Series One - Episode One (PART TWO)

Okay I teased you quite a bit there, you're all waiting for an episode synopsis and here it is. The episode begins with with the familiar Sam Tyler self questioning, with a difference this time. "Am I mad in a coma or back in time?", is not being said by Sam but Molly, Alex Drake's daughter. Molly is reading Sam's "Confidential" reports, much to Alex's displeasure. Molly asks Alex will she write about Sam in her memoirs, and is told that Sam is worthy of a book all to himself.

The banter between the 2 is interrupted by Alex's police radio, which informs them that there is a siege taking place down at the docks. Alex arrives on the scene and tells Molly to stay in the car, so she remains safe. When Alex speaks to the officers in attendance, she is told that the gunman has asked for her by name. This perplexes Alex, she immediately goes over to the gunman and enters hostage-negotiation mode. The gunman appears to know Alex, though she has no idea of who he is.

The gunman lets go of the hostage, which further complicates matters as Molly is now out of the car and running to her mother. The obvious outcome of this would be for the gunman to grab Molly, and he does a predictable scene up until this point. The gunman then makes threats to kill Molly if Alex follows them, we hear a gunshot and of course Alex expects the worst. Running down the steps of the Quay to the shore, Alex is stopped by Molly. She has a sense of relief, which is short lived. The gunman appears to have given them the slip, from the surrounding confusion resulting from the gunfire.

Alex thinks her troubles are over and drops Molly off with her step-father, she then heads back to the car to go to the station. As soon as Alex puts her keys in the ignition, she is distracted by the sound of a gun being loaded in the back seat. A voice is then heard directing Alex to drive (a quite predictable but necessary plot development). They get to their destination and Alex is shot by the gunman (Layton), only to wake up in the same place in 1981. Alex's adventure now begins.

The plot of this first episode, I found to be very reminiscent of Life On Mars's very first episode in several ways but I suppose it needed to be to introduce Alex. Firstly in present day in both episodes, a crime is being committed which is connected directly to a crime happening in the past LOM (2006/1973) and A2A (2008/1981). The central character in both suffer near death experiences, which triggers an apparent time shift backwards to an earlier period of their lives. They (Sam & Alex) both encounter Gene Hunt, Chris Skelton and Ray Carling. Perhaps these are more the series' formula, rather than the actual plot. Either way both episodes had very similar story lines.

The episode not only introduces Alex, but also a new character as well which we had seen in promo pictures the character of course being WPC Sharon Granger. Sharon Granger is I suppose A2A's equivalent character to Annie Cartwright from LOM, but with a difference. Unlike Annie Cartwright, Sharon "Shaz" Granger seems to be a stronger character. This is more than likely due to the fact that Shaz is living in a time, where women were starting to become more equal in the work place. Though Gene's and Ray's archaic attitude to women, still manage to crush her spirit. Shaz also has a much more outgoing personality, and seems to be modelled (in hair at least) on one of the Human League's back up singers. It will be interesting to see how her character evolves over the series. Oh I forgot to mention, Shaz is Chris "the Div"'s girlfriend too.

Any way thats about it for this post, I'm sorry this site has started to fall behind now that Ashes is actually being screened. Over the next week I intend to play catch up, so by the screening of epidode 5 we will actually have full breakdowns of each episode. 'Til next time Martians / Burn Victims, peace. Also if anyone is curious about what font the titles are done in, its actaully the same font that was used for "Close Encounters of The Third Kind".




Cyberman

Less Than A Week To Go, More Video, Confirmations, etc. . . . .

Greetings Martians, the excitement is building as we countdown the remaining days to episode one of Ashes To Ashes. Its taken a long time to get here, since the initial announcement of the show, but the wait is nearly over (well for citizens of the UK, anyway). Over the past 3 weeks, we have all been inundated with with video, pictures and articles.

Now something else to add to the list, downloadable mp3 interviews. "Whats new about that?", a lot of you are probably asking yourselves right now. Well it is and it isn't new, how can it be both? Quite simply, last year a number of audio interviews were posted. The difference though is that they were not mp3's, they were wma's (microsofts propriatry audio format). I'm making a point of this for one simple reason, these files can be locked to a certain country. In this case the UK. Whilst people in foreign countries can still download these protected files, they playback at a painfully slow speed making them virtually un-listenable (if that's a word). Mp3 format though does not support this region protection, thankfully allowing people from all over the world to listen to them. Links to these files are posted below.

Next up, what looks like the launch of an official Facebook page for the show. This may not be the case though, as there are many Facebook sites dedicated to A2A already but lets keep our fingers crossed. A fellow "youtuber" and member of "The Railway Arms", Herr Kamel seems to have scored a bit of a bonus with this new page. With a music video of his own creation being featured on the site, good on you Herr Kamel. If you become a "fan" of A2A through this site, you will automaticlly recieve updates in your own feed. A worth while feature for keeping on top of things.

Besides what I have mentioned above, more video has been circulating this past week though not in the form of a trailer. The Manchester Evening News (thanks to everyones good buddy Ian Wylie) as well as Philip Glenister's Official Site, have both posted identical clips featuring Alex, Gene and WPC Sharon Granger. In this rather short clip, we get to Alex investigating Genes new computer which is more than likely an 8086 or 286. By todays standards a mobile phone from 5 years ago would have a faster operating speed. This in time will more than likely prove to be one of Alex's pet hates, and rightly so. May be Chris (the resident computer genius or Div) will have to teach Alex some patience there.

Ian also fills us in on what happened to Sam Tyler and Genes wife after LOM, it appears the writers haven't overlooked anything. This will be great for fans, as many have pondered these questions since the end of LOM. Well that about wraps up this post for today, if you haven't done so already it may be time to program your PVRs, VCRs or DVD Recorders. After all no one wants to miss the premiere on Thursday February 7th at 9.00pm. 'Til next time Martians peace, and may A2A be everything and more than we all hoped for.

Audio 1, Audio 2, Audio 3, Audio 4, Audio 5, Audio 6.




Cyberman

Sometimes Ranting Pays Off!

Hello everyone, if you read my last post you probably thought to yourself "he over did the Delorean bit". Maybe I did, maybe I'll give you all some more or maybe I won't. The post attracted quite a bit of attention for this site, resulting in the owner of the Delorean featured in the upcoming episode contacting me. Thanks Mike. Mike is a member of the Delorean Owners Club of the UK, which you can find a link to it over on the links tab. The DMC-12 featured in the episode, unlike the famous Cortina in Life On Mars actually uses its real plates. So if you are out and about, and happen to spy the car say hi to Mike for us.

Mike cleared up a few things for us about the car and other cars used in Ashes To Ashes. I can't say too much without getting him in trouble, but what I can tell you is the Delorean is not Genes. Gene will be driving an Audi, as promised previously by the writers. I also had reported to you earlier that Rupert Graves would be appearing in an episode, well this would have to be one of his first pictures from the show.

The picture also features the lovely Keely Hawes not in a fur coat this time time. Watch out Keeley, Pamela Anderson and Pink have their P.E.T.A. posse just around the corner, don't put that jacket back on. I'm sure there is plenty of security on the set though. The picture almost makes Keely and Rupert, look like Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker or is it Han Solo, Rupert? Especially with that hair, and the interior or the car being reminiscent of a spacecraft of sorts. I bet you can't wait to get out of character Keeley.


I can't harp on about the Star Wars simularities any more, or I may find myself working for a womens magazine or UK tabloid "The Sun". Some of the Doctor Who fans, who visit the site regularly will know what I am talking about there. Its amazing how misinformation, congecture and out right rumour end up being news items. But I didn't say that, did I? Once again I would like to formally thank Mike, he tells me there are more pictures on the way.

In addition to Mikes contribution, Fran from Phillip Glenister Index and Dean Andrews Official site. Has also sent in some more pictures for us all to enjoy, from a recent set visit. Thank you as well Fran, and I envy both you and Mike myself being several thousand kilometres from all the action in Australia. The two of you are getting to see history being written or re-written as the case maybe. The picture below is one of Frans', and has the guys posing with their guns. This could quite easily be turned into a recruitment poster for the police, well one from that time period not now. It just wouldn't be PC would it?


'Til next time Martians peace, and I'll have to think of something new to call you all soon. Burn victims? If any of you out there happen to spy some filming for the show happening, your pictures are always welcome. Video is good too, we haven't had any of that yet but its most certainly welcome at the address in the links tab. Peace.



Cyberman

Its been done before, sort of . . . .

Now I bet by that title, you're all thinking he's gone nuts and is stating the obvious. Of course it has, its a spin-off of LifeOnMars so it will share some similarities. That's not what I getting at, not at all. In 1999 British independent filmmaker Wayne Gerard, released a film called "Ashes To Ashes".

Although its a movie and this blog is about the forthcoming TV series, their are shared concepts in both. The movie while not being a police drama, is set in the early 70's (like LOM), A2A (the series) will be set in the 80's. The movie deals with political incorrectness, racism and sexism so does LOM and A2A is expected to do the same (to perhaps a lesser degree being the 80's).

The movie Ashes To Ashes is about a screenwriter, currently writing a play called Ashes To Ashes. In LOM there is a character called Nelson, who is the local Barkeeper at the "Railway Arms". While at this stage it is unknown whether Nelson will appear in A2A (the series), there is also a character in the movie "Ashes To Ashes" called Nelson.

The movie "Ashes To Ashes" won Get Out There Magazines' Best Film Award in 2000, it also received, Best Advert and Best Promotional Film. Get Out There Magazine is believe it or not a Canadian sports Magazine. Ashes To Ashes was submitted to the Raindance Film Festival in 1999, where it was described as "Kung-Fu with an arty London twist in a stylish debut".

The movies' website can be found here, if you are inclined to investigate this at all, a trailer can also be seen at the official site. That's pretty much it, so title, Nelson, political incorrectness, retro time period and also made in the UK. Quite a few similarities really, any way time for me to go. Later Martians!




Cyberman

A2A vs LOM - known differences and similarities

I promised this a few posts ago, and didn't deliver. So here it is a little late, but still providing the needed details. As time progresses and more knowledge comes to hand, I will expand on this and edit it where necessary.

A2A: Set in 2008
LOM: Set in 2006

A2A: Named after Ashes To Ashes by David Bowie
LOM: Named after Life On Mars by David Bowie

A2A: DCI Alex Drake has an accident and wakes up in 1981
LOM: DCI Sam Tyler has an accident and wakes up in 1973

A2A: Alex is a DI in 1981 under DCI Gene Hunt (London)
LOM: Sam is a DI in 1973 under DCI Gene Hunt (Manchester)

A2A: Team - Gene Hunt, Alex Drake, Chris Skelton & Ray Carling
LOM: Team - Gene Hunt, Sam Tyler, Chris Skelton, Ray Carling & Annie Cartwright

A2A: Car - Fluroescent Orange Audi Quattro
LOM: Car - Brown Ford Cortina

A2A: Location - Brixton
LOM: Location - Manchester

A2A: Alex Drake is a single mother in 2008
LOM: Sam Tyler has a girlfriend in 2006 (Mya)

A2A: Chris has a girlfriend and is a Div.
LOM: Chris is single and a Div.

A2A: Features music from The Human League, Adam & the Ants, Roxy Music & others
LOM: Features music from The Sweet, David Bowie, Slade, T-Rex & others

A2A: Crimes solved by utilizing computer systems full of data (3 Kilobytes)
LOM: Crimes solved with the aid of filling cabinets full of paper

Not a great deal there to tell you so far, but this will be bookmarked in the links bar. It will also be frequently updated, so keep checking back. If there is any part of it, that you feel is wrong or you have something to add, please email me at the address listed underneath the Chatbox. 'Til next next time Martians, peace.




Cyberman

Sam Tyler in A2A?

Will Sam Tyler (John Simm), be making an appearance in the continuing adventures of Gene Hunt? That's question on the end of everyone's tongues, at present. The answer according to Matthew Graham (Series Creator) is quite simply, no. Graham stated recently in an interview with the Daily Mirror, that when Sam Tyler jumped off the roof of the station in 2006, he killed himself.

"What I was trying to say is that he's died, and that for however long that last second of life is going to be, it will stretch out for an age, as an eternity for Sam. When he drives off in that car, he's really driving off into the afterlife."

Although this seems pretty much black and white, the ending of Life On Mars was not. As Graham's ending was ambiguous, it left viewers wondering and pondering the question about Sam. This seems to be quite intentional, but John Simm has recently vented his fury over the way the BBC handled the second series, after the first was reportedly delivered on time and under budget.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Simm revealed how lack of funds and time angered the cast. "We were furious. I don't know where they get their wisdom from about how you reward a hit show. It made it not particularly enjoyable because the workload was just unbelievable." He then added, "It put me off doing a huge, high-profile TV show like that. Not forever, obviously. I'll get over it."

This doesn't seem to prove or disprove Sam's involvement in the Ashes To Ashes plot line, however. It is already known that DCI Alex Drake reads Sam's notes from when he awoke from his coma in 2006, in 2008. Perhaps Alex searches for Sam in 1981, this seems plausible as a plot line. Finding Sam Tyler maybe the quest that Alex will have to lead, in order to find her way back to 2008. I like this as a premise, anyway.

Doing this would leave it open for Sam to make an appearance in an episode, at least. In closing all I can say is, lets be hopeful. There are more stories involving Sam Tyler that could be told. Just remember, we know Major Tom's a junkie.



Cyberman