Ammendments, Casting, Pics and Milestones

Greetings once again Martians. Today I bring you some goodies, a retraction as well as some site news. First the goodies, no not the 70's comedy show with Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie. If it were to be featured on any of my blogs it would be on LifeOnMars.tv and not here. The goodies I am referring to are the exceptional on-set pics, recently displayed on The Sun's website. The pictures not only offer us the first glimpse of our heroes in their 80's attire, but also advise us of one the first guest or supporting cast members.

In the pictures we can see quite clearly, an additional female police officer. This actress is none other than Montserrat Lombard. For those unfamiliar with Montserrat's work, she has appeared in "The Chatterley Affair", "The Midsommer Murders" and most recently in "Hyperdrive" as Lavya. If you are interested in knowing what other roles she has been in, head on over to IMDB via this link to get the full credits on this new addition to A2A.

The retraction I am talking about, is the start date mentioned in the previous post. That news came via Philip Glenisters Official Website, which may have been the tentative date filming was due to commence. This quite obviously changed as the pictures below were taken and posted on the 28th of July. Hmmm, why didn't I pick that up then? Oh well the important part still remains accurate, and that is that filming is well and truly under way.

Now for the site news, I am going to announce this early because if I don't I'll probably forget about it later. That is AshesToAshes.tv has now been online for 100 days, yay!!! (He say's like Kermit the Frog, waving his arms around). At the time of posting this, the counter is only 18 hours off 100 days so I'm telling you now. That's it for todays posting, I hope you all enjoy the pictures below. 'Til next time Martians peace, and is Montserrat the next Annie? Perhaps shes's the girlfriend Chris the Div is seeing, we can only speculate.


First glimpse of A2A, and it looks like Chris will be
speaking like Michael Jackson in this one!
(Dean Andrews, where is Ray's promised perm?)



Cyberman

A2A starts 2DAY

As reported earlier this week on LifeOnMars.tv, parent site to this one. We were alerted to the fact that Philip Glenister now has his own official website. The site was launched on the 20th of July, and gave fans an answer to a question which had been on the minds of many. That is the date which filming starts for Ashes To Ashes.

Phil's site informs us that filming commences today, the 30th of July. Well at least some which includes our Phil any way. We had been advised prior to this, that it was due to start some time in July. Well it only just made it, with one day to spare. At least we now know that it is well and truly under way. I am curious to know though, whether or not it is being filmed in episodic order. That being the case, within weeks UK citizens may catch a glimpse of a Royal Wedding. Not a real one, but a re-enactment of the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles.

Then again they may just use archival footage. Our site poll seems to be going well, with the majority of voters so far only wanting one thing. You guessed it, the return of everyone's favourite DCI, Gene Hunt. The world obviously enjoys life without political correctness. Who better to give it to them than the patron saint of UN-PC, Gene Hunt. Southern Nancy Scum beware, Gene is coming back to wreck your Ant-music.

One thing I will be curious to see, as I am sure most fans will be as well. That is will there be any "Wedding Singer" type cameos in the series? Billy Idol played himself in that, and we were expected to believe he was 20 years younger. If it does happen, will we have Alex or Gene rubbing shoulders with the likes of Simon Le Bon, Boy George, Howard Jones or even Kate Bush? Not if Gene has any say in the matter.

'Til next time Martians, peace and look out Keeley now you've got the Gene-Genie.



Cyberman

Drum Roll, Statement, Awe . . . . . . . . . .

G'day Martians, today I feel like Santa Claus with some very important news regarding the casting of none other than . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alex Drake! Yes Martians finally the BBC have announced who has attained the much sought after role. The winning actress is Keeley Hawes.

Strangely enough in my previous post, I mentioned that Wikipedia had recently amended their Ashes To Ashes page with Keeleys name. I posted this news on the 15th of June, Wikipedia obviously has some great sources with inside knowledge. Its either that or they are damn good at guessing. Either way who cares, the cat is out of the bag now.


(Keeley Hawes cast as Alex Drake in Ashes To Ashes)

The official BBC announcement went as follows . .

"Spooks star Keeley Hawes has been cast as Philip Glenister's new sidekick in Life on Mars sequel Ashes to Ashes. The Tipping the Velvet actress will play DI Alex Drake, a psychological profiler from the present day who finds herself transported back to 1981.

Due to air in the New Year, the show will see Glenister reprise his role as politically incorrect DCI Gene Hunt. Hawes described her role as "a fantastic character who will be a force to be reckoned with". She said Drake and Hunt "locking horns in the eighties will certainly be a sight to behold, never mind the shoulder pads".

The second series of Life on Mars ended earlier this year with John Simm's character Sam Tyler deciding to remain in the 1970s. Ashes to Ashes, written and created by Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh, will follow Glenister's character into the 1980s.

"Keeley will be fantastic as Alex 'Posh Knickers' Drake," said the shows executive producer Jane Featherstone. "She is sexy, ballsy and very intelligent, just like Alex. She's bound to turn Gene's egocentric life upside down."

Best known for playing MI5 agent Zoe Reynolds in Spooks, Hawes was recently seen in the BBC's modern reworking of Shakespeare's Macbeth and has voiced computer game character Lara Croft. She is married to former Spooks star Matthew Macfadyen, with whom she has two children."

Well it took long enough, thats's all I can say. You also may have noticed to celebrate all of this, I have redesigned the sites logo. I hope you like it, its possibly the first picture to include all 4 main cast members. Don't you just love Photoshop.

If you are a personal fan of the lovely Keeley, you may find this site of use Keeley Hawes.com, its possibly the best news source around for all things Keeley. 'Til next time Martians peace, and may Alex give Gene what he deserves.




Cyberman