Life on Mars, which we rate as one of the best 100 TV shows of all time, has dropped on Netflix in the UK.
It seems great timing as everyone has been talking about how the new BBC Two comedy Mammoth is like Life on Mars in reverse. While in Mammoth, PE teacher Tony Mammoth is frozen in the 1970s and wakes up in the modern day, Life on Mars’s hero, Sam Tyler (John Simm) is a modern cop who is struck by a car and apparently wakes up in the 1970s.
While Mammoth is purely a comedy, Life on Mars is very much a drama, although with plenty of funny moments.
In the 1970s, Sam Tyler finds himself under a prehistoric beer-swilling boss called DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Sam is reluctantly forced to team up with Gene to tackle crimes in the 1970s, while trying to work out a way of returning home to the modern era.
The series was notable for some truly classic exchanges between the pair, an example being:
Sam Tyler: "I need a drink."
Gene: "That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said since you got here."
Both series of Life on Mars have landed on Netflix, but if you want to see the spin-off, Ashes to Ashes, you’ll have to head to BBC iPlayer.
There was talk of a third series of Life on Mars, but it was revealed last year that it had been scrapped. Philip Glenister later opened up about the decision to ditch the series, which was to be called Lazurus.
"I'm fine with (Lazarus being canceled)" he said. "To be honest, I just think we've done it really. I mean, it's that thing of would do you want to go back and it's not going to be as good? And then you get remembered for that, as opposed to an iconic sort of show.
"In that respect, I was never as enthusiastic about it as others. From my point of view, it was a career-changer playing that character, but it also became a little bit of a noose around one's neck. You knew you weren't going to get seen to play any other detective, because you're so entwined with that character."
Life on Mars is available on Netflix now.
