old now but just in case anyone is interested, Ashes to Ashes is being taken off Netflix on 6 April 2021, in case anyone fancies a re-watch before then!

I've just finished watching it, and Life on Mars before it. I really enjoyed the world of the Gene Genie and Bolly Keks, and reading the theories in this thread as I was going along!

archfi

Just finished both shows via BBC iPlayer - what the hell was I thinking missing them in the 00's (and 2010)!
The ending was brilliant I thought - did not see that coming at all.
Gene Hunt is some character and Glenister pulled it off spectacularly.