It's the freakiest show
(Before I get started: it has only just occured to me today that "Back in the nick of time" is actually very clever. Oh, slogans with multiple puns, you are so often lost on me. Also, I stuck the RT cover in my locker this morning.)
I thought I ought to post this today, because it's going to be slightly redundant when LoM series two kicks off, so here we go.
My English Language coursework briefs have become steadily more vague as the year goes on. The first was "write a story", which was pretty open. The second was "write something persuasive", which is taking "open" to new levels, really (I did a newspaper article, in the end). You wouldn't think it would be possible to make it any less clear, but the third assignment really excelled itself: "Write... something that, er, is not like the other two things you have already written."
I decided to do some kind of review (since I'd already done entertaining and persuading, informing was really all I had left), but then everyone decided to do some kind of review, and I changed my mind, because I wanted to be difficult and do something different. We'd been told that the examiners love it when the pieces have "real context"--like, you know, they could actually be in a newspaper, or whatever.
And then it hit me: WHY NOT WRITE AN LJ ENTRY. But not, obviously, the sort of thing I would usually write ("Hello! I have not done much recently! Everyone is gay! I like this song! Goodbye!"), because that would be a bit odd. This was shortly after I'd finished the insane Mac/Guy overview-essay-ramble thing, and so eventually I decided I'd do one of those (except possibly not about a gay pairing, because my story ended up being pretty gay, and I thought it might be overkill). And so here I present My English Coursework, aka I Love Life On Mars. (Around 1,800 words.)
*
For anybody who managed to miss the phenomenon that was Life On Mars last year (what on earth were you doing? I refuse to believe it was more important), here is a short introduction, written in the hope of converting somebody. Should that fall through completely, at least those of you who already know it will be reminded of its complete and utter brilliance, so it won't have all been in vain.
The Premise
My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.
And there, in five sentences, is Life On Mars in a nutshell. Generally known amongst non-viewers as "that time-travelling cop show thing", a lot of people are put off by how absolutely ridiculous the whole thing sounds--which it does, to be honest, and it is, but somehow it works.
Rather than falling into the trap of becoming a limp, shallow festival of seventies nostalgia, Life On Mars is a gripping, funny, clever and emotional story that just happens to take place mostly in 1973. And it doesn't just dress a few extras in flares, laugh at them and be done with it--I have it on good authority (my mother) that the look and feel of the early seventies is captured surprisingly well. Sam--our pair of modern-day eyes on the alien planet that is life three decades ago--finds himself living in a flat hovel decorated in unbelievable browns and greens, with frankly dire patterned wallpaper, whilst the casual discrimination towards female police officers at the station, and their acceptance of it, is a slightly disturbing reminder of the attitudes of the recent past. Meanwhile, my mother half-cringes, half-marvels at the accuracy of the bad dancing in the club scenes.
But what's really interesting about the time-travel aspect of the show is whether or not it is, in fact, time-travel. In case surviving in 1973 isn't difficult enough, Sam has to deal with 2006 bleeding through. He hears voices, apparently gathered around his modern-day bedside, when in the middle of trying to solve a case. Phones keep ringing that only he can hear, and the girl from Test Card F has a nasty habit of leaving the television set to counsel him. Is this a realistic portrayal of 1973, or is this a version of the seventies created inside a comatose brain?
As might be imagined, Sam is thoroughly confused by the whole thing, and spends much of the eight-hour-long first series trying to work out how on earth to get himself back to 2006. Along the way, he encounters corruption, violence, sexism and Party Sevens, and manages to unearth repressed childhood memories to boot.
The Characters
DI Sam Tyler (John Simm)
Follower of procedure to the point of pedantry. Has Girlfriend Issues. Has Daddy Issues. Has, in general, Issues. But is sort of adorable.
DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister)
Self-proclaimed "all three" of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Enjoys drink, women and, presumably, drinking with women. Has been beating the streets of Manchester since the age of nineteen and doesn't plan to stop until every wrongdoer gets what's coming to them (which is, preferably, a good pounding).
WPC Annie Cartwright (Liz White)
Forward-thinking Psychology graduate (though she keeps it quiet). The only person at the station privy to Sam's assertion that he is from thirty-three years in the future, and the only one who really listens to him, even if she does think he's mad.
DC Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster)
Young and impressionable. Wants to impress Gene, wants to impress Sam; usually fails, and impresses neither, but it doesn't stop him trying. Actually listens to and carries out Sam's suggestions, which occasionally results in him saving the day.
DS Ray Carling (Dean Andrews)
Hard-nosed, hard-fisted, hard in general. Was overlooked for DI position, thanks to Sam's arrival, and therefore sets out to make life as difficult as possible for him. Idolises Gene. Probably has redeeming qualities, but we haven't found them yet.
The Sam/Gene Conflict
SAM: I only know one way to police.
GENE: So do I.
The show gets plenty of mileage out of Sam's shock at being stuck in a world where fingerprints take two weeks to come back from the forensics department, suspects are interrogated in the lost property room, and nobody seems to have considered that it might be useful to tape interviews. The conflict between the two styles of policing manifests itself in the ongoing conflict between Sam and his new DCI, Gene Hunt. Gene follows his heart; Sam follows his head. Gene threatens and punches; Sam talks. Gene sees ends as justifying means and has no qualms with planting evidence; Sam is obsessed with procedure and feels bound to release a known criminal on a technicality.
It is easy to assume that Sam is right and Gene is wrong, but it's much more complicated than that. Sam's method is correct, if you accept today's morals and standards, but Gene gets results and he usually gets them faster. "I've never fitted anyone up who hasn't deserved it," he explains.
Both policing styles have their faults and their merits. It takes both men a good while to realise and accept it, but when they do, Sam and Gene soon discover that they have the same aims, and that the best way to achieve them is to work together. Sam starts to listen to Gene, putting more faith into gut instinct; Gene starts to listen to Sam, sometimes stepping back and thinking before he acts--and gradually, they form an unstoppable partnership.
The Episodes
The most common criticism of Life On Mars tends to be that the plotlines of the episodes themselves are often fairly formulaic. Personally, this doesn't bother me: it's the characters that make the programme work, as far as I'm concerned, and the overarching coma/time-travel/madness storyline is bizarre enough that I'm quite happy for the incidental crime plots to be basic.
Your average episode will run something along the lines of:
CRIME: *is committed*
GENE: I vow to catch this criminal, and propose various unethical methods of tracking down and catching him!
SAM: I vow also to catch this criminal, but insist on proper procedure! I will sit here and wring my hands until you listen to me!
GENE: STFU SAM I HATE YOU.
SAM: I HATE YOU MORE.
CHRIS: I am incompetent, yet endearing, in a variety of ways!
RAY: I shall be generally unhelpful and insult Sam as much as possible!
GENE: I shall be misogynistic, loud and brash, but with a heart of gold!
SAM: *has hallucination; is scared*
ANNIE: Don't worry, Sam, I will smile a lot and be gently supportive.
SAM: *cries about something, anything, as long as it happens once an episode*
GENE: I have gone some way towards catching the criminal with my various unethical methods. However, something vital is missing from my findings. I shall drink Scotch and smoke heavily.
SAM: I have gone some way towards catching the criminal with my careful investigative procedures. However, my fear of trusting my gut feeling means that something vital is missing from my findings. I shall hallucinate and possibly cry again.
GENE: I grudgingly suggest we join forces.
SAM: I agree.
GENE & SAM: Through the power of our double act, we have solved the crime! We shall now go to the pub to cement our solidarity and gradually-realised mutual respect.
NELSON: I am intriguing. Ignore this! Have a pint.
CLOSING CREDITS: *are set to appropriate 1970s music*
The Music
Although a programme's soundtrack isn't always deemed one of its most important factors, the background music plays a huge part in Life On Mars. Some of the incidental music, as well as the theme tune, is composed for the show, but the really inspired decision is the inclusion of the sort of music that Sam would be hearing all around him.
Fittingly, Sam wakes up in 1973 to hear David Bowie's Life On Mars on the eight-track tape player (formerly iPod dock) in his car. A dose of new stimulative medication in the future is accompanied by the rush of the introduction to Hawkwind's Silver Machine; Sam gapes at his surroundings, unable to comprehend, as Baba O'Riley by The Who kicks in; the scene in which a girl's body is discovered in a canal is absolutely made by The Rolling Stones's Wild Horses in the background. (Full track listings for the episodes are here--click "Music Info" under the episodes--and if they don't convince you, I don't know what will.)
Musical references crop up in the scripts as well as the soundtrack. Sam is starstruck after running into Marc Bolan at a Manchester club, and is delighted when he discovers his childhood record shop ("I bought my first--Gary Numan, Cars!" he cries, to Annie’s bewilderment). Meanwhile, Gene styles himself "the Gene Genie" after Bowie's The Jean Genie, despite being a self-confessed Roger Whittaker fan. It's a little running theme throughout the series--not vital, I suppose, but I like it.
The Final Plea
I'm not an idiot. I hope not, anyway: feel free to disagree. But I digress (really, I do, all the time). Anyway, I am fully aware that what I've given you here is, give or take, a thousand and a half words and a handful of pictures--and there is, in this fashion, no way I could even come close to showing you how fantastic this programme is and how much I genuinely want you to watch it. Ideally, I would have come round to your house, stapled you to a chair, and fed you biscuits whilst forcing you to watch it, but I am fully aware of the many flaws in that plan and so decided this one might be better.
And so hear my final plea: if you ever decide to follow my advice on anything at all, watch Life On Mars. Please. Ignore everything else I tell you. I don't care. If I warn you against binge drinking, or drugs, or Celebrity Love Island, laugh me off, I'll get over it. For the love of god, this programme will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will change your life. Possibly.
*
Random Notes:
- I eventually had to cut the "Music" section, thanks to being about 300 words over the limit, but have included it here anyway, because I like it, and I can.
- I would have liked to do longer, less one-dimensional character descriptions, but again, purely down to running out of space. Also, Sam doesn't come across that well in this, does he? I have somehow not managed to convey my whole "I LOVE SAM" thing, which is surprising.
- I would have liked to have used more quotes. (Again, same reason.)
- I would have loved to do more about Gene and Sam, because I will never run out of things to say about them. I rather like the fact that two separate people I showed this to--including one who had never seen the show--got to "The Sam/Gene Conflict" and said, "You mean 'gay relationship' here, really, don't you?"
- I had a stupid amount of fun writing the commentary, which was basically attempting to explain LJ to my English teacher, and getting to say things like, "The idea for this piece came from reading and writing summaries of "fandoms" (television programmes, films, books etc) on the internet," and, "the use of initialisms such as "STFU", which would be widely used and understood in the internet community".
And now I will go away and stop talking, sorry. TONIGHT I WILL BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS SIMON PEGG.
I thought I ought to post this today, because it's going to be slightly redundant when LoM series two kicks off, so here we go.
My English Language coursework briefs have become steadily more vague as the year goes on. The first was "write a story", which was pretty open. The second was "write something persuasive", which is taking "open" to new levels, really (I did a newspaper article, in the end). You wouldn't think it would be possible to make it any less clear, but the third assignment really excelled itself: "Write... something that, er, is not like the other two things you have already written."
I decided to do some kind of review (since I'd already done entertaining and persuading, informing was really all I had left), but then everyone decided to do some kind of review, and I changed my mind, because I wanted to be difficult and do something different. We'd been told that the examiners love it when the pieces have "real context"--like, you know, they could actually be in a newspaper, or whatever.
And then it hit me: WHY NOT WRITE AN LJ ENTRY. But not, obviously, the sort of thing I would usually write ("Hello! I have not done much recently! Everyone is gay! I like this song! Goodbye!"), because that would be a bit odd. This was shortly after I'd finished the insane Mac/Guy overview-essay-ramble thing, and so eventually I decided I'd do one of those (except possibly not about a gay pairing, because my story ended up being pretty gay, and I thought it might be overkill). And so here I present My English Coursework, aka I Love Life On Mars. (Around 1,800 words.)
*
For anybody who managed to miss the phenomenon that was Life On Mars last year (what on earth were you doing? I refuse to believe it was more important), here is a short introduction, written in the hope of converting somebody. Should that fall through completely, at least those of you who already know it will be reminded of its complete and utter brilliance, so it won't have all been in vain.
The Premise
My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.
And there, in five sentences, is Life On Mars in a nutshell. Generally known amongst non-viewers as "that time-travelling cop show thing", a lot of people are put off by how absolutely ridiculous the whole thing sounds--which it does, to be honest, and it is, but somehow it works.
Rather than falling into the trap of becoming a limp, shallow festival of seventies nostalgia, Life On Mars is a gripping, funny, clever and emotional story that just happens to take place mostly in 1973. And it doesn't just dress a few extras in flares, laugh at them and be done with it--I have it on good authority (my mother) that the look and feel of the early seventies is captured surprisingly well. Sam--our pair of modern-day eyes on the alien planet that is life three decades ago--finds himself living in a flat hovel decorated in unbelievable browns and greens, with frankly dire patterned wallpaper, whilst the casual discrimination towards female police officers at the station, and their acceptance of it, is a slightly disturbing reminder of the attitudes of the recent past. Meanwhile, my mother half-cringes, half-marvels at the accuracy of the bad dancing in the club scenes.
But what's really interesting about the time-travel aspect of the show is whether or not it is, in fact, time-travel. In case surviving in 1973 isn't difficult enough, Sam has to deal with 2006 bleeding through. He hears voices, apparently gathered around his modern-day bedside, when in the middle of trying to solve a case. Phones keep ringing that only he can hear, and the girl from Test Card F has a nasty habit of leaving the television set to counsel him. Is this a realistic portrayal of 1973, or is this a version of the seventies created inside a comatose brain?
As might be imagined, Sam is thoroughly confused by the whole thing, and spends much of the eight-hour-long first series trying to work out how on earth to get himself back to 2006. Along the way, he encounters corruption, violence, sexism and Party Sevens, and manages to unearth repressed childhood memories to boot.
The Characters
DI Sam Tyler (John Simm)
Follower of procedure to the point of pedantry. Has Girlfriend Issues. Has Daddy Issues. Has, in general, Issues. But is sort of adorable.
DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister)
Self-proclaimed "all three" of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Enjoys drink, women and, presumably, drinking with women. Has been beating the streets of Manchester since the age of nineteen and doesn't plan to stop until every wrongdoer gets what's coming to them (which is, preferably, a good pounding).
WPC Annie Cartwright (Liz White)
Forward-thinking Psychology graduate (though she keeps it quiet). The only person at the station privy to Sam's assertion that he is from thirty-three years in the future, and the only one who really listens to him, even if she does think he's mad.
DC Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster)
Young and impressionable. Wants to impress Gene, wants to impress Sam; usually fails, and impresses neither, but it doesn't stop him trying. Actually listens to and carries out Sam's suggestions, which occasionally results in him saving the day.
DS Ray Carling (Dean Andrews)
Hard-nosed, hard-fisted, hard in general. Was overlooked for DI position, thanks to Sam's arrival, and therefore sets out to make life as difficult as possible for him. Idolises Gene. Probably has redeeming qualities, but we haven't found them yet.
The Sam/Gene Conflict
SAM: I only know one way to police.
GENE: So do I.
The show gets plenty of mileage out of Sam's shock at being stuck in a world where fingerprints take two weeks to come back from the forensics department, suspects are interrogated in the lost property room, and nobody seems to have considered that it might be useful to tape interviews. The conflict between the two styles of policing manifests itself in the ongoing conflict between Sam and his new DCI, Gene Hunt. Gene follows his heart; Sam follows his head. Gene threatens and punches; Sam talks. Gene sees ends as justifying means and has no qualms with planting evidence; Sam is obsessed with procedure and feels bound to release a known criminal on a technicality.
It is easy to assume that Sam is right and Gene is wrong, but it's much more complicated than that. Sam's method is correct, if you accept today's morals and standards, but Gene gets results and he usually gets them faster. "I've never fitted anyone up who hasn't deserved it," he explains.
Both policing styles have their faults and their merits. It takes both men a good while to realise and accept it, but when they do, Sam and Gene soon discover that they have the same aims, and that the best way to achieve them is to work together. Sam starts to listen to Gene, putting more faith into gut instinct; Gene starts to listen to Sam, sometimes stepping back and thinking before he acts--and gradually, they form an unstoppable partnership.
The Episodes
The most common criticism of Life On Mars tends to be that the plotlines of the episodes themselves are often fairly formulaic. Personally, this doesn't bother me: it's the characters that make the programme work, as far as I'm concerned, and the overarching coma/time-travel/madness storyline is bizarre enough that I'm quite happy for the incidental crime plots to be basic.
Your average episode will run something along the lines of:
CRIME: *is committed*
GENE: I vow to catch this criminal, and propose various unethical methods of tracking down and catching him!
SAM: I vow also to catch this criminal, but insist on proper procedure! I will sit here and wring my hands until you listen to me!
GENE: STFU SAM I HATE YOU.
SAM: I HATE YOU MORE.
CHRIS: I am incompetent, yet endearing, in a variety of ways!
RAY: I shall be generally unhelpful and insult Sam as much as possible!
GENE: I shall be misogynistic, loud and brash, but with a heart of gold!
SAM: *has hallucination; is scared*
ANNIE: Don't worry, Sam, I will smile a lot and be gently supportive.
SAM: *cries about something, anything, as long as it happens once an episode*
GENE: I have gone some way towards catching the criminal with my various unethical methods. However, something vital is missing from my findings. I shall drink Scotch and smoke heavily.
SAM: I have gone some way towards catching the criminal with my careful investigative procedures. However, my fear of trusting my gut feeling means that something vital is missing from my findings. I shall hallucinate and possibly cry again.
GENE: I grudgingly suggest we join forces.
SAM: I agree.
GENE & SAM: Through the power of our double act, we have solved the crime! We shall now go to the pub to cement our solidarity and gradually-realised mutual respect.
NELSON: I am intriguing. Ignore this! Have a pint.
CLOSING CREDITS: *are set to appropriate 1970s music*
The Music
Although a programme's soundtrack isn't always deemed one of its most important factors, the background music plays a huge part in Life On Mars. Some of the incidental music, as well as the theme tune, is composed for the show, but the really inspired decision is the inclusion of the sort of music that Sam would be hearing all around him.
Fittingly, Sam wakes up in 1973 to hear David Bowie's Life On Mars on the eight-track tape player (formerly iPod dock) in his car. A dose of new stimulative medication in the future is accompanied by the rush of the introduction to Hawkwind's Silver Machine; Sam gapes at his surroundings, unable to comprehend, as Baba O'Riley by The Who kicks in; the scene in which a girl's body is discovered in a canal is absolutely made by The Rolling Stones's Wild Horses in the background. (Full track listings for the episodes are here--click "Music Info" under the episodes--and if they don't convince you, I don't know what will.)
Musical references crop up in the scripts as well as the soundtrack. Sam is starstruck after running into Marc Bolan at a Manchester club, and is delighted when he discovers his childhood record shop ("I bought my first--Gary Numan, Cars!" he cries, to Annie’s bewilderment). Meanwhile, Gene styles himself "the Gene Genie" after Bowie's The Jean Genie, despite being a self-confessed Roger Whittaker fan. It's a little running theme throughout the series--not vital, I suppose, but I like it.
The Final Plea
I'm not an idiot. I hope not, anyway: feel free to disagree. But I digress (really, I do, all the time). Anyway, I am fully aware that what I've given you here is, give or take, a thousand and a half words and a handful of pictures--and there is, in this fashion, no way I could even come close to showing you how fantastic this programme is and how much I genuinely want you to watch it. Ideally, I would have come round to your house, stapled you to a chair, and fed you biscuits whilst forcing you to watch it, but I am fully aware of the many flaws in that plan and so decided this one might be better.
And so hear my final plea: if you ever decide to follow my advice on anything at all, watch Life On Mars. Please. Ignore everything else I tell you. I don't care. If I warn you against binge drinking, or drugs, or Celebrity Love Island, laugh me off, I'll get over it. For the love of god, this programme will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will change your life. Possibly.
*
Random Notes:
- I eventually had to cut the "Music" section, thanks to being about 300 words over the limit, but have included it here anyway, because I like it, and I can.
- I would have liked to do longer, less one-dimensional character descriptions, but again, purely down to running out of space. Also, Sam doesn't come across that well in this, does he? I have somehow not managed to convey my whole "I LOVE SAM" thing, which is surprising.
- I would have liked to have used more quotes. (Again, same reason.)
- I would have loved to do more about Gene and Sam, because I will never run out of things to say about them. I rather like the fact that two separate people I showed this to--including one who had never seen the show--got to "The Sam/Gene Conflict" and said, "You mean 'gay relationship' here, really, don't you?"
- I had a stupid amount of fun writing the commentary, which was basically attempting to explain LJ to my English teacher, and getting to say things like, "The idea for this piece came from reading and writing summaries of "fandoms" (television programmes, films, books etc) on the internet," and, "the use of initialisms such as "STFU", which would be widely used and understood in the internet community".
And now I will go away and stop talking, sorry. TONIGHT I WILL BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS SIMON PEGG.