Life on Mars - Trapped in the 70s

Television series
German title	Life on Mars - Trapped in the 70s
Original title	Life on Mars
Country of production	Great Britain
original language	English
Year (s)	2005-2006
length	52 minutes (international), UK: around 58 minutes
Episodes	16 in 2 seasons
genre	Crime, mystery
idea	Matthew Graham , Tony Jordan , Ashley Pharoah
production	Claire Parker
music	Edmund Butt
First broadcast	January 9, 2006 (UK) on BBC One
German-language first broadcast	February 3, 2007 on Kabel Eins
occupation
John Simm : Sam Tyler Philip Glenister : Gene Hunt Liz White : Annie Cartwright Dean Andrews : Ray Carling Marshall Lancaster : Chris Skelton Tony Marshall : Nelson Noreen Kershaw : Phyllis Dobbs Kevin R. McNally : Harry Woolf

Life on Mars - Captured in the 70s (Original: Life on Mars ) is a British police series of the BBC , which contains not only crime stories but also mystery elements, started in January 2006 on the television channel BBC One and in February 2007 in Germany in dubbed and The abridged version was broadcast on Kabel Eins . The station showed the second season from June 27, 2009. The title is derived from David Bowie 's song of the same name from the 1970s.

Life on Mars is about the cop Sam Tyler, who was hit by a car in 2006, lost consciousness, and woke up in 1973. After his leap in time, he begins to work as a police officer again and tries to organize a rather backward, ailing team of investigators to solve criminal cases together.

The US network ABC broadcast a remake under the same name between October 9, 2008 and April 1, 2009 , but discontinued the series after the first season. However, the first season of Life on Mars in the US version consists of 17 episodes and has a different ending. In 2018, the OCN broadcast a South Korean remake with Jung Kyung-ho, Park Sung-woong, Ko Ah-seong and Oh Dae-hwan.

content

Sam Tyler, Detective Chief Inspector in Manchester , during the investigation then, after a murderer by a car. When he wakes up, he finds himself in 1973. As a modern investigator who finds it very difficult to get used to his new colleagues and the old-fashioned working methods, he clears up all kinds of crimes, which earns him a lot of suspicion on the part of his colleagues.

It is unclear whether Tyler was really transported back to 1973, whether he was in a coma in 2006 and only succumbed to an illusion, or whether Tyler might be from 1973 after all and is mentally unstable. The key to the solution might be to find his new colleagues and cases.

During the first season, Tyler has brief, shadowy memories of being chased through a forest, looking down at patent leather shoes in the grass and a woman in a red dress. This storyline is resolved in the season finale. The 1973 young Sam Tyler chases after his 1973 father at a wedding, who is chasing and threatening Annie Cartwright (in a red dress) in the woods.

Towards the end of the second season, Sam meets the mysterious caller who seems to be a link to the present. In 1973 it is Sam's former Chief Inspector Frank Morgan from Hyde. This reveals to Sam that he can only go home if he manages to expose Gene Hunt as a dangerous and corrupt police officer and to have it exposed. After Gene Hunt and his team are partially shot in a trap during an unauthorized undercover operation, Sam Tyler wakes up from a coma. The supposed chief inspector is the surgeon who reduced the swelling of a benign brain tumor. On leaving the hospital, you can see that Sam was lying on the Hyde ward, in room 2612, which was also the phone number of the caller.

Sam realizes in the present in his everyday police life that this is not what he wants and that he simply doesn't feel anything anymore - in contrast to 1973. So he decides to jump off a building roof. He then ended up back in 1973 and was able to save his department there from the trap of the undercover operation. Sam and Annie finally find each other towards the end, after this had been suggested for a long time.

In the final scene, when the main characters are sitting in the car, Morgan is heard as a surgeon on the radio saying that Sam's condition is getting worse. He comments that he has never liked this radio station and switches to the next station, on Life on Mars? played by David Bowie. After the car has driven off, playing children run across the street, including the girl with the doll (from the old BBC test picture). This stops in front of the camera, looks closely into it and then switches off the television (the television picture fades).

Actors and roles

The German synchronization was for a dialogue book of Engelbert Nordhausen and the dialogue director of Bernd Rumpf on behalf of the synchronous company Cinephon in Berlin .

John Simm as Detective Inspector Sam Tyler (German dubbing voice: Daniel Fehlow )

Sam Tyler is a 2006 police officer who wakes up in a 1973 car accident. There he finds it difficult to get used to his new colleagues and the outdated working methods of the police at the time. A kind of love-hate relationship develops towards his boss, Chief Inspector Gene Hunt. Both envy each other's knowledge and skills. For Sam, his "jump in time" after the accident is like a crazy dream from which he simply cannot wake up. Sam can't stand his colleague Ray, but he likes his colleague Chris and does his best to teach him something.

Philip Glenister as Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt (German dubbing voice: Jörg Hengstler )

Gene Hunt was Chief Inspector of his precinct in 1973. He sees himself in the role of the sheriff , his police work is much more intuitive and less scientific than is usual today. He often even uses violence to get information. In doing so, he often trusts his instinct; he always wears a camel-colored coat and slippers. In keeping with his type, Hunt has a weakness for westerns (e.g. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ). While Tyler and Hunt are totally different, they seem to complement each other perfectly.

Liz White as WPC Annie Cartwright (German dubbing voice: Ilona Otto )

Annie is a cop on Tyler and Hunt's station, she is clever and knows how to help each other, and she also studied psychology . It is difficult for her in the police station because women and men are still not equal, but she is fighting for their rights. However, she is not sure about her feelings towards Sam, but Gene skilfully ignores her.

Dean Andrews as Detective Sergeant Ray Carling (German dubbing voice: Tobias Kluckert )

Marshall Lancaster as Detective Constable Chris Skelton (German dubbing voice: Jaron Löwenberg )

Chris Skelton has the rank of detective in the police station . He's a little cheeky and brash, but also a lovable person. At the station he is the “girl for everything” in the team. He has to do all the unpleasant work for Ray and Gene. For the viewer, he and Ray form a kind of “good cop / bad cop” combination. On the other hand, he likes to help Sam Tyler.

Episode list

Production notes

This series was extremely successful in Great Britain and was able to book about 6.7 million viewers in the first season, so that a second season was produced in the summer of 2006, the first two episodes were first broadcast on February 13, 2007 on British television. At the end of the second season, Life on Mars was discontinued, but the story was continued in the new series Ashes to Ashes - Back to the 80s (see below).

Life-on-Mars producer Claire Parker said in an interview with the broadcaster kabel eins : “The milieu of the 1970s is perfect for car chases, great music, iconic clothing and piquant stories. Life on Mars wants to remind viewers of a decade that is falling into oblivion. But it's not a wistful nostalgic trip back, full of memories of the good old days - the series reflects much more how it really was back then: a decade marked by social and societal upheavals. "

John Yorke, responsible for dramatic series at the BBC , sees Life on Mars as special in the fact that “every episode shows crime-solving from two completely different perspectives. We suddenly move a modern detective into the world of 'cops' of the old school and thus have two completely different worlds. Sam is both horrified and fascinated by the 'prehistoric' world, and the drama lies in the way he tries to find his way around the 'planet' unknown to him. "

The version shown in Germany has been shortened compared to the British version. The BBC made these cuts for the international version itself. The net running time per episode is now only about 52 minutes instead of about 58. Some key scenes, references to epochs and humor have been removed.

→ Main article : Life on Mars

Due to the success of Life on Mars , David E. Kelley , the creator of television series such as Ally McBeal and Boston Legal , was hired to produce an adaptation of the series for the US television giant ABC. This series consisted of 17 episodes and was broadcast on US television from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009.

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack for the series was released in England in February 2007, produced by Sony BMG . The CD, which also includes a small poster, contains the following tracks from the series:

1. Introduction Dialogue - King of the Jungle
2. David Bowie - Life on Mars?
3. Roxy Music - Street Life
4. Paul McCartney and Wings - Live and Let Die
5. Electric Light Orchestra - 10538 Overture
6. John Kongos - Tokoloshe Man
7. Atomic Rooster - Devil's Answer
8. T. Rex - Rock On
9. Free - Little Bit of Love
10. Lee "Scratch" Perry and The Upsetters - Jungle Lion
11. Brief Interlude Dialogue - Armed Bastards!
12. The Sweet - Blockbuster!
13. The Faces - Cindy Incidentally
14. Ananda Shankar - Snow Flower
15. Slade - Coz I Luv You
16. Mott the Hoople - One of the Boys
17. Lindisfarne - Meet Me on the Corner
18. Frankie Miller - I Can't Change It
19. Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar
20. Audience - I Had a Dream
21. Uriah Heep - Traveler in Time
22. Nina Simone - I Wish I Knew
23. Epilogue Dialogue - I Want to Go Home
    • Bonustrack - Life on Mars Theme Song

Not included on the CD, however, are some David Bowie songs as well

• Deep Purple - Fireball
• Pink Floyd - One of These Days
• Lindisfarne - Bring Down the Government
• Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally)
• The Strawbs - Lay Down
• Roxy Music - Just Like You
• Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
• Elton John - Funeral for a Friend / Love lies bleeding
• Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World
• Nina Simone - Sinnerman
• Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Roger Whittaker - I don't believe in if any more
• The Who - Baba o`Riley
• Pulp - Disco 2000
• Cozy Powell - Dance wirth the devil

Awards

• 2006: International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series .

DVD and Blu-ray

Region 2

The first season of the series was released on May 15, 2006 in Great Britain as Region 2 version on DVD . The second season followed on April 16, 2007. In Germany, the first season was released on DVD on May 10, 2007; the second season followed on March 8, 2010.

The Blu-ray versions of both seasons were released in Great Britain on October 27, 2008. However, since the numerous effects of the two seasons were originally produced and mastered in standard definition, a real high-definition version would require a complete reworking of the effects. The Blu-ray editions are therefore based on upscaled standard definition material and in some cases represent improvements. This “pseudo-HD” version has not yet been broadcast on television.

Region 1

In the US, the first season was released on July 28, 2009 on DVD.

continuation

The story of Life on Mars is continued in the series Ashes to Ashes - Back to the 80s, which has been broadcast in the UK since 2008 . Keeley Hawes stars as the police psychologist Alex Drake, who is investigating the Sam Tyler case in 2008. When she was shot, she suddenly found herself at the London police station in 1981, part of Gene Hunt's team. Some roles from Life on Mars are taken up again in Ashes to Ashes , alongside Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt, these are Marshall Lancaster as Chris Skelton and Dean Andrews as Ray Carling. No longer there are John Simm (Sam Tyler) and Liz White (Annie Cartwright).

The first season of Ashes to Ashes - Back to the 80s premiered on February 7, 2008. The second season started on April 20, 2009. The third and final season was broadcast from April to May 2010. In Germany, all three seasons have now been broadcast on the FOX series .

Web links

• Life on Mars - Caught in the 70s in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Series entry on the BBC (English, page will not be updated)
• BBC Germany - background information
• Life on Mars - Trapped in the 70s , ProSiebenSat.1 Digital

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wishlist.de: Life on Mars , accessed on May 19, 2009
2. ↑ fernsehserien.de: Life on Mars (US) episode overview
3. ↑ TV Series Finale: "Life on Mars: ABC TV Show Canceled, No Season Two" ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2009 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated March 3, 2009, accessed May 28, 2009. 
4. ↑ Woo Jae-yeon: Korean adaptation of British hit series 'Life On Mars' gains traction with viewers. In: Yonhap . July 18, 2018, accessed May 13, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Life on Mars - Trapped in the 70s. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on June 14, 2013 . 
6. ↑ News article from April 2, 2010 on serienjunkies.de, accessed on May 9, 2010