Product Description

Philip Glenister, Keeley Hawes, Dean Andrews, Marshall Lancaster, Montserrat Lombard

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #294 in DVD
• Brand: DVD Boxsets
• Released on: 2008-05-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: PAL, Surround Sound, Widescreen, Closed-captioned
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .64 pounds
• Running time: 480 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A triumphant return for DCI Gene Hunt, Ashes To Ashes takes some of the characters from the superb time-shifting police drama Life On Mars, and moves the action to the early 1980s. So it’s out with the Cortina, in with the Audi Quattro, and straight down to some terrific television.

Joining DCI Hunt -- again played with terrific force and stature by Philip Glenister -- is Keeley Hawes, as DCI Alex Drake. Like John Simm’s character in Life On Mars, DCI Drake suddenly finds herself in 1981, with no clear reason why.

This provides the platform for another terrific show, the first series of which is fully present and correct here. Ashes To Ashes is tonally a little different from Life On Mars, but maintains the wonderful attention to period detail (and a healthy 80s soundtrack to match), and the willingness to mix in some fun alongside the serious business of police work.

Ashes To Ashes is some achievement. It grounds out an identify for itself, stepping out of the shadow of Mars. And the rapport between Hawes and Glenister is a real highlight. But there’s so much to enjoy here, backed up by the promise of another series in the offing. For now, though, there’s plenty to get your teeth into here, thanks to a quality, very British drama that’s simply compelling television. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
ASHES TO ASHES follows on from the hugely successful BBC series LIFE ON MARS, and sees the return of the self styled 'Sheriff of Manchester' DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Whereas LIFE ON MARS was a throwback to the crime-fighting style of the 1970's with a style and wit reminiscent of THE SWEENEY and THE PROFESSIONALS, ASHES TO ASHES takes you back to 'the decade that taste forgot', the 1980's. The series revels in 80s nostalgia, providing plenty of sight jokes and of course, a brand new car for Hunt.
DCI Hunt has left the relative comfort of the Greater Manchester Police to take on the 'southern nancys' of London, where he once again acquires a time-travelling sidekick, this time in the sexy and smart DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes). Alex's journey began back in 2008 when she was shot during a botched kidnapping of her daughter Molly. Her psychology background and indepth knowledge of the Sam Tyler case lead her to dismiss her predicament as a vivid hallucination. Nevertheless, with crime rife on the streets of 1980's London, and a police team that's not very receptive to modern career women, Alex has a lot to prove before she can figure out how to get home.

Customer Reviews

"We are coppers, not spies...Look at us Tinker , Tailor, Soldier T**t"
Where Life On Mars garnered an across the board positive critical reception Ashes To Ashes has had a more mixed reception. Obviously the concept is not as fresh this time around and the whole series has a slightly contrived ambience to it. For instance even taking into account it's a series with a fantastical element what are the chances of Gene Hunt (Philip Glennister) ,Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster) and Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) all transferring from London to Manchester at the same time? Still willing suspension of disbelief is required with this series so what the hell.

The central concept is that police psychologist Alex Drake(Keeley Hawes) who is tied into the series having worked on Sam Tyler's case is shot in 2008 and wakes up in 1981 to find the same principal characters that invaded Sam,s world existing in hers. The "imaginary constructs" as she calls them must also aid her in that old sci-fi staple of changing the past in order to influence the future. In this case Drake wants to prevent her parents becoming victims of a car bombing -a consequence of their involvement in civil rights campaigning and as defence lawyers.

Mixed up with this is lots of stuff about Drake questioning her parents commitment to her with their busy professional life,s, her relationship with her uncle and her burgeoning fractious relationship with Gene Hunt. Not to mention her motherly feelings for young policewoman Shaz Granger( Montserrat Lombard)who is a kind of surrogate daughter for the one left behind in 2008.Then there is the clown from the Bowie video haunting her dreams and more worryingly her waking moments as well.

The series takes time to get going and too often the writers resort to having Hunt and co run around spouting pithy one liners- though admittedly some of these are very good. DI Drake,s awareness of her predicament also means we miss the air of bewilderment from Sam Tyler that made Life On Mars so enjoyable. The will they ,won,t they thing between Hunt and Drake is wearily predictable but thankfully is not consummated and although the series hints at the socio-political climate of 1981 ( The Blitz club scene , homophobia, the anti-nuclear movement, Princess Di,s wedding ) it too often relies on it's soundtrack to give it a period feel -often using music from the wrong era rather annoyingly. The one time it tackles the times head on is the last episode with Geoffrey Palmer playing Lord Scarman and it,s no coincidence that this is the finest episode of the series , though the electrifyingly tense and emotional conclusion to Drakes obsession with her parents death helps tremendously as well.

Keeley Hawes has come in for some stick for her portrayal of Alex Drake and it is true that she relies on her luscious pout a little too much but I feel she does invest the character with some depth and handles the big scenes well. The rest of the cast are excellent with Amelia Bullmore as Alex's mother especially good and there are some choice lines -usually from Gene Hunt though Ray Carling gets a few as well .

The DVD has audio commentary from Keeley Hawes and the shows producers for episodes one and two(Why not the whole series?), a making of documentary , a set tour and outtake scenes. Compared to Life On Mars Ashes To Ashes suffers , but take it on it,s own merits and it,s an entertaining series that gradually gets better and ends with a genuinely edgy and affecting finale. It will be interesting to see how the writers approach the dilemma of how to get Alex Drake back to 2008 for if she was sent back to 1981 to solve the mystery of her parents death then what is there left for her to do?

Addictive and sexy
Life on mars was fantastic already. I did not get hooked by the first Ashes to Ashes episode but kept watching and got to really love it. Maybe it is because I can relate more to the 80s than the 70s, everytime music starts in ashes to ashes I was going like Uuh I remember that, the same with the fashion and details. The series is perfectly produced and the actors are great. I like how Chris and Ray have developed. And, quite frankly, Gene Hunt becomes one of the most sexiest characters on TV ..... Fire up the Quattro..... Now Bollinger Knickers you can either punch me or kiss me ..... Gene Hunt Chapter 1, Verse 2 .... - just a few of the utterly un-PC scruffy quotes by Gene Hunt. Of course, the female lead, Keeley Hawes, is great too and carries her part tremendously. Ashes to Ashes is very recommendable, either if you know Life on Mars or you dont, Ashes to Ashes stands for itself as well as it does as a follow up.

The Quattro splutters into life.
Philip Glenister summed up the problem with this series when he said that the makers of the earlier Life on Mars had spent six years perfecting the series before they started filming. With Ashes to Ashes they had six weeks.

A2A therefore gives the impression that the writers are feeling their way and making up the rules as they go along. In LoM the series hit the ground running from the very first moment and instantly offered a seamless mixture of great characters and intriguing plots all told with style and wit. LoM let you know that the makers were in control and knew where they were going. That's not the case here. Early episodes try things out as the makers root around for a distinctive style and voice.

Some things work, most don't, but gradually some order appears and by the time the season closes they have got things together and it works. But what we have when the series starts is a bit of a mess. It lets us see the 1980s through the eyes of new character Alex (and of course the ultimate explanation of what the whole franchise is about might invalidate this comment). So the characters Sam created while in his coma have been changed to suit Alex's feminine viewpoint. Gene is no longer the sheriff with a Gary Cooper poster pinned to his wall. He's now more of a rough-diamond heartthrob who has been battered down by time and new police regulations to be less than he once was. He can no longer beat confessions out of whomever he fancies for the crime. He has to go through procedure and all that nonsense that Gene should never do. This is a logical development, (except for him turning into a wine drinker) but a lesser Gene is tough to watch.

The other characters have also been re-imagined. Ray and Chris have more to do, but are now more of a fun double act. There's no edge to them any more, but whether that's a bad thing is up to the viewer. The biggest problem though is the lead. Sam Tyler was an everyman, someone it was easy to sympathise with, but Alex isn't. She's cold, posh, arrogant, unsympathetic and unlike Sam she cares nothing for the world she finds herself in. Her antipathy was a brave choice, but I feel it was the wrong decision. If Alex doesn't care about her imaginary world, why should we?

Her lack of empathy at the start is further worsened by the fact that the first two episodes are embarrassing to watch. Not only are the returning characters shadows of their former selves, but it's now deemed enough to have Gene Hunt appear on screen and growl a stream of one-liners in the hope that he might eventually say one that's as tenth as good as his throwaway lines from LOM. Worse, the style appears to be aping Miami Vice, but it's so poorly thought out it's hard to tell. At one point thousands of bullets are fired without a single one hitting anyone mixed in with Gene Hunt and co sailing down the Thames to a classic rock track. Even on repeat viewing this doesn't work.

The next two episodes are more relaxed and are less ambitious, almost as if they didn't dare to try anything for fear of it not working. As such they are competent police procedural fare, but a long way from the heights LoM scaled. Then just as you start to fear it'll never work, it comes together. Episodes 5 and 6 shift the emphasis away from Miami Vice and more towards Dempsey and Makepeace. And the final two episodes are as strong as anything LoM ever produced. In fact I'd suggest the confident way the big reveal is provided in the final episode and the tense closing moments to episode 7 surpass its predecessor.

So all in all, once the format settles down this series works, but I wish they'd have put more thought into the early episodes.