Life On Mars & Ashes To Ashes, Ranked
My ranking of the mystery series' in which 21st century police officers find themselves at different points in 20th century...
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- DirectorS.J. ClarksonStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteThe CID team goes undercover to prevent a payroll robbery, but Sam's determination to return to 2006 endangers them all.10/10
- DirectorS.J. ClarksonStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteDCI Gene Hunt finds himself under suspicion of murder and soon all of CID are after him. But DI Sam Tyler believes otherwise. He goes to find his innocence. Even if that means making Gene dress as a road safety squirrel.10/10
- DirectorAndrew GunnStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteA very ill Sam Tyler has reason to believe that he's been given an overdose of medication in 2006. While struggling with this, he's called into CID to assist with a troubling kidnapping case. With Sam not quite himself, it's up to the rest of the team to solve the case and save the lives of a mother and daughter.10/10
- DirectorJamie PayneStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsTwo loutish policemen, Litton and Bevan, whom Hunt knew in Manchester, turn up on his patch in pursuit of ageing comic Frank Hardwick,who has allegedly robbed the Police Widows Fund. However, when someone takes a pot shot at Frank ,Hunt and his team suspect that the visitors are lying. In fact he has evidence of their corruption and is fleeing for his life. With Frank safe at Luigi's Hunt takes great pleasure in playing the couple off against each other at a police gala.10/10
- DirectorS.J. ClarksonStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteThe death of a Manchester United fan may send the city into a riot when a City fan is suspected, so Sam, Gene and Annie go undercover at a pub to get clues as to the murderer.9.5/10
- DirectorJohn McKayStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteAfter discovering most of the police force is on the take, Sam must decide how to handle it and figure a way to get DCI Hunt on board. The fact the mob boss is responsible for terrorizing his mother only firms his resolve.9.5/10
- DirectorS.J. ClarksonStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteSam believes exposing a dirty cop will make his tests in 2006 show a response, but will the sacrifice of the unit be worth it?9.5/10
- DirectorDavid DruryStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsThe question remains - did Gene hunt kill Sam Tyler? Alex needs to know and all is revealed in the final episode. Meanwhile the rest of the team are dealing with a Jewelry robbery and triple homicide: diamonds are missing and the bodies of three gang members have been discovered. Things don't help with Jim Keats stirring up trouble as usual between team members.9.5/10
- DirectorJohn AlexanderStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteSam's encounter with his father brings back memories and challenges his belief of his purpose for being in 1973.9.5/10
- DirectorAlrick RileyStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsIt's Election Night and an arsonist is setting fire to polling stations. Ray believes they have a military background given the devices used but is reluctant to believe the culprit, identified by an eye-witness, is fireman and ex-Falklands War hero Andy Smith who saved Ray's life. Andy is taken into custody,during which another fire is started, leading Alex to believe that a triangle involving Andy,his wife and his brother is the key to the crimes.Jim tries to persuade Ray to leave Hunt's team and join him.9/10
- DirectorDavid DruryStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsThe penultimate episode where the investigation of Gene Hunt is almost at an end, with Alex being pulled in two directions. Jim still wants to know whether Gene had anything to do with Sam Tyler's death, and Alex is best placed to find out everything they need to know so he's leaning hard on her to get the information. Gene and his team are called to an ANC illegal drinking den where things are not as they first appear to be. Initially it's a simple case of a public disorder but things soon take a turn for the worse.9/10
- DirectorRichard ClarkStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteManchester is beset with bomb threats that Gene readily pins on the IRA, but Sam's knowledge of history makes him doubt Gene's assertion. However, messages from 2006 and a grave mistake in 1973 are giving Sam reason to question his own judgment.9/10
- DirectorDavid DruryStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsAlex wakes up to find herself back in 1983 where Gene Hunt is on the run after shooting her, three months previously. His unit is being run by none other than Ray! Meanwhile the rest of the unit in involved with the abduction of Dorothy, a young girl, on her way to school. To make matters worse a ransom is demanded by the kidnappers, and it's up to the team to find the culprits - fast.9/10
- DirectorJohn AlexanderStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteA hostage situation becomes increasingly more nerve-wracking for Sam when he discovers the hostage taker's deadline coincides with the time that his life support machine is due to be turned off in 2006. Meanwhile Annie gets sent into the room with the hostage taker, dressed as a nurse, in an attempt to gain information about the situation.9/10
- DirectorPhilip JohnStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsHaving heard television puppet Orville claim that she 'has made it to hospital' Alex attends at a burglary of her future in-laws and 14-year-old spouse-to-be, who obviously fail to recognize her. The thief's fingerprints are those of a crook who faked his death years earlier but has had a sex change, re-emerging as home beautician Gaynor who uses her work to locate victims like the Drakes. Alex is visited by ex-cop Summers, who is also from the 2000s, and who offers her a path home by subscribing to the dodgy Operation Rose, but she is wary, knowing that it implies the corruption Hunt is anxious to kill, following adverse press reports of police behaviour in the wake of the death of Mackintosh and his equally dishonest buddy.8.5/10
- DirectorDavid DruryStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsA severed hand is sent to the police station and investigations link it to the murders of several women around the country,all of whom had used the Crescent Moon dating agency. After Alex has unsuccessfully carried out an experiment in speed dating, Shaz,disillusioned with her job and seeking a challenge,goes undercover to trap the killer.8.5/10
- DirectorJamie PayneStarsPhilip GlenisterJoseph LongGeff FrancisHunt heads a team sent in to quell a prison riot during which station officer Viv James is taken captive by scary lifer Jason Sacks. Sacks' cell-mate Paul Thordy escaped during the riot but is caught. He tells Alex he is Sam Tyler,though he was Sam's last arrest before he died.Ray and Chris pose as journalists going in to interview Sacks and are also taken prisoner by him.Alex does a deal with Thordy,allowing a successful storming of the jail though there is a surprise and a fatality. Jim Keats is useless throughout,his main concern being to get Alex to find out if Hunt killed Tyler. The disfigured man makes another appearance.8.5/10
- DirectorJohn McKayStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteA murder at a factory brings some nostalgia to Sam -- it's where is flat is in the future, and he and Hunt each have a tenner on which is best: Hunt's instincts or Tyler's forensics.8.5/10
- DirectorCatherine MorsheadStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsGypsy car thief Jed dies after Hunt has pursued him in a high speed chase and Hunt and Mackintosh put out a cover-up story to exonerate Hunt. Drugs are found on the corpse and the whole camp is arrested including an old lady who tells Alex's fortune and recognizes her parallel existence. The deceased was known to abuse his pregnant girlfriend Alva and Alex believes that seemingly altruistic local Dr. Battleford, the camp's G.P., fed Jed lethal pills, as he was in love with Alva and is the baby's father. She is eventually proved to be right and Alex and Hunt deliver Alva's child. An even more bizarre alliance is formed when Hunt buys Alex's view that Hales was a pawn in a conspiracy to kill officer Irvine and joins the Masons to gain Mackintosh's confidence.8.5/10
- DirectorRichard ClarkStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteSam and Annie investigate a world of suburban swingers' parties to investigate a murder.8.5/10
- DirectorS.J. ClarksonStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteSam is experiencing visions and pains that suggest that his life is in danger in 2006. At the same time, he runs into the younger version Tony Crane, a twenty-first century killer who Sam helped to convict. Sam comes to believe that Crane has escaped justice in 2006 and has come to wreak revenge on his comatose nemesis by torturing him...to death.8.5/10
- DirectorS.J. ClarksonStarsJohn SimmPhilip GlenisterLiz WhiteSam receives messages from 2006 saying that his mentor, Glen Fletcher (Ray Emmet Brown) has died. He's shocked to meet a younger version of Fletcher in 1973, especially when he finds that his mentor has not yet grown into the man who he looked up to. Meanwhile, a prisoner's escape triggers Sam's suspicions about crooked dealings within the CID.8.5/10
- DirectorJonny CampbellStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsIt's the biggest day of Alex's life: the day her parents were killed. She believes that if she can prevent this from happening she can leave the prison of 1981 and get back to her daughter Molly. With Gene waylaid by a station inspection, Alex needs to use every ounce of her strength and energy to stop the elements coming together, throw a cog into the wheel of fate, and finally return home.8.5/10
- DirectorPhilip JohnStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsColin Mitchell's corpse is found in a canal and his father Stanley points the finger at vicious loan shark Riley who once employed Colin. Alex - witnessing her successful operation in the 2000s via an out of body experience - finds Riley too obvious, even though Colin and his wife Donna were planning to flee the country to escape him, and first Stanley, then Hunt, are assaulted by Riley's goons. Hunt terrorizes Riley in a junk-yard but Alex's belief in his innocence is eventually exonerated. Shazz and Chris, after arguing, agree on their wedding plans.8.5/10
- DirectorCatherine MorsheadStarsPhilip GlenisterKeeley HawesDean AndrewsAlex and DCI Hunt lead a raid on a construction site where a drug deal is being finalized. They also discover a partially buried body in a bed of freshly poured cement. For Hunt, making the drug bust and finding the the body is just a bit too convenient. He suspects the building site foreman of being up to something but can't quite put his finger on it. He soon realizes however that someone on the team is leaking information and he sets an elaborate trap to learn who it is. Alex meanwhile knows she's about to come out of surgery in her waking life and Summers, the rogue copper from her own time, warns her that her time is running short. She is shocked however when she meets the young PC Summers who approaches Hunt with a story about crooked cops and requesting his assistance.8.5/10