MovieChat Forums > Life on Mars (2006) Discussion > still confused with series 1

still confused with series 1

posted 15 years ago by mungreluk
6 replies | jump to latest

Ive just finished watching LOM Series 1, and am still a bit confused.

Sam met his dad and tried to persuade him to stay with his wife and son, which was actually him as a 4 year old in those days. Note how he and we the audience didnt look at or see the kids face when he talked to him at the wedding reception.

Sam didnt get to wake up in the present day after all, so did this mean hed died in the original car accident and that this life in 1973 was permanantly in his mind ?

And if so, how did they make Series 2 interesting if we knew none of it was actually 'real' ? (Ive not seen Series 2 yet but I have seen Ashes Series 3).

[–] libra_ryu 15 years ago

And if so, how did they make Series 2 interesting if we knew none of it was actually 'real' ? (Ive not seen Series 2 yet but I have seen Ashes Series 3).

When LOM Series 2 was made, people hadn't seen Ashes S3 yet, so no one knew for sure what was going on. It was only clear that the Sam from 2006 hadn't been able to keep his family together in 1973, and that he was still stuck in 1973. Series 2 is still about trying to figure out what is happening to Sam.

[–] mungreluk 15 years ago

Ohh ok, I thought Mars was a great series anyway and its got me interested in seeing series 2 even more now.

I hear John Simm didnt want to do a 3rd and final series of Mars, I wonder why ? And apparently he was also the original choice to welcome the characters into the pub 'heaven' at the end of Ashes s3, but they went with Nelson instead.

Also, Ray was my favourite character in Ashes s3, but he was a nasty piece of work towards Sam wasnt he in Mars s1. Did his relationship towards Sam improve in the next series ?

[–] libra_ryu 15 years ago

Heard that Simm didn't want to do a third series because he wanted to move on to something else. Sounded like he was afraid of being typed cast if he kept going with the show. As for coming back at the very end of Ashes, I heard that he was thought of in the very begining stages, but in the end he wasn't even asked back - something about the people in charge thinking that he would steal Hawes's thunder.

Sam's relationship with Ray goes up and down, but is never shown to be that great. S2ep3 really gives Ray a reason to hate Sam, and while the way the show ends could give Ray another reason, they seem to come to a sort of truce. Ray and Sam never go at it like they did in series 1, though.

[–] mungreluk 15 years ago

Thanks Lib, your description has been a good one because Ive recently bought and watched both series 1 & 2.

The car bomb episode sort of makes Sam out to be a bit of a coward/baddie but he never meant that to happen to Ray, who was a tw*at anyway towards Sam.

Was that the episode where Ray said that he'd copped off with a nurse from Barnsley ?

[–] tenonceb4 15 years ago

As far as I know the creators felt they had told the story of Sam in 16 episodes. Inorder to revisit the premise, they created Ashes to Ashes and broke their own 2 series rule.

You are only limited by your own imagination.

[–] 15 years ago

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