Life on Mars Overview

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Sam Tyler is struck down in a car accident and wakes up thirty years in the past, having seemingly lead an entire life in 1973 despite not belonging there. Made to help clean the streets of Manchester's past, Sam continues searching for clues as to how to get home, running into a constant stream of characters that will have a great impact on making him the man he's to become, but never sure whether or not he's helping set things up for his return to 2006 or if he's merely rooting himself further in a life that's not his own.

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The cast of characters here is composed mostly of archetypal characters that could be found in almost any work of fiction, but throughout their sixteen episodes they're made to feel so real that it's difficult to imagine the show without every single one of them. Sam (John Simm) has a unique interaction with each of these people, offering a different tone to every scene, and the opinions exchanged between these people are so diverse that it adds a sense of tension when they disagree and an air of wonder when they do manage to agree.

Since his arrival in 1973 Sam is quick to criticize the methods of Gene's (Philip Glenister) team, trying to teach them his modern ways despite the lukewarm reception of the others. The most willing to follow his lead is the team's newest member Chris (Marshall Lancaster), eager to impress those above him and learn how to be a greater detective. Chris makes no question of his loyalty to Gene and his team, but it's his interactions learning from Sam that really bond him closer to the techniques of the modern age. Chris already has a history with Gene, including both successes and failures, but with Sam he's offered a completely blank slate, an opportunity to become something greater than he could without him, and he takes hold of that possibility and really focuses on everything that Sam tells him. While Chris often defers to Sam, double checking procedure, it eventually comes to the point that Sam no longer needs to coach him, showing Sam that he really has made a difference in 1973. This bond is especially evident in the final episode when Chris learns of Sam's identity as an undercover agent, storming from the room while holding back tears. Sam's betrayal is far more personal to him because he had looked up to Sam so much, he had worked so hard to be like Sam, held him in such high esteem, and learning that he had been lied to throughout their entire relationship was terribly devastating. It's only during his confession that Sam really understands what their friendship had meant to Chris, and he is one of the first that Sam scrambles to apologize to during the resolution.

Were the animosity between Sam and Ray (Dean Andrews) played straight through the finale it likely would have gotten tired, but their relationship takes a minor alteration during the events of "the Bombing." At the start of that story it seems as though Sam and Ray are coming to a head, that their volatile relationship is going to get the better of the both of them, and while Sam take responsibility for the events that transpire, it is, in fact, both of them who are at fault. While they aren't quite able to bond over the events that happen, they do gain a better understanding of who the other is, and it really softens them to one another later on. What's interesting about their relationship thereafter is that they continue their rivalry quite actively, neither having grown to like the other at all, but it never returns to the same level that it had been because they now have a greater appreciation of what the other brings to the table. The two of them play off of each other very well, and their dynamic adds a great aspect to the series that's not found between any of the other characters.

A creature of structure, Sam is incredibly by-the-book in every case that comes his way, chiding Gene and his fellow officers when they shirk the rules in order to get results, until it comes to matters of family. When someone he loves is involved in the case he will look so far the other way that he completely ignores crimes, even going as far as to let his father (Lee Ingleby) escape after committing a number of serious crimes, including murder. Sam is willing to acknowledge that he would have been better off following procedure in these cases, instead letting his mind get clouded by emotion, but he never owns up and takes responsibility for his actions. In light of his mistakes he resolves to come down harder on criminals, and while he from then on refuses to relent when anyone else is in the wrong, he still bends the rules when it suits his greater interests. Sam is an incredibly flawed individual, much like everyone else, but his refusal to admit his hypocrisy is sometimes maddening.

There are never any repercussions or consequences to Sam's actions, and even in the few times that he makes a mistake he is usually shown later to have been right, and quite consistently so. It could speak to the fact that Sam is just incredibly good at his job, but it sometimes appears that he's simply incapable of doing anything wrong, and while that may be a function of working within the confines of his own comatose mind, it's still very distracting. Worse yet is when he betrays his entire team, a few times throughout the series, and puts himself at odds with everyone he knows; throughout the story the rest of the cast will brush him off, speaking out against his actions, but in the end he's always accepted back without question, even when it's undeserved.

The diverse set of personalities involved in the cast of characters, and their unique dynamics with one another, really add to the realism in the performances here. While Simm is more than capable in his position as the headliner, each cast member gets a chance to shine at some point, and not one of them wastes their opportunity. This is a very talented group of actors, and their effortless chemistry really feeds the quality of each other's work in this series.

It's questionable whether or not this series could have maintained its quality through another series, especially considering that Simm's presence is required in every scene, but it has a very strong open and close that bookend so wonderfully that there's really no need for any more. There are a few occasions throughout the series that allow the focus to drift a little too far off the beaten path when it likely should have been kept on the mystery at hand, but it does lend itself to creating a larger universe for these characters to play in that makes it seem like a much more real place. As the series draws closed there are a number of times that it seems as though an issue is forced into an episode in order to facilitate an end, such as Maya's (Archie Panjabi) late appearance used to break things off with Sam and allow him to pursue Annie, or the introduction of Sam's never-before-mentioned aunt Heather (Katherine Kelly) used in order to make the investigation of the week feel more personal to him. When the series is hitting its mark, it's great, and when it's off-kilter, it's still good.

At the end of the story the writing team is charged with choosing an ending, and while the mystery has always been biased towards Sam's life in 2006 being real, there were still many other options involved. The hints that Sam is in a coma have been prevalent since the first episode, but there were also theories of time travel, insanity, alien abduction, or even already being in the afterlife. What's brilliant here is that the writers answer the question as to what happened to Sam, and then choose to continue beyond that anyway, resolving not only the questions lingering form the very beginning, but satisfying the wants of fans of different theories at the same time. The story continues well beyond the closing credits, with the future open to the viewer, allowing the audience to decide whether there's more to come or if that's all there is, debating whether or not Sam survived at all or if it's all just more of an illusion. There is enough information given in the end to facilitate a multitude of endings, and while there's likely an end that the creative team had in mind, there's no need to question anything beyond your own interpretation, and that's absolutely beautiful.

Life on Mars has something of a strange concept, one that's incredibly difficult to pull of well, and here it was done almost effortlessly. There are so many ways that this narrative could have gone off the rails before meeting it's endgame, but the creative team behind it delivered a wonderfully crafted series with an incredibly satisfying conclusion. It's certainly not without it's faults, but the good far outweighs the bad, and if there's any show that could benefit from a second viewing, it's likely this one.