# Life on Mars...what's \*really\* going on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556 "2006-02-22T00:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/1 "2006-02-22T00:26:08Z")
I’ve just seen the latest episode of BBC’s [Life on Mars](http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/lifeonmars/), the penultimate episode of the series. I’m definately hooked, this is one of the best things of TV for a long, long time! Anyone else been watching it? I know it’s obviously not as popular as lost, but there must be other people on the dope who’ve been following it, since it’s a better show (I really like lost, but I’m not losing faith with this show). What’re your theories on what Sam’s going through? I hope next week (the finale) doesn’t end up with something crap like he wakes up back in 2006 and finds it was all just a coma… …could he really be from 1973, and he’s going to travel back to the present over the next thirty-odd years and meet everyone again? Although I dont want him to wake up and this whole '73 world disappear, I do like the idea that in order to get out of his coma, he’s got to find what he’s fighting for in 1973. Intresting take on the unconscious/subconsious mind. Even just as a drama, the whole show is brilliant, I really love the supporting characters like DCI Hunt, and WPC Cartwright. So…what are your views/reviews/ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/2 "2006-02-22T01:00:21Z")
I have only seen the first episode. A friend is an English-tele fanatic, and has people in the UK who tape random stuff and send it to her. I’m glad to hear the further episodes are as good. I have no idea what’s really going on, but I wanted to post just to agree: This is one fascinating series. I may order the DVD when it comes out (in October, I believe). I’m told that they’ve approved a second series, so that may mean that the original eight episodes leave his story unresolved. Could be frustrating to not get the explanations yet, but if the second take is as good, probably worth it. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/3 "2006-02-22T01:10:53Z")
Yeah, I just read about the second series. It’s kind of cheesy, but it’d be interesting if we end on a cliffhanger this series and he wakes up in the mid eighties. Dont know if it’d work though. Some of the people would still be there from ‘before’. ---
**Author:** ![paulmarkj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@paulmarkj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulmarkj)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/4 "2006-02-22T12:36:32Z")
I’ve watched all the episodes, but don’t like it much. It is basically old-fashioned cop vs. modern cop, which is a cliché. We know what will happen every week: 1. A crime is committed 2. Old fashioned cop says, "right you lot, arrest every villain” 3. Modern cop says, “No, we need to do psychological profiling” 4. Old fashioned cop, “I don’t what fancy things you did in Hyde, but in my nick we do it the old fashioned way” 5. New cop goes off in a huff. 6. Fight. 7. Both cops learn something. Sup-plot: Modern Cop and the policewoman flirt a very little bit. He annoys her, but they make up. All the time travel stuff play no part – it was just a device to get a modern cop and old fashioned one together. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/5 "2006-02-22T12:48:21Z")
> [@pretend my name is witty](#): > > I hope next week (the finale) doesn’t end up with something crap like he wakes up back in 2006 and finds it was all just a coma… I thought that was the whole idea from the TV mags and reviews, not sure if a twist is going to happen when the story ends. What I’ve caught of it wasn’t too bad, interesting to note that as soon as its a serious show it becomes drama, something more light hearted becomes science-fiction :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/6 "2006-02-22T13:48:15Z")
I also like the show. Spoke to my gf’s police workmates and they all love it too. The whole premise is a little shoddy, but I can’t let that get in the way of a genuinely ammusing and sometimes thought provoking programme. Didn’t know that there was a 2nd series on the cards. Hurrah. In answer to the OP, I just presumed the whole thing was imaginary… but then I didn’t think too long about it. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/7 "2006-02-22T14:05:57Z")
I think it’s a great show, being from the 70’s myself. My guess he’s in a coma but there is something mystical, which the writers haven’t thought of yet, going on. And the rasta bar-tender is probably God or an angel or something. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/8 "2006-02-22T17:29:07Z")
I think it’s a god-awful small affair. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/9 "2006-02-23T09:34:10Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > And the rasta bar-tender is probably God or an angel or something. Quantum Leap! ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/10 "2006-02-23T12:59:16Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > I think it’s a god-awful small affair. And are you a girl with mousy hair? I don’t think so. Life On Mars is good fun, and the whole “is he mad/in a coma/really a time traveller” question has been done well. But you do get the impression that the writers themselves haven’t made their mind up about which it is either. They just like the scenario. But maybe it will dove-tail together beautifully in the last episode and suddenly all will become clear. The old cop/modern cop tensions are a bit old hat, and there are more than a few holes in the plot. But if you don’t take it too seriously it’s an excellent programme. In true BBC style, the attention to detail is obvious and you do get a strong impression of 1970s in Manchester. But I wish they’d stop the clunking footie references, they’re just too obvious as period-setting devices. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/11 "2006-07-25T13:20:37Z")
Bumping this thread becuase the series is now on BBC America. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/12 "2006-07-25T14:57:46Z")
I watched the first episode on BBC America last night. It seemed a little rushed, like they should have made a longer pilot to set everything up, but I liked it. One problem I’m having is that I haven’t watched a lot of British police shows, so sometimes I can’t tell if a thing seems out of place because it’s 1973 or just because it’s British. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/13 "2006-07-25T15:17:22Z")
> [@Eleanor of Aquitaine](#): > > I watched the first episode on BBC America last night. So did I. 🙂 Reminds me of _Frequency_ with a touch of “Nowhere Man”. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/14 "2006-07-25T15:19:05Z")
Oh yeah, and [the IMDb lists an American version due next year](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787490/). ---
**Author:** ![harrylentil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/53a042/32.png) [@harrylentil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harrylentil)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/15 "2006-07-26T01:04:07Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > I think it’s a great show, being from the 70’s myself. My guess he’s in a coma but there is something mystical, which the writers haven’t thought of yet, going on. > > And the rasta bar-tender is probably God or an angel or something. Like Whoopie Goldberg in TNG? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/16 "2006-08-21T19:22:18Z")
I’ve seen the first four episodes so far. Good stuff. As **paulmarkj** indicated, there’s a bit of formula in each episode so far, but the characters’ chemistry makes up for it. I think Sam’s is a coma, but when is the question. Each episode has had a flash where we see large-buckled shoes walking in the grass. I’m wondering whether the twist at the end of the season will be that he’s asleep in the seventeenth century and dreaming of the twentieth (twenty-first). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/17 "2006-08-21T20:29:09Z")
His mom is hot! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/18 "2006-08-21T20:55:05Z")
[QUOTE=NoClueBoy] His mom is hot! [/QUOTE] Yes, she was. ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/19 "2006-08-21T22:24:00Z")
I think Sam’s in a coma in 2006, but some, most, or all of the people he meets in 1973 are also people who are, or have been, in a coma. That’s why he’s seeing the world in such detail from a time period he can’t be expected to remember all that well - he’s sharing a reality with people who were adults at the time. At a bare minimum, I think the pub regulars are fellow coma patients. I’m convinced the bartender has some sort of special role in this shared reality. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556/20 "2006-08-21T22:44:44Z")
[QUOTE=Futile Gesture] But you do get the impression that the writers themselves haven’t made their mind up about which it is either. [/QUOTE] A friend spoke to the creators and they were adamant that they knew exactly where it was going (unlike, they specified, _Lost_). Brit shows seem to do this better than US ones since they tend to have shorter seasons and series lifespans. Apparently, the theme song contains clue’s about Sam’s state (unless the creator was just jerking my friend’s chain). As for those buckled shoes… I won’t spoil it all, but that’s resolved in the first season’s finale. All in all, I think the show’s just brilliant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-mars-whats-really-going-on/345556.md?page=2)