Skip to main content

Talk Back: BBC America's "Ashes to Ashes" Series Premiere

"The shrieking of nothing is killing..."

By now, you've read my original review for Ashes to Ashes, written in February 2008 when the series first launched in the UK, and my recent second take on the darkly seductive series, after watching the whole first season.

But, now that Ashes to Ashes has aired Stateside, I am curious to know what you thought of the first episode of the sequel to Life on Mars. Are you head over heels in love with Keeley Hawes' steely-nerved Alex Drake? Are you alternately terrified and intrigued by the Pierrot clown? How awesome is Gene Hunt in the 1980s? And what's your theory on what's happened to Alex... and how does it connect to the fate of poor Sam Tyler?

(And before you ask: the song playing at the very end of the episode? It's Roxy Music's "Same Old Scene.")

Talk back here.

Next week on Ashes to Ashes, Gene Hunt is determined to keep a protest about the Docklands redevelopment under control as the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana quickly approaches, while Alex falls for a De Lorean-driving playboy.
Labels:

Comments

worldofhiglet said…
I loved 'Ashes to Ashes' because it was as surprising, confusing and seeped with the culture of the time as 'Life on Mars'.

The sense of urgency, the duality of the 'cases' vs 'last moments' were all handled really well and, to cap it all, it was just total entertainment.

The fact I grew up in England in the 80s might prejudice me to like this more than those that didn't but I really think it is excellent TV.
3/07/2009
Anonymous said…
LOVED it. Didn't watch original flavor LoM so can't say anything re: Ashes with that in mind but thought Keeley Hawes was awesome, music is great, and this Gene Hunt is much better than HK. Will definitely watch next week.
3/07/2009
Anonymous said…
Is UK Life on Mars on DVD in the US? I watched it on BBCA when it was on a few years back but wished I had it at home as I couldn't remember what happened to Sam. I thought that this was a great follow up to Life on Mars and used the mythology in an interesting way. Can't wait to see what happens next!
3/07/2009
Anonymous said…
@Jace Once again you read my mind. I was trying to figure out what that song was! Thanks for the recommendation to watch Ashes. I loved it and that last scene when Gene fills up Alex's glass all the way. Sexy!!!!!!
3/07/2009
Anonymous said…
Tuned in based on your rec and glad I did. I thought it was really interesting and different. This is the first time I saw the original Gene Hunt and think you're right that he makes Keitel look grumpy instead of imposing. Will definitely be watching next week.
3/08/2009
Hugh Jee From Jersey said…
I liked the first episode quite alot, enough for me to post a review of it on my blog, and link this page with it as well.

It is a shame the the American version of LOM has gotten the ax, but at least there will be closure.

Keeley Hawes? I didn't have a clue to who she was until last night...and I can't get her off of my mind! ASHES TO ASHES is just creepy enough to keep you coming back for more (for those of us who have a yen for creepiness).

A great show. I hope the BBC will keep cranking out new episodes for years to come.
3/08/2009
Anonymous said…
I loved seeing Gene Hunt in the 80s! I certainly missed Annie and Sam but was really impressed by Keeley Hawes as Alex Drake. I've seen her in a few things before but she really is on fire in this role and her relationship with Gene is fantastic (as are her outfits).
3/09/2009
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.
253 comments
Continue reading full story...

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season ...
135 comments
Continue reading full story...

See You in Another Life: Thoughts on The Series Finale of Lost

"No one can tell you why you're here." I'm of two minds (and two hearts) about the two-and-a-half hour series finale of Lost ("The End"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Jack Bender, which brought a finality to the story of the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 and the characters with which we've spent six years. At its heart, Lost has been about the two bookends of the human existence, birth and death, and the choices we make in between. Do we choose to live together or die alone? Can we let go of our past traumas to become better people? When we have nothing else left to give, can we make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good? In that sense, the series finale of Lost brought to a close the stories of the crash survivors and those who joined them among the wreckage over the course of more than 100 days on the island (and their return), offering up a coda to their lives and their deaths, a sort of purgatory for found, r...
82 comments
Continue reading full story...