This is the opening and closing scene with the song Life on Mars? By David Bowie. It's from the UK show Life on Mars. This is not the opening and closing scene of the whole show, just when the song is used.
I love how you can hear 'Life On Mars' through the iPod speaker before Sam is hit by the car but it's tinny and distant - he wakes up in 1973 and suddenly there it is, a wall of vibrant noise, the song up to full volume
Scary that he went back 33 years, and we are over halfway that into the future from 2006. This series really was iconic, I couldnt wait for the next weeks episode, I was really gripped. No chance to binge watch the series back then!
@@OscarOSullivan Put it this way, there's going to be a lot of odd looking pensioners after the current craze of plastic surgery, lip filler and botox. At least you can change your clothes...
Every few years I watch this and Ashes to Ashes back to back for my Gene Hunt fix. Probably the best cast character in TV history. "Oi, pal! A word in yer shell, like!"
Honestly, I thought the ending was the worst part of the series. I enjoyed the series, and took some time before I could make up my mind over whether it was a dream/coma or if he had really gone back in time. Eventually I realised it had to be a "dream", so the ending made no sense to me. Firstly, the chance that jumping off that building would put him in a coma rather than just killing him outright was slim at best. Secondly, the chance that his coma dream would even be remotely related to what was going on before, let alone pick up exactly where he left off was too ridiculous to believe. The second series, where a different person "goes back" to the same group of people later in time was just laughable.
@@christopherdean1326 Its not a dream though, he has time traveled into at least a purgatory version of the 1970s if not actual history, due to being in a coma on the verge of death. When he jumps from the building he is once again on the verge of death until he reaches the ground, where he actually dies, the few seconds he is falling give him years in that past. They explain this in the sequel, Ashes to Ashes.
@@lesigh1749 Sorry, but that "explanation" sounds like even more BS. You say it is not a dream, but if he's only going there in his mind, not physically, then it is by any reasonable definition, a dream...
@@christopherdean1326 Its the explanation given in the show and its sequel. Its canon to the show. The 1970s time period he goes to and the 1980s one the character in the sequel go to are a kind of purgatory that looks like their own past from childhood. Gene Hunt and other characters are present in both. Its just where they go to when they are at the point of dying. Its not simply a dream.
Lazarus (the newest show in the Life on Mars universe) has recently been mothballed because it couldn’t get funding (they had a script, all the cast from both Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes were up for it, but nothing really came of it)
@@Phoebus_Apollothis show was still quite heavy in its agendas and propaganda in the background but it was an incredible show, now the agenda is front and centre and it ruins it all
I remember sitting in a Bar In Bath Somerset when two blokes (writers) came up with this crazy idea for a show. No one thought anything of it then, and one day a lot longer in the future it came out on TV. That was a long time ago and how time has flown!
I just watched this show for the first time I just finished it 10 mins ago and damn I was so hurt by the ending. He was so wanted to go back to 2006 but once he did he felt out of place, felt like he did not belong and wanted to go back to 1973 😭. But at least he saved everyone. There's been talk about this coming back and I hope to God it does coz it was BLOODY WICKED
Have you seen ashes to ashes? It's a direct sequel but with a new main character. Sam isn't in it but the rest of the cast is and the end tells yiu what happens to sam
Great, great series, so clever, shouldnt have worked but did, simm and glenister fantastic, i will never forget end of series ,2, jumping of the roof, stunning, what a finale , total class, loved this show , fabulous , never been anything like it before or since
Absolutely amazing show. Also, though not included here, I love how they got the office sounds of the song to fit in with him going into the police station.
Love this!!! Please, if you can find it, I would love to see the clip when Sam and Gene talk about the rules a police officer must follow. It goes something like - GENE “Alright then smart-arse, what does a police officer have to do?” SAM “Protect the innocent. Serve the public trust. Uphold the law.” GENE “Where did you learn that? Back in Hyde?” SAM “No. Robocop.” I’ve been looking for it for ages. Makes me laugh every time!
2039 is still some time away - that's the year when 2006 will be 33 years in the past. I'm not sure what's scarier - that 2039 will be around in no time at all or that Manchester in 2006 looks much more like Manchester in 1973 than it does in 2024.
@@randomedits8337 and they carried it on with ashes to ashes with a policewoman who went back in time to the 80's to gene hunt... you kinda get to find out what its all about and who gene hunt is at the end of ashes to ashes..
only just watched ashes to ashes, im not sure if i had just missed it or forgot to watch it but what a great show, makes we want to rewatch life on mars now
I've been in a coma. It was terrifying. And yes, I did go back in time, to the 1960s and 1970s. Those bits were actually not too bad and it was weird playing in the back garden again as a kid. It got pretty horrible later on. Really abstract stuff like the universe imploding, being in purgatory, seeing friends and family die, including my kids. Three years on and I still get flashbacks. Really don't recommend it. Word of advice - if you start getting really bad headaches and lose your vision, ignore your GP. You don't just have a migraine. You've got a blood clot and if it's not dealt with you're going to die.
Oh, it took me about 8 months to work up the courage to watch this again. It's really realistic. The stuff Sam sees, the interactions he has, the people he conjours up. Whoever wrote it has been in a coma or they at least worked with someone who had.
the first known story, the epic of gilgamesh literally began with "In those ancient times" Everyone's always nostalgic for the past. Hell for me and my generation, we're getting nostalgic about pop culture and life of the late 2010's, anything before covid realy. Edit, hell, people younger than me are talking about getting nostalgic for covid, less than 5 years ago
Apart from the lack of gay rights etc. It just seemed like it was a more fulfilling life back then somehow with a stronger sense of community, plus the music, fashion, cars etc were more interesting! And no Internet or social media which although being a blessing at times is also one of the worst things created for a number of reasons.
Every couple of years go all the way through from this episode to the last of Ashes to Ashes, and it always, somehow, has something new for me... maybe just something that I had not noticed on screen before, or makes me have some realisiation of my life that I had never considered. I had always wished that it was Gene in the Cavaliar...
I liked this series, the characters as well as the stories were very interesting, and the actors were great.It's just the weird ending that disturbed me, dying to return to the past, I found that kind of dark. I would have opted for a more traditional time travel ending, something more positive. I wonder if, one day, someone will think of continuing the story.
Have you seen Ashes to Ashes? It's a sequel with all the same characters (except Sam) and the last episode adds a more positive spin (although still very dark). They did want to continue it with a third series called Lazarus but unfortunately that just got cancelled
@@randomedits8337 No, I didn't know about Ashes To Ashes. I was in living in China when I saw Life On Mars, they had a lot of (underground) dvds but not that one, so I was out of touch with everything shown in the UK. I haven't been back long.
WOW THIS IS HUGE! I USED TO WATCH THIS GREAT REAL COLD ATMOS FILMING, I WAS A SENIOR LIGHTING CAMERAMAN AND LIGHTING DIRECTOR LWT, CENTRAL AND THEN CARLTON TV ALL THE TOP STUFF 35 YEARS, IMDb
73-08 is 35 years. But, 88-23 is also 35 years, so, would it be the same impact to go to 1988 now, or would it be more culture shock to go from ‘08 to ‘73? Like, they’re both 35 years apart, but, would it be more easy to adapt to going back to 1988 now, than it would be to go from 2008, to 1973? Even tho they’re both a 35 year difference? Am I making sense?
I understand what you mean! That's a great question and I hope more people answer their opinions. I think it depends on how much has evolved over the years. How much technology has changed, the law has changed, etc. For Sam it was hard because the police haven't adapted most of their techniques and procedures yet. I think the further you go back the harder it is because we have evolved so quickly over time and the 70s much more different then the late 80s. It would be hard either way though because if we jumped back we've have to live in a world with no computers or wifi. No social media, etc.
Having lived through the 70s and 80s, I think it'd be just as hard for someone from today to adjust to 88 as it would be to adjust to 73. And yes, you made perfect sense.
This is a fabulous question, personally I think it would be easier for somebody to adapt from 23 to 88 simply because a lot of technological advances were beginning to come into play in the late 80s, which is a sad way to put it because people rely so much on tech now I think that would be the hardest adaptation for most people. However being born in 93 I’d do anything to go back to a time before the technology we have now, I’d love to have the chance to experience the 70s, 80s and even 90s as a conscious teenager / adult. Although I’m glad I’m only 30 I always feel like I’m a soul trapped in an era I don’t belong in.
The drums the drums the never ending drums the drums the drums THE DRUMS THE DRUMS THE DRUMS CANT YOU HEAR THEM DOCTOR THE DRUMS CANT YOU HERE THEM ?!!!?????!!!!!!!!!
This show was made 20 years ago. The show is set 30 years before it was set. Somehow he seems so much further in the past in the 70s than in the 2000s from now.
That opening scene ignores an important historical detail: David Bowie's early music wasn't popular until he got the proper publicity from the release of the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars. His record company screwed up over so much that he was only selling a few hundred copies per album if he was lucky, and if I recall correctly, life on Mars only sold about 51.
"Life on Mars?" is a song by David Bowie. Originally released on his 1971 album Hunky Dory, it became a top 10 hit in the UK when it was released as a single in 1973. Somehow I suspect that it must have sold more than 51 copies to achieve that, certainly was played on the airwaves a lot and at 12 yes of age, I bought a copy from County Records in Bangor North Wales
I thought the last scene was when there was a gun shot out under a tunnel and he was walking away then gene was shouting at him to tell him to come back, thats where he could of chosen to stay or go back to the present day
Good TV programme but I wasn't sure about the ending to be honest. When he was in the past it was mostly a traumatic experience for him and they were hints that the characters around him knew. Like when he walks into the office in the first episode and gene pushes him up against the wall and tells him the year. I thought he was going to go back and he'd be reunited with Maya. Morgan told him his life there was a lie as well when he walked him around the cemetery.
Couldn't believe it at the end when he jumped, i Couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks after. Just shows how much we invest when the programme and actors are exceptional. Didnt find the follow up as good.
I've watched this twice and cant wait to watch it again, who does that with a TV show? It is that good. Bit disappointed with the DVD box set as some of the music is changed. Blew me away when I Heard the Strawbs Lay Down in the 2nd season. The track is different now!
