AshesToAshes.TV is a fan-blog dedicated to all things, Ashes To Ashes. The site covers the original BBC series Ashes To Ashes, spin-off of the cult series Life On Mars. It also covers general news about casting, merchandise, fanclubs, websites and other related news.
Greetings all, strange title for post but with good reason. This is the fortieth post on the site, and at the same time the site is approaching its 40,000th visitor. By the time you read this, it may very well have passed that. Well that's my trumpet blowing for the day, you want the the news though and here it is.
Over the past 7 weeks, we have all been treated to Ashes To Ashes series one. The show has unfortunately had its critics, some even piping up after or even before the first episode aired. Not really giving it chance, were they? The Deano agrees, and has written so over at his official site. Next to all the knockers (and I'm not talking about breasts here), the show has also had many positive reviews as well. A large amount of these coming from the famous Ian Wylie, over at the Manchester Evening News. Good on you Ian.
With that said this Thursday the 27th of March, Ashes sees the final episode of series one airing. What a ride its been and the show is finally starting to exhibit some increased tension, between our two main characters. I guess the writers probably did that deliberately, and at a guess will probably leave it to develop further in series two. While we are on the topic of series two, no official announcement has been made yet by the BBC in respect to a second series being picked up. Phil and Keeley have apparently confirmed a second series recently on the Jonathan Ross Show, but did not let on any more than that. I guess we will all find out soon enough though.
On the merchandise front, DJTees have released their second Gene Tshirt at the highly affordable price of £17.99. To sweeten the deal, they also offer free delivery worldwide. Will you be getting one? I know I will. In addition to this, I previously spoke about the fourth coming dvd set. The cover artwork has now been released for it, and in no real surprise at all mirrors the soundtrack artwork as expected. The artwork you can find below.
(Ashes To Ashes Series 1 DVD Artwork)
Well that is about it for this update, the episode breakdowns will return shortly. Sorry for the delay. 'Til next time Martians peace, and will Alex save her parents? I don't think so, changing the past effects the present and could very well hurt Alex in the process. Well just have to wait and see, not long now.....
Greetings Martians, Burn Victims, etc . . . its been just under a month since I spoke to you last, about this up-coming series. There has been huge gaps and broken promises of posts, downloadables and other things from both this site and its parent site LifeOnMars.tv, over the last month. All I can say is sorry, these things will be sorted out soon. Apologies aside, I actually have something to say about Ashes To Ashes, its nearly here.
Yes finally after months of speculation over when the show was actually going to start, the BBC offers us a partial answer. Hooray! The BBC have finally listed the show as starting in Week 6 of there schedule. For those not in the know, what this means is the week commencing February 2. It does however not elaborate on this any further, as it is appearing as an "Unplaced Show".
Over the past few months only drips and drabs of information, besides the initial series announcement have manged to come our way. We have been tormented and teased by "I know something that you don't know journalism", which really doesn't tell you anything other than the person reporting it is a so and so. You know I didn't that Mr Wylie, love your work! I have actually been guilty of this myself. Why you ask? Quite simply the release of pictures, videos and information has been conditional on us not releasing certain sources or revealing specific information. In a way this has been good, as it has made the information we have shown you relatively spoiler free.
Other than this news, a couple of tidbits have come to light. For instance, the fact that Keeley's husband will be appearing the series. Hmmm, perhaps this was for trust reasons so he could keep tabs on the Mrs. Who knows. One thing is for certain, and that is that we will all find out soon enough. Getting back to the release date, Amazon has already posted the release date for the series 1 boxset. Yes you heard me correctly, we now know when we can buy it before we know when we can actually see it. Strange to say the least. The release date is tentatively marked for the 12th of May 2008, and the set has a price tag of £29.99 if you pre-order. The normal price will be £39.99, so a substantial saving there if you pre-order. I know I will.
With only just over a week to go until "Week 6", trailers for the series should start to appear relatively soon. As usual I will attempt to post trailers if they appear on youtube, but as we all know the BBC are quite diligent in there quest to remove unauthorised material from the web. So when these appear, they may not work on here for very long. I could have another bitch about this, but I've done it before so I'll give it a rest this time.
Over the past couple of months, since its beginning Dean Andrews Official blog has provided us with lots of juicy bits to tantalise our senses. Well the Deano comes through again, recently posting pictures of the Christmas Dinner and a couple of others including candid pics of Dean and the rest of the cast and the BAFTAS. You can find those pics here. As per usual Ms Hawes looks delicious, hey I'm male give me break.
I certainly didn't expect this, but while I have been writing this post a trailer has already appeared on youtube. Here it is, enjoy!
(Ashes To Ashes - Trailer 1)
Just before I go, you may also wish to check out this entertaining and highly fictitious interview with Ashley Pharoah, Matthew Graham and Gene Hunt. Yes Gene Hunt and not Philip Glenister, this was posted on the 7th of January at the MediaGuardian.co.uk website. Its well worth a read and will keep you entertained as well offering, well its fictitious what else can I say. The interview was conducted in the Luigi's restaurant that I have previously shown you pictures of. By the looks of it Luigi's, maybe the equivalent to The Railway Arms in LOM (ie: the local hang out).
'Til next time Martians (which will be sooner, rather than later this time), peace and may the next imaginary person you run into be Gene Hunt. Just like Keeley.
Greetings Martians, it is with great pleasure I can inform you that filming is now completed on Series 1 of Ashes To Ashes. Dean Andrews reports on his official blog that filming is now complete, and what a relief it must be for the cast. Just in time for Christmas.
Dean reports to have seen episodes 1 to 6, and is very pleased about how things have turned out. He states the show meets the high standards set by LOM and praises the writing team, the cast and everyone involved. He also discusses a recent photo shoot for FHM, with Phil and Marshall. Speaking of Phil, his official site reports that no more updates will be done until early next year. Phil has a special Christmas message for all there as well.
The BBC have now put out a press release, featuring Phil and Keeley leaning against the Audi. For some reason the Audi appears more red than orange, as it appeared in previous pictures I have posted for you here. Probably just the lighting. The same photo is also featured in BBC1 winter spring schedule, only in a much larger size.
In site news AshesToAshes.tv has nearly reached 10,000 visitors, which it looks at achieving by Christmas. I thought this to be worth mentioning, seeing as Ashes hasn't even aired yet. Some blog writers get all the luck, and Ian Wylie of the Manchester Evening News is one of them. Recently Ian received a promo dvd for A2A, and posted a photo of it to rub it in. Almost as if to say I've seen it and you haven't, well it would make a good cartoon anyway. Perhaps I'll do one.
'Til next time Martians peace, and if I don't post again before the 25th Merry Christmas all.
Okay back again with part 2 of the long awaited set pictures. Before you check them out, some quick news about Ashes To Ashes. According to Dean Andrew's official site, filming of episodes one to six are all complete now. Dean has been given the scripts for the final 2 episodes separately, for some reason. He goes on to mention that its the writers teasing them about it. Hmmm, writers teasing. If this were being produced in the US at the moment, I doubt he would have described it that way.
Its also quite possible that the series may not of been able to be completed either, poor Americans. I guess they will just have to suffer with repeats and reality rubbish, until their strike is over. After all reality TV was apparently born as a result of a previous writers strike there (so my brother tells me anyway). On the other hand if they networks are greedy enough, they may start waving dollars in front of foreign writers to complete work on shows. With that only time will tell, but that's irrelevant to A2A we'll move on.
Dean has also now joined fellow cast mate Philip Glenister in the online community recently by launching his own blog, where he actually chats to the fans. Good on ya Dean! The blog if you want to check it out for yourselves, is an off-shoot from his official site which is put together by none other than Fran Davies of Philip Glenister Index fame. Busy busy lady Fran is, both sites are awesome and well worth your investigation if you haven't been to either of them. If you want to check them out, look no further than the links tab on the sidebar.
Back to Phil now. Phil was recently interviewed by "The Guardian" about the soon to be shown "Cranford Chronicles", where he also lets slip a few bits about A2A. For the last couple of months, the writers had been letting us know that Keeley Hawes' character Alex Drake would be referred to as "Posh Knickers". Phil dispels these rumours by letting us know she's called "Bolly". Bolly want a cracker? This blogger will give you one. Tsk, tsk, keep it clean Mr Cyberman. Phil also mentions "The Clash", though whether they will be featured in the soundtrack is probably still up in the air. You can vote for them in site poll here if you like, which Duran Duran seem to be leading at this stage. The poll will be finishing soon, so if you haven't voted yet hurry up!
Now the pictures. The following are more pictures courtesy of the wonderful Mike, from the Delorean Owners Club of the UK. Below we can see a street blocked off, what looks like Gene with car trouble, the local restaurant still being assembled, some cast chairs (yes they do sit down). Finally what I like to call the Vandalorean. Your car won't be hard to find now Mike with all those autographs on it, of course I'm speaking crap again.
Well I hope you all enjoyed those, more soon hopefully. More video would be nice too, we'll just have to wait and see. 'Til next time Burn Victims peace, and remember pastel jumpers and rats are cool. Yeah right.
That's right "Martians" / "Burn Victims" / "What ever you want to call yourselves", I haven't forgotten them. Several posts ago I mentioned to you all that I had more pictures, for you. Many of you were probably thinking, "This Cyberman character, he's full of it! Says one thing, does something else." Well the wait is over, and as you can see by the part 1 on the end of the title more are to come. This will be sooner, rather than later too so keep checking back.
This first lot that I'm putting up for you now, were pointed out to me by Kevin from Rorky Corky. Thanks a lot Kevin and sorry for the delay. Below you will find 5 pictures of the new Brixton police station, in all its glory. On top of this we have Marshall and Dean, in what looks like a typical run through. Marshall is biting his tongue in one picture, perhaps to take his mind off the pain caused by those extremely tight jeans. Marshall, Marshall, Marshall what will we do? Speaking of the "Div", the man now seems to be the only main cast member without an official site. Its a problem easily solved though, all he has to do is ask someone. Sorry Marshall just pointing out the obvious.
(Pictures courtesy of Kevin)
Well I hope you have all enjoyed today's ramblings, I am writing this rather late at night where I am and I am now off to bed. I will post you some more pictures, when I arise. 'Til next time peoples, peace and may the set pictures flow.
Back again Martians, as I mentioned in the previous post there is currently an A2A promo for Children In Need airing on BBC3. The promo involves Gene Hunt giving a driving lesson to some young girl. For those of you who haven't seen the advertisement, I have included some stills below for you to enjoy. Not a great deal happens in the ad, other Gene scaring the the crap out of the girl with his driving.
In addition to Gene, Ray and Chris are also featured as back-seat drivers. Ray gives his 10p worth on Genes driving, stating that he is always like that. Chris hardly says anything in it. One of the most entertaining parts of it would have to be the name of the driving school, "What The L - Driving School". Rather aptly named, indeed. Here they are, enjoy.
(What The L - Driving School)
More pictures soon. 'Til next time Martians peace, and what the L will you be watching on the 16th of November?
Greetings Martians, over the last month we have had quite a few developments on the A2A front. Everyone's favourite journalist hero Ian Wylie making a set visit, and interviewing the gang (no not the Famous Five, sorry Enid) as well as Matthew Graham. More casting confirmations and various new pictures circulating on the web. On top of all of this, an apparent A2A special for Children In Need. The Children In Need Special, is only speculation at this stage but why not hey? They do it for Doctor Who, why not A2A. Lets keep our fingers crossed on that one, apparently a trailer has been airing on BBC3 for CIN featuring Gene giving someone a driving lesson. Chris and Ray are also featured in the trailer in the back seat.
Children In Need and Ashes To Ashes? What now children need Gene to stomp on their toys? Well if they're fans they might, any way back to the pictures. Below you find a couple of happy and not so happy pictures, snapped at a location shoot. One of them sees Gene back in form, about to belt the crap out of a suspect. Perhaps Alex will set him straight on this behaviour, Sam's attempts appear to have failed.
(Gene Hunt - the lawman, beating up the wrong guy . . .)
Oh, can I get away with saying that? This is Ashes To Ashes and not Life On Mars after all. Next up we have Keeley looking extremely cute with Dean and a weird expression which can only be described as goofball. Next to this, Keeley tries to out-do Dean with an interesting head scarf. This was apparently to protect the precious perm from the rain. I know how it is Keeley, I had one in the 80's too.
(Keeley - looking cute & weird, Dean - no description necessary)
Finally, we have 2 pictures of Phil and Keeley. The first looks like Phil is bluetoothing Keeley something interesting, perhaps the picture of Dean from above. Whatever the case, Keeley looks amused by it. The second of these candid pictures features Phil looking less than impressed, by the photograph. You can kind guess what he's thinking, "bleeding photographers, can't I get get 5 seconds to myself!". Or something similar, its pretty obvious he's not happy about it.
(Bluetooth Fun & Piss Off Paparazzi)
Now back to Ian Wylie. Ian has recently posted an article on his blog from the set visit he made, where he interviews Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah. The article mentions the producers are already talking multiple series for show. This is a good sign, they also mention Sam Tyler fate. So for some up to date goss on whats going on, head on over to The Life Of Wylie. Ian will set you all straight, he also offers an audio statement from Mr Graham himself. I tried to listen to it myself, but it sounded like a kidnappers statement of demands. Maybe this is just what I get for being in Australia, but the clip sounds stretched from my end and rather garbled. Hopefully, you can hear it with more success than myself. If not, perhaps mention it to Ian in the comments. I am sure it is easily fixed. 'Til next time Martians peace, and may the news be a little more forth coming.
Greetings Martians, today I received 2 wonderful set pictures from the lovely Fran over at Philip Glenister Index. So I thought I'd share them with you. Below you can see Phil and Dean lounging in their deckchairs. The second one looks a little less planned. Thanks Fran. If you haven't checked out PGI its well worth your effort. The girls over there have a great site dedicated to all things Philip Glenister.
Other than these pics, I need to report that Ashes To Ashes.TV as well as Life On Mars.TV are now listed on Philip Glenisters official site. The poll is still going and I'm going to wind it up soon, so if you haven't voted nows the time. Also if you have poll ideas, as always use the comments section. 'Til next time Martians peace, and your photos are always welcome.
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?)
Is there is something you feel I have missed? Or if you would like something added to the site, please email me atlifeonmarstv@hotmail.comAll submissions will be accredited, but I am currently not interested in taking on additional contributors at this stage. So please don't ask.
