I hate to say it, but I wasn’t impressed with Ashes to Ashes. I mean, it was alright, but I don’t think it compared at all to Life on Mars.

There is a chance for redemption, of course. Life on Mars was nearly a total washout at the end, but was saved by a fucking fantastic final fifteen minutes. And that’s taking alliteration one step too far.

But I don’t think that redemption will happen in the second series. Because the show is too different from Life on Mars, and the writers are too smart, to follow that same redemptive path.

Whereas LoM was slow burning because you knew something unexpected was going to happen, AtA seems to relish in getting the big excitement in in the flashback, so there’s little to look forward to. And there’s more; obviously I can’t identify with the protagonist as much (not being a female and not having much time for psychoanalysis). And the music in the 80s, frankly was rubbish compared to the 70s stuff. And Gene Hunt would not get that confused by a woman being about.

Oh, and I hate hate hate the way that Drake pronounces the word ‘daughter’.

So, to sum up, there are a good few things that I don’t like, and these don’t make me hopeful for the second season to drag it up to the level of being a worthy successor to Life on Mars.

But, as always, I’d loved to be proved wrong…