Previously on Best Before I wrote a piece on John Simm. The only drawback of this was that I said 'edgy' when it is such an awful word to use, especially in the context of television. For that I am sorry. However, I am not sorry for singing his praises, as he gave a fantastic and focused performance in both series of Life on Mars, which ended last year. But has it really ended?
Recently the BBC have done another thing right and brought us it's spin off Ashes To Ashes, which has just finished it's first season. It's premise of yet another character seemingly going into another coma and ending up in 1981 is a little far fetched, and the first episode did have some daft moments, but I enjoyed its slightly darker tone. (There I go again. 'Darker' is becoming the new 'edgy'. Let's settle for 'reflective'.)Apparently it's an example of 'high concept' television which just basically means that it's fantasy. And it's yet another nostalgic trip into a time when things were really great, when the London Met tried to stamp out police brutality...no that can't be right. Wasn't the same police force responsible for knocking the fuck out of people in Brixton and some of the Yorskshire miners?
Still Gene Hunt is back. A loveable racist, bigoted, sexist rouge with no respect for authority, or Scarman. A guilty pleasure if you like, for squealing, overweight women in their late thirties to swoon over. (No that's not right, is it?)Well you'd be forgive for thinking that if you drifted over to the fan forum at The Railway Arms, and witnessed the desire for the soap opera love affair with Gene Hunt, and the wish for him to peel off Keely Hawes skintight jeans wearing character Alex Drake so they can get it on. Call me cynical by all means but isn't the show much bigger than that? Does high concept actually mean a cheap remake of 'Moonlighting' crossed with 'The Sweeney'? One hopes not.
The fun for me however is the speculation and theories. Just as there was with Life on Mars. Is Alex really in 1981? Is Gene a construct? Or is he in fact Jesus? What if everybody's dead? What if Sam Tyler is really imagining everything? Maybe the snotty, Blackberry loving unsympathetic and poorly drawn daughter, Molly, is the one who's in the coma? Or perhaps she is the construct. Or they could all be in comas, lying next to each other, in 2018? Theories, theories...Despite my reservations, and the reservations of others, I'm enjoying the nostalgia, the daftness and the desire for it to have a more science ficition conclusion. I love the bonkers flashbacks, the soundtrack and imagining what I would do if I was transported back to the 1980s as I am now. Oh the fun I would have. Thumping people who bugged (yes, bugged) me, getting arrested for assualt and spending a few months in a 1980s prison. But I love the darkness. Not the band obviously. There are moments and signs when you feel there will be a twist and a major headfuck. With Life on Mars we didn't want to believe that Sam Tyler was in a coma. It was much to obvious. But with Ashes to Ashes you wonder if there is something more going on with Gene and if at times he is aware of it. Maybe it's a quirk of the director but in Episode Two there is a moment with Gene in the office, a long, introspective glance. It's unnerving, it's slightly spooky, and it's incredibly sad. What will it mean?
Ashes To Ashes is out soon on DVD. Speculate away. Series 2 will follow in 2009.
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