Why You Should Watch: Life On Mars 

I just finished watching 'Life On Mars' the other day. No matter how many times I've seen it, it never gets old.

Life on Mars was must see TV for me - and it has not lost its charm with the passing of time. I also really liked Ashes to Ashes, which was brilliant too - never a dull moment on screen.

Hot take: Life on Mars > Ashes to Ashes

I just finished watching Season 1 of Life on Mars. It's brilliant! I can't believe not a lot of people know about his show outside the UK. I got to know about it from a book about the translation/dubbing of TV and films by an Italian author. He used this show as his case study. I watched the show before I read the rest of the book 😂 It's not very easy to find it here in China. Glad my friends found it for me! I'll start watching Season 2 right away.

It's a god awful small affair...

Life on Mars is easily one of my favourite TV shows of all time. Ashes to Ashes was good too (though not quite as good as LoM, in my opinion).

Just seen every episode of Life On Mars uk version for the first time and its absolutely amazing.

no joke i think they should continue it with a spinoff in the 90s or a pre life on mars series set in the late 60s

I've never seen one bit of it and I'm 62 so I guess I'm in for a real treat. Thanks for posting.

Agree with you. Life on Mars is so good on so many levels . I grew up in the 70s...Saw the show when it came out and currently watching it again.

It's a brilliant show, superior to the American version. Love John Simms, love the constant confusion.

Gosh I loved this show and then came Ashes to Ashes and whatever opinion on the comparative quality of the two my Dad was seriously sick at the time. I had the daily drudgery of endless hospital visits and the worry and the stress and every night I would calm myself with a glass of wine and Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. Happy days during very bad times.

I've just found this video, and what a great video it is. I'm a huge fan of Life on Mars it's my favourite BBC drama ever. Really well written and a great story, whenever I hear David Bowie's Life on Mars I always think about the programme lol. I would love to hire the ford Cortina Gene drove in the series which now lives in Lincolnshire. I also dressed up as the legend that is Gene Hunt at a 70s fancy dress party a couple of years ago. 😁👍

I am in LOVE with this version of 'Life on Mars'. In general, I'm a fan of time travel shows, but when I happened upon it a few years ago on American PBS, I was absolutely captured.

I love this show too although I'll admit I too prefer Ashes to Ashes slightly. It especially holds a special place in my heart for introducing me to my favourite musician David Bowie. Heard Life on Mars and never looked back

Nice review, and agree with most of your comments, but how can you make a video about Life on Mars without mentioning Annie Cartwright, or Chris and Ray for that matter, or Nelson, or the test-card girl? I finished watching it just two days ago, absolutely loved it, and can't get it out of my head.

Binged it over a year ago. One of the best and most underrated shows I’ve ever watched.

loved this show, and the sequel "Ashes to Ashes"!!

One of my favourite shows of all time. Everything about it is amazing!

Totally agree one of the great tv shows. Superb conclusion that’s actually enhanced by the ending of the sequel show too.

I freaking love shows like Twin Peaks, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, True Detective and Mind Hunter...cheers for this video, not only was it brilliant, it makes me remember the classics 🏆

I loved it! I was 6 in 1973 and a teenager when Ashes to Ashes was set. I still enjoy The Sweeney, despite having watched every episode several times. Excellently written with a superb cast.

Oh, and I reminds me of the animation Inside Out. I don't know why, but I feel like Gene Hunt, Annie Cartwright, Ray Carling, and Chris Skelton are those different emotions inside of Sam's head.

I loved Life On Mars but Ashes to Ashes lost me from the second season on. It's still a good show, but I think maybe it gets too dark. Then there's the ending. Not sure how I feel about it. Anyway, Life On Mars; great music, clothes, hair, cars, it's great fun, but there's also heaps of drama. It makes me nostalgic for the 70s even though I wasn't born until 1986. Also, i makes me really want to get hold of a MKIII Cortina.

Life on Mars and Ashes toAshes are both amazing! I love all the weird surreal parts of both of them, especially test card girl and the clown. Gene Hunt had really good chemistry with both Sam and Alex too. I will admit I had a much easier time warming up to Sam “Mars” than Alex in “Ashes”. I keep debating on whether they should ever bring the characters back in any way🤔 Maybe as a one off Red Nose Day special?

I love Life On Mars so much! I was about 10 when it came out and I loved it then. I've actually revisited the show recently and fell in love with it twice! And I'm so glad I found this video because most people in New Zealand, where I currently live, have never even heard of the show! So good to know that the fandom is still alive!

I totally agree. My sister found some old DVDs of it for sale (vendor at a car show), knew I liked John Simm and had wanted to watch this series, and bought it for me. Best ending ever (though I needed to use closed captioning to understand the accent sometimes. Okay, most of the time. Doesn't matter, it's a great Tv Show!).

I recently binged this and Ashes to Ashes again. It was fabulous.

I was talking to someone about Blakes 7 and they told me about Life on Mars. Thanks for reminding me Wingy

I was shocked when you mentioned Ashes to Ashes as your favourite, because I thought I was the only one! Love Life on Mars though and I also 100% agree that the Peter Davison's Dr Who intro is the fucking best! First saw it when I was five and I was hooked

YEAH a modern classic series Wingy

Both series are on britbox, what an absolute joy, binge watched the whole 5 series 😁

I love your videos wingy. What is your view on Red Dwarf?

Both series are brilliant, just took over 2 weeks to watch Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. Missed them originally due to work, want to re watch due to hints and line ups for final episode. 👍

Truly excellent show, will have to watch it again soon!

I think I’m with you there with slightly preferring Ashes to Ashes. Although they both are fantastic

Nice review. I bought it second hand before having watched it at all with other DVDs. Not sure which one to watch first. Shall have a look at yer other reviews

Great job, Wingy! This is an incredible show and well deserving of any/all the praise it gets. It's a shame folks here in the States haven't seen it -- thankfully more people than the shit US version, though. It's tough to get it here. Keep it up. Now, I'm going to go dance to "Jean Genie."

this really is one of my fav tv shows of all time.

They should have made a 3rd season. In fact I would like to see a couple of Life On Mars movies.

I remember when Life on Mars arrived grew in U.S. and though i liked the idea, it just didn't seem to have the chemistry. That was in 2008. Then in 2021, enter subscription to Britbox an I search everything within John Simm and I found this little jewel. OMFG!! I have already binged the entire series twice. All I can say is thank you for making British shows available. I started Ashes to Ashes but got sidetracked by Mad Dogs. And Devil's Mistress. And The Village. Maybe I'll get on it sometime this month. And I agree that LOM could be the best show ever, but in the running with The Mentalist.

My favourite TV show ever. I just love it. I wish they had done a 3rd series.

Everything about this series is great & i love gene hunt & some of the lines he has are brillant and annie cartright played by liz white is so damn cute.

This is weird, I just started watching this show. I love the music in it.

i just finished watching this for the first time last month, never watched it at the time when it was on the box, fantastic show, just started watching ashes to ashes, just as good in my opinion

It’s coming back!!!

"Oooeew... He's got a verruca." 🤣 This whole scene was priceless. Swear someone's wearing armbands 🤣

I love life on mars just started season 2

Love the series. Been watching mad dogs which stars Phillip Glennister and John Simm. Great actors.

John Simms doctor who reference ...

Harry Hill prevented me from taking this show seriously because I'm always thinking of a giant cooked chicken walking about.

Apparently, the format was dreamt up by the three main writers on a boys weekend in Blackpool, where they discussed what was their favourite cop show, this emerging as "The Sweeney". Then the idea came of the out of place 21st detective in 1973! Marvellous series at the height of the mini Sci fi TV boon bought about by the "Doctor Who" revival!

Probably the reason I first listened to Bowie as a kid, so got to be grateful for that. But yeah Ashes to Ashes is a better show.

Have you seen the Lakes series 1 and 2 with John Simms ?

Agree the football episode is brilliant. Also the episode from series 2 with "Dicky Fingers". Also a great supporting cast, Dean Andrews and Marshall Lancaster. I was saw the series "Life on Mars" and "Ashes to Ashes" as one series anyway. Ashes to Ashes was weak in Series One, but Series Three doesn't miss a beat, and the final two episodes are just beyond brilliant and make sense and tie up with "Life on Mars" as well.

If anything happens to this motor, I’ll come round yer house and stamp on all yer toys.

Couldn’t agree more with everything u have said in this video about this show

Great series great characters.

Life On Mars Is absolutely Fucking-Mint Boys and Germs...

Just found your channel and it is awesome. Dropped a sub and recommended it to everyone.

I love life on mars and ashes to ashes it's awsome.

John Simm confirmed Life On Mars S3 -Lazarus-is in the works...how cool is that?

I heard the other day that onother series of Life on Mars in confirmed🤯😎👍

Life on Mars is such good show there version all around world like :Usa ,Spain Russia , Czech republic and South Korea . Ashes and ashes were good too I don't why that show didn't get same popularity as life on Mars.

To this day I still think that Sam Tyler was both lying in a hospital bed in 2005 *and* he was somehow actually back in 1973. Remember the nightclub owner who Sam put in prison during 1973 and tried killing him while he was in a coma in 2005 by messing with his drug feed? That is a heavy hint that Sam was actually back in 1973.

The ending of the US version was wosrt than the UK, but I like better the American version, it is really good!

What are your thoughts on ashes to ashes?

I honestly think Ashes to Ashes had a better ending than Life On Mars, I was completely blown away 🤯

The American version got prematurely cancelled so they had to wrap it up like that, from what I remember...

wait the sequel is called ashes to ashes? is this actually just one massive bowie reference?

love this show sm

LOM is one of my all-time favorite shows. I wonder if I would have liked the American version, if I hadn’t seen the original first... One of the bigger problems in adapting to US, is that 60/40 minutes of content needs to be crammed into 42/23. The characters end up talking and moving too quickly because of commercials.

In answer to the confusion over where to watch this, people in the UK and/or with a VPN can stream all of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes on BBC iPlayer for free.

Wholesome

maybe of interest to you: there is a korean re-make !

Best show ever

I wonder if Sam ever looked up about his companions being back to his own time. I would have done so.

Please do why you should watch Hustle

What do you think about this new series of life on Mars/ashes to ashes that they’ve announced they’re making.

Wingy, will you vlog comic con?

After watching life on mars ive got the perfect idea. Philip Glenister playing Neil Warnock in a biopic...

Please do an Ashes To Ashes video please

Camberwick Green that is all

great show. I liked Ashes to Ashes too, but its nowhere near as good. Still thats pure opinion. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Agree great series...The Sweeny meets Blakes 7.

Have you seen Luther ?

Still waiting for that ashes to ashes vid 😬

Love. It. Watch. It. Again. The. Other. Day. Gene. Hunt. Is. So. Funny. Love. His. Comments. So. Rude.

Can you do Ashes to Ashes

What do you think of the Chris Chibnall episode?

Love ashes to ashes & life on Mars UK Brit box

Memorable lines - Uuuuuurrrrggh!! GET OFF HIM!!! HE'S GOTTA VERUCA!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Give up! You're surrounded by armed bastard's!!🤣 Anything 'appens to this motor, I'll come round your house & stamp on all yer toys, GOT IT!! GOOD KIDS!!🤣🤣

Lucky they did it in the 70s while they still could. It would be waaay to expensive to do now.

People saying it's a shame about that s ending cause the rest was good apprently

Gene is the highlight.

One thing to say: trust the Gene Genie!

I have the box sets! Love it!! Happy days back then, the only snowflakes fell in winter, no one knew what woke culture was and the music was great and I knew it!. Would love to see the Gene Geanie remove the oil protesters out off the road.. probably take all of a minute before going to the pub!

If you look past the ridiculous ending the American remake of life on mars is actually quite good

Back with the yogurt-stained hoodie again 😆

I loved both L. O. M and Ashes but that ending that explained all was a real let down. They would have been better off not explaining it and keeping us guessing.