History Series / LifeonMars2006

* FootballHooligans: Manchester United and City thugs battle it out in Series 1, Episode 5.

* AnachronismStew: Upon Sam Tyler awaking in 1973, he finds himself on a building site beneath a large advertising board proclaiming the construction of a new motorway, the Mancunian Way. In reality, the construction of Mancunian Way was completed in 1967. According to Matthew Graham, writing in the Radio Times, the error was deliberate. "We knew that this road was built in the 1960s, but we took a bit of artistic license". Minor historical anachronisms such as this are present throughout the series. Some were made out of artistic license whilst others were deliberately inserted to confuse the issue of whether Sam was in a coma, mad or really back in time. Many inaccuracies were visible such as modern street furniture, cable television cabinets, satellite television dishes, CCTV cameras, LCD digital watches and double-glazed uPVC window frames, which were all unintentional.[36] During DVD commentaries for the series, the programme makers acknowledge these as errors but also point out they are perfectly feasible, given Sam's situation. As the popularity of the series grew, the hunting of such anachronisms became a favourite pastime among Life on Mars fans.

* BornInTheWrongCentury: Reg Cole

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Played for laughs in the following exchange with a convicted sheep buggerer:

-->'''Dickie Fingers''': What do you think I am, a nonce? [[note]] A paedophile[[/note]]

** Sam doesn't escape either. In Series 1 he would occasionally let his mask slip but continues to play the 1970s copper to everyone except [[TheConfidant Annie]] even when he's convinced that the whole thing is a product of his imagination. By Series 2 he seemingly has thrown all such caution to the wind and, amongst other things, [[spoiler: admits he is from the future to a man he is currently investigating for murder, and rants at his future mentor about everything that they have been through together despite having just met him in 1973]].

* FramingTheGuiltyParty: When Sam tries it, it causes {{Stable Time Loop}}s of a sort Sam doesn't really want. When Gene Hunt tries it, Sam objects.
** Episode 2-5 has a unique twist: a man, Simon Lamb, has had his wife and daughter kidnapped in order to get Grahame Bathurst, a teenager who was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend a few years previously, set free because the kidnapper believes him to be innocent. At one point, Simon desperately confesses to having committed the murder so that the police can set Grahame free, although the police don't believe him. It is eventually revealed that Simon was targeted because the kidnapper ([[spoiler:the murdered girl's father]]) also believes him to be guilty, but this is chalked up to the kidnapper having become deranged through bottling up his suspicions. At the very ends of the episode, Sam and Gene realize an important detail which points to [[spoiler: Simon Lamb being the actual killer, meaning that Simon attempted to frame himself earlier in the episode and the murdered girl's father's plot to kidnap Simon's family was an attempt to get the police to re-open the case]].

* HaveWeMetYet

** Gene Hunt also complains at one point that the station toilets are out of bog roll, and he had to wipe his backside with Franny Lee[[note]]in other words, he had to use the sports page of the newspaper[[/note]]. Francis Lee was still playing football in 1973, but after he retired he went into business selling toilet paper.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler: The finale we actually got instead of the aforementioned DarkerAndEdgier one. Sam jumps, ends up back in the 70s and runs into Annie. They talk and have the BigDamnKiss...at which point Gene roars up in the car and tells Sam to put her down, 'cause they've got a case. And so they all hop in and ride off to kick more criminal arse.]]
* ArmedBlag
* ArtisticLicenseLaw: During an interview John Stalker, Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester in the early 1980s and himself a Detective Inspector in 1973, has stated that the depiction of the police "has got nothing to do with real policing in the 1970s. It could not be more inaccurate in terms of procedure, the way they talk or the way they dress. In all the time I was in the CID in the 1970s I never saw a copper in a leather bomber jacket and I never heard an officer call anyone 'guv'...Actually, there were a few police officers in London who started to behave like Regan and Carter in ''Series/TheSweeney'', but that was a case of life following art, not the other way round". The journalist who interviewed Stalker, Ray King, remarks that the depiction of the police can be defended if we assume that Sam is indeed in a coma and that we are seeing his imaginary idea of 1973, filtered through 1970s police shows.

--> '''Gene:''' I'm not a Catholic meself, [[spoiler: Mr. Warren]], but isn't there something about "Thou shalt not [[HookersAndBlow suck off rent boys]]"?

* ParallelPornTitles: Quite a few in Series 1, Episode 8 after the cops raid a makeshift studio that's churning out porno flicks. Gene Hunt, a big fan of Westerns, is not impressed by the fact that one of them is called ''[[Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest Once Upon A Time In Her Vest]]''. Others include ''[[Film/TheFrenchConnection The French Letter Connection]]''[[note]] a 'French letter' being a somewhat old-fashioned British slang term for a condom[[/note]] and ''[[Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService On Her Majesty's Secret Cervix]]''.

* WitnessProtection: A central plot point of one episode.

* FairCop: A lot of the cast are really good looking, especially Annie Cartwright and Chris Skelton. Of course, fandom is gaga for Gene Hunt, [[strike:even when]] ''especially'' when he's running around in bad seventies swims and pasty white skin. And if you're not too keen on Gene's looks (*ducks fruit*), there's always Sam in those open-necked shirts and those tight flares that show off his legs ''marvelously''.

*** "And his wife..." "[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Sookie.]]"

** "Red Rum! Red Rum!" It's not just [[UsefulNotes/HorseRacing the horse]] [[Film/TheShining he's referencing]] here.

* PocketProtector: Gene is saved from a bullet by a flask of whiskey. Lampshaded and parodied immediately.

* InformedAbility: According to Gene, Ray Carling "collars more villains than this entire department put together". We viewers just see him as Sam's main antagonist, a junior CowboyCop who's [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter not as likeable as Gene]]. Then {{Flanderization}} kicks in for Series 2 and he becomes slovenly and borderline-incompetent.

* YouDoNotHaveToSayAnything: Subverted. British police used a different caution in 1973 than the one Sam is used to from 2007. Sam repeatedly tries and fails to recite the 70's version, at one point coming up with the [[MirandaRights Miranda Warning]].

* TheSeventies: The clothing, the hair, the cars, the music and -- as far as the ladies are concerned -- plenty of blue eyeshadow.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Skelton and Carling.

* InformedAbility: The reason why Gene is so keen to cover up [[CowboyCop Ray Carling]] being responsible for the death of a suspect in custody in Series 1 Episode 7 is that Ray "collars more villains than this entire department put together". Thanks to {{Flanderization}}, though, Ray becomes more slovenly and incompetent as the show progresses.

* NoodleImplements: What Gene calls a dream involves [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Dors Diana Dors]] and a bottle of chip oil.

* RunningGag: "That's not how it goes!" (Sam constantly getting the YouDoNotHaveToSayAnything speech wrong); "You are surrounded by armed bastards!" (even carried over to ''Series/AshesToAshes2008''); Gene's flasks and fondness for American [[TheWestern westerns]].

* SarcasticConfession: Two of the mill workers in Series 1, Episode 3 find out the wrong way that you do ''not'' joke about a confession to Sam Tyler.

* TheSeventies: Manifested as seventies clothing, hair, and unfortunate blue eyeshadow.

* ShirtlessScene: Opening of Episode 2 features a couple of PC's going after a criminal in a Speedo. Only Sam's wearing a shirt.

** Stingers.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ray is always making disparaging remarks about Annie, as well as minorities and women in general, but we let Gene get away with it because we ''like'' Gene.

* ParallelPornTitles: Quite a few in Series 1, Episode 8 after the cops raid a makeshift studio that's churning out porno flicks. Gene Hunt, a big fan of Westerns, is not impressed by the fact that one of them is called ''[[Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest Once Upon A Time In Her Vest]]''. Others include ''[[Film/TheFrenchConnection The French Letter Connection]]''[[note]] a 'French letter' being a somewhat old-fashioned British slang term for a condom[[/note]] and ''[[Film/OnHerMajestys SecretService On Her Majesty's Secret Cervix]]''.

* {{Gayngster}}: Steven Warren, the nightclub owner who's shown to have all the cops in his pocket in episode 1.4. His homosexuality is an open secret (his Catholic background prevents him from being fully 'out'), which gives Gene the chance to list a number of ''very'' politically-incorrect euphemisms when he explains this to Sam, who was unaware of this. It also leads to the following exchange when Gene and Sam walk in on him during an intimate moment with a young sex-worker:
-->'''Gene:''' I'm not a Catholic myself, Mr Warren, but isn't there something in the Bible that says "thou shalt not suck off rent boys"?
-->'''Warren:''' How dare you come in here!
-->'''Gene:''' [pointing at the young sex-worker, who is making a quick exit] You should've said that to him!

** Gene Hunt also complains at one point that the station toilets are out of bog roll, and he had to wipe his backside with Franny Lee[[note]]ie use the sports page of the newspaper[[/note]]. Francis Lee was still playing football in 73, but after he retired he went into business selling toilet paper.

* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: Gene uses one to explain to Sam that [[spoiler:Warren is a {{Gayngster}}]]
--> '''Gene:''' [[spoiler: Steven Warren]] is a bum-bandit. Do you understand? A poof! A fairy! A queer! A queen! Fudge packer! Uphill Gardener! Fruit picking sodomite!
--> '''Sam:''' ...He's gay?
--> '''Gene:''' As a ''bloody'' Christmas Tree!

** "Red rum! Red rum!"

** Gene Hunt is the quintessential jerkass and bad cop. But in Series 1, Episode 2, when he tries to frame Kim Trent to stop him committing further crimes, and Sam insists on letting Trent go due to lack of ''real'' evidence, Kim Trent eventually goes on to [[spoiler: commit another armed robbery and attempted murder.]]
** Though at the same time, whilst Sam sticks to his principles and ends up being right much of the time, he sometimes comes across as this. Played straight in Series 1 Episode 3, where all the evidence points to Ted Bannister as the murderer despite Sam's misgivings. It turns out [[spoiler: he was right, and the victim really died due to an industrial accident with a drive belt that snapped.]]

** Sam has another brief (and very disturbing) one after Joni Newton slips him a Mickey

* NoodleImplements: What Gene calls a dream involves Diana Dors and a bottle of chip oil.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Subverted in episode 1.4 when Joanie drugs Sam and forces herself on him [[spoiler: as part of Steven Warren's [[HoneyTrap plan to blackmail him]] after he refuses to be bribed]]. The act itself is shown as nightmarish and disconcerting, but everyone at the station assumes Sam planned to get laid, essentially blaming Sam for his own assault.

** Similarly, Ray becomes even more slovenly and incompetent in Series 2, despite Gene's assurance that he collars "more villains than this entire department put together."

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Subverted in episode 1.4 when Joanie drugs Sam and forces herself on him [[spoiler: as part of Steven Warren's plan to blackmail him after he refuses to be bribed]]. The act itself is shown as nightmarish and disconcerting, but everyone at the station assumes Sam planned to get laid, essentially blaming Sam for his own assault.

* DisappearedDad: The final episode of series 1 has Sam meeting his just before he disappears
* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Subverted--the act is shown as nightmarish and disconcerting, but everyone at the station assumes Sam planned to get laid, essentially blaming Sam for his own assault.
-->'''Chris:''' Someone called for you, sir. I told 'em you were [[ObligatoryJoke all tied up]].

* ThematicThemeTune: ''Life on Mars'' by Music/DavidBowie. The lyrics are about a girl fleeing domestic violence escapes into the make-believe world of the cinema, as well as referencing the growth of consumer culture and the [[spoiler:overall premise being [[PurgatoryAndLimbo: purgatorial]] rather than time travel]]. Plus it contains lyrics such as:

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Subverted--the act is shown as nightmarish and disconcerting, and everyone at the station assumes Sam planned to get laid, essentially blaming Sam for his own assault.
-->'''Chris:''' Someone called for you, sir. Told 'em you were [[ObligatoryJoke all tied up]].

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: There's this example for Gene in the first episode, which might also be an Establishing Moment for the series:

-->'''Dickie Fingers''': What do you think I am, a nonce? [[note]] A paedophile[[/note]].

** Sam doesn't escape either. In Series 1 he would occasionally let his mask slip but continues to play the 1970s copper to everyone except [[TheConfidant Annie]] even when he's convinced that the whole thing is a product of his imagination. By Series 2 he seemingly has thrown all such caution to the wind and, amongst other things, [[spoiler: admits he is from the future to a man he is currently investigating for murder, and rants at his future mentor about everything that they have been through together despite having just met him in 1973.]]

** Episode 2-5 has a unique twist: a man, Simon Lamb, has had his wife and daughter kidnapped in order to get Grahame Bathurst, a teenager who was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend a few years previously, set free because the kidnapper believes him to be innocent. At one point, Simon desperately confesses to having committed the murder so that the police can set Grahame free, although the police don't believe him. It is eventually revealed that Simon was targeted because the kidnapper ([[spoiler:the murdered girl's father]]) also believes him to be guilty, but this is chalked up to the kidnapper having become deranged through bottling up his suspicions. At the very ends of the episode, Sam and Gene realize an important detail which points to [[spoiler: Simon Lamb being the actual killer, meaning that Simon attempted to frame himself earlier in the episode and the murdered girl's father's plot to kidnap Simon's family was an attempt to get the police to re-open the case]]

[[caption-width-right:350:You are surrounded by Armed Bastards.]]

''Life on Mars'' was followed by ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'', which shared some of the cast. Although the first two series of ''Ashes to Ashes'' were largely standalone stories, the third featured numerous connections to ''Life on Mars'', and finally explained the truth about what was happening all along, with the creators describing it as "the fifth series of ''Life on Mars''". '''This means that even if you've watched the ''Life on Mars'' finale, this page still contains spoilers.'''

[[caption-width-right:350:[-You are surrounded by Armed Bastards.-] ]]

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LOM_9279.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:[-You are surrounded by Armed Bastards.-] ]]

It was remade into an American show, also called ''[[Series/LifeOnMars2008 Life on Mars]]'', and a Spanish show called ''La chica de ayer''. A Russian remake called ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' came out in 2012, sending their protagonist back before the [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp fall of communism]] in 1979, with a second season in the works, set in an alternate 2011 where USSR still exists. Inspired Czech sort-of remake ''Svět pod hlavou'' [[note]]''World Under the Head''[[/note]] with a set up similar to the Russian one. A South Korean version aired in 2018. Reportedly, a Chinese version set in the 1990s is in the works as of 2019.

It was remade into an American show, also called ''[[Series/LifeOnMars2008 Life on Mars]]'', and a Spanish show called ''La chica de ayer''. A Russian remake called ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' came out in 2012, sending their protagonist back before the [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp fall of communism]] in 1979, with a second season in the works, set in an alternate 2011 where USSR still exists. Inspired Czech sort-of remake ''Svět pod hlavou'' [[note]]''World Under the Head''[[/note]] with a set up similar to the Russian one. A South Korean version began in 2018. Reportedly, a Chinese version set in the 1990s is in the works as of 2019.

[[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers Detective Chief Inspector (DCI)]] Sam Tyler is an experienced, [[ByTheBookCop by-the-book police detective]] living in the year 2006. One day while investigating the disappearance of another police officer, he is hit by a car and wakes up in the year 1973. He is still a member of the police, but as a [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers Detective Inspector (DI)]] under the command of DCI Gene Hunt, a boisterous, bigoted and corrupt product of the times who relies on gut instinct and merciless brutality to fight crime.

It was remade into an American show, also called ''[[Series/LifeOnMars2008 Life on Mars]]'', and a Spanish show called ''La chica de ayer''. A Russian remake called ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' came out in 2012, sending their protagonist back before the [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp fall of communism]] in 1979, with a second season in the works, set in an alternate 2011 where USSR still exists. Inspired Czech sort-of remake ''Svět pod hlavou'' [[note]]''World Under the Head''[[/note]] with a set up similar to the Russian one. A South Korean version began in 2018.

It was remade into an American show, also called ''[[Series/LifeOnMars2008 Life on Mars]]'', and a Spanish show called ''La Chica de Ayer''. A Russian remake called ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' came out in 2012, sending their protagonist back before the [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp fall of communism]] in 1979, with a second season in the works, set in an alternate 2011 where USSR still exists. Inspired Czech sort-of remake ''Svět pod hlavou'' [[note]]''World Under the Head''[[/note]] with a set up similar to the Russian one. A South Korean version began in 2018.

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: The collision and time travel sequence occurs about ten or fifteen minutes into the first episode. Up until that point, the show appears in all respects to be a perfectly mundane (if rather uninspired) contemporary police drama. The opening credits sequence, which explicitly spells out the show's premise, is not shown until the very end of the first episode, presumably to maintain this element of surprise.