|
|
Narrative
|
My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.
BBC Fish Out Of Water crime drama, 2006-2007; there was a deliberate decision to end the show after two seasons.
DCI (Detective Chief Inspector, the American equivalent would be Chief of Detectives) Sam Tyler is a normal 2006 detective. Until he gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973...
He's still a police officer, but a DI (Detective Inspector, roughly equivalent to an American police detective) now. He's got to get used to a policing world with no DNA profiling, no computers and no Police and Criminal Evidence Act.
The seemingly most rational explanation is that he's in some kind of coma, as messages from 2006 keep entering his head... but Sam's 1973 is so perfectly detailed, down to details that he shouldn't be able to imagine, that he has no idea what's going on. More to the point, the killer who kidnapped Sam's girlfriend on the day that he was run over appears to be active in 1973. Is that why he's in 1973? If he solves the mystery in the past, can he save his girlfriend in the future... and go home?
Surprise hit character? DCI Gene Hunt. To quote Sam Tyler, he's an "overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine-stained, borderline alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding" (Hunt's response: "You make that sound a bad thing"). Sexist to boot, he's highly un-PC, highly quotable (if rather vulgar) and gained a wide range of fans.
Notable for being surprisingly sophisticated and intelligent, a critical and commercial success, as well as being artfully designed and shot.
An American version debuted in fall '08 on ABC, starring Jason O'Mara as Sam and Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt. A So Bad Its Horrible pilot, with Colm Meaney playing the Hunt role and looking a bit neutered in it, led to a recast (only O'Mara survived) and move of location to New York City. This new version has promise, possibly due to hewing as close as possible to the British original.
A Spanish version has also been announced.
A follow-on series set in 1981, called Ashes To Ashes, started in February 2008.
This show provides examples of: General Themes
|
This wiki is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.