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ASHES TO ASHES |
Alex Drake - Keeley Hawes Gene Hunt - Philip Glenister Ray Carling - Dean Andrews Chris Skelton - Marshall Lancaster Sharon 'Shaz' Granger - Montserrat Lombard 
OTHER ASHES TO ASHES SERIES Series 1 PARENT SERIES Life on Mars Series 1 Life on Mars Series 2 OTHER TIME TRAVEL SHOWS Doctor Who Journeyman Goodnight Sweetheart Timecop Daybreak 
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Episode 1 - first transmitted 20th April 2009When a young, and apparently straight, constable is found dead after a sordid sex game, it is clearly an open and shut case of accidental, and very embarrassing death. Alex, still stuck in her imaginary past, isn't willing to let it go at that and uncovers a murder, a murder that hints at a much larger conspiracy. ASHES TO ASHES is back and the first episode proves to be intriguing enough to banish memories of the uneveness of the first season. First things first, what remains the same? The characters haven't changed. Gene Hunt is still the straight talking, no compromise hard man that he always believed himself to be and Philip Glenister inhabits the character with an ease that he couldn't bring to his time in DEMONS. He also gets to show his human side as a young, and relatively innocent, stripper dies in his arms. Keeley Hawes, who improved throughout the last run manages to get through the whole thing without being annoying once, either to her colleagues or to the audience. In fact, her reaction to her colleagues in the strip club is one of the funny moments. The accidental death/murder story is pure police procedural and in itself nothing special, but it does hint at a bigger picture that will no doubt emerge as we go through the eight episodes of the series. There are far fewer references to the period, the 80s being hammered home mainly through the overinsistent pop soundtrack. The image of Soho as back streets full of seedy sex dens, tired and disillusioned prostitutes and sad punters is well-evoked and recent enough to be brought easily to mind. The women who inhabit it are also well sketched from the cynical madam to the stripper who still wants to be an actress. Alex is starting to hear voices and sounds that suggest her body in the present has been found and this is so reminiscent of LIFE ON MARS in how it's been done that you almost wince. Best of all, however, is the evil shadow who drugs and kidnaps Alex, apparently also being a traveller in time. This is a new wrinkle and we can't wait to see where that takes us. With Chris doing a full-monty strip being the comic highlight, this is a solid opening episode with some dark hints of what is to come and it looks like the second season of ASHES TO ASHES is going to improve on the first. TopEpisode 2 - first transmitted 27th April 2009The computer is telling Alex that the crash team is on its way and she can hear helicopters where there are none. An investigation into the death of a gypsy leads Gene into the murky world of the Masons and the culture of corruption that is crippling the Metropolitan police. The sense of deja vu continues to hang over this second season of ASHES TO ASHES as the visions and sounds of Alex's real life are almost identical to those suffered by Sam Tyler in LIFE ON MARS. The stuff done with the Masons is also familiar, having been done many times, most similarly in an episode of INSPECTOR MORSE, but the fact that it is Gene Hunt gives it a kick up the bum. The depiction of the period continues to be one of the strengths of the new season, understated, but grounding the show in place and time. The performances as well are up to the mark with all the characters getting their small moments, not least Chris popping the question to Shazz. It's hugely watchable, but there is a sense of something missing. TopEpisode 3 - first transmitted 4th May 2009A vivisectionist is petrol bombed in a fashion reminiscent of a bombing from years before. Gene and Alex visit the perpetrator of the first crime in prison where he is on hunger strike. Alex is convinced that he knows who is carrying out the new set of attacks, but she also comes to believe that he knows something about the truth of her situation. The criminal investigation at the heart of this week's episode is typical of many police procedurals out there, though it benefits from the characters that have been established. There aren't any real surprises in whodunnit, but the journey to finding out is agreeable enough, especially thanks to Philip Glenister as the ever dependable Gene Hunt. The moment where he flaunts fish and chips in front of the hunger striker is masterfully ruthless. There are shades of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in the relationship between Alex and the imprisoned animal rights protestor, but if you're going to crib you may as well do it from the best. The sequences of Alex's real life situation with Morph on the television trying to resuscitate her and visions of paramedics are all very well done, but we saw them all in LIFE ON MARS and so they are getting repetitive. That said, the episode then drops a bombshell as Hunt refuses to carry out the task set by his Masonic brother and finds that he is on the list to be transferred to Plymouth. TopEpisode 4 - first transmitted 11th May 2009Young girls arriving from the north into London are going missing. This information comes from a former acquaintance of Gene's who also calmly announces that the baby she is carrying is his. One of the missing girls is her niece. The investigation leads to a ring of men who are willing to pay for sex with underage girls, preferably virgins. It also leads to Mack, Hunt's corrupt boss. Were it not for the character of Gene Hunt then this show would be indistinguishable from many other police procedural shows. The main plotline is hardly original or exciting, relying on far too many sequences of an Audi Quattro racing through empty streets for no reason to inject a bit of excitement. It is down, therefore, to the incidental pleasures of the show to keep it alive. The high point and low point collide as Hunt's solution to guard dog problems goes unnoticed when it should have sent the villains scurrying for cover. The comeuppance of the corrupt boss is satisfyingly managed and carries the plot arc onwards with its revelation that 'operation rose is coming', revealing that Mack wasn't the man at the top, but it also feels a bit forced, trying to get all of that into one episode. Hunt's relationship with the mouthy pregnant Glaswegian journalist and Alex's subsequent ill humour (jealousy at all?) is the heart of the episode, providing the fun moments. Eminently watchable, but missing something that made its parent show great. TopEpisode 5 - first transmitted 18th May 2009A family is burgled and Alex recognises the name - Drake. It's the parents of the man with whom she would later have her daughter. Torn by the fact that she cannot change what has already happened, she determines to catch the villain, but it turns out to be a man who has been dead for years. ASHES TO ASHES bounces right back with an episode that manages to balance the crime aspect with the more fantastical elements without undermining either. The solution to the whodunnit is fairly obvious, so it is surprising that it takes Gene and Co so long to crack it, but for once the crime isn't the centre of the story. Bringing Alex face to face with the people that she knows and loves (or will love) gives plenty of scope for humour, especially when dealing with the man who would later dump her shortly after their daughter was (will be) born. That relationship gives Keely Hawes all her good lines. Philip Glenister continues to get fed great material as Gene Hunt, but there is a surprisingly strong character story for Ray, giving Dean Andrews a chance to do more than play the comic relief. And then there's the man with the roses. Alex comes face to face with the man who kidnapped and tortured her, the man who may be the key to getting her back to the real world. He's a cop who's also dying and so that begs the question of whether this place is a purgatory for police officers on the edge of death, a real place rather than one that she has imagined. That would explain how she and Sam Tyler could both come there, but not how he saw Manchester and she's seeing London. These confrontations are creepy moments and up the fantasy factor quite considerably, lighting up the show once again with a sense of mystery that was stalling a bit over recent episodes. TopEpisode 6 - first transmitted 25th May 2009Alex believes that she is being operated on and that the operation has gone well. Her time in the make-believe 80s is nearly up. In the meantime, however, there is a case to be solved. A man found in the canal leads to a vicious loan shark, but the lack of evidence means that proving the case is going to need Gene Hunt levels of persuasion. Alex's slow march to going home reflects Sam Tyler's in LIFE ON MARS that it is really detracting from what is otherwise a perfectly sound drama serial. The case here is straightforward enough and the killer is obvious from very early on, but the pleasure with ASHES TO ASHES is in the characters, not the plot. Philip Glenister is his usual good value as the irascible Gene Hunt, Keely Hawes is good as Alex Drake and the comic relief of the supporting characters continues to work. Now if only they could do something with that deja vu. TopEpisode 7 - first transmitted 1st June 2009An investigation into murder at the Docklands development site throws up the very real possibility that one of Gene's officers is feeding information back to the suspected villain, so he sets a trap. Alex, meanwhile, is thrown when Martin Summers shows up, not as the rose-loving shadowy dying man, but as a fresh-faced young copper with a desire to do some good in the world. SPOILER ALERT - it is impossible to properly review this without giving away secrets. Don't read on if you don't want to know. Well this is a turn up for the books and no mistake. Apart from the embarrassing speech that Alex makes at a colleague's birthday party, there is little dwelling on her Alex's going home, but the arrival of the young Martin Summers is a welcome twist, but nothing compared to what happens when he meets his older self on the construction site. We're not sure that Alex's reaction to that situation is believable, but it certainly is dramatic. The real emotional jolt is when Hunt is faced with the person who has betrayed him, a trusted officer and one of the major characters. This is quality drama writing. The story behind it may be a little unbelievable (he doesn't know who he's been dealing information for, everything was run remotely etc), but it doesn't matter at the time because it's a gut punch to both the boss and to the audience. Marshall Lancaster is given the chance to do his best work of the series and to truly be more than the comic relief, backed up by Philip Glenister's glowering, internalised Hunt. For character drama, this is the show's finest hour to date. TopEpisode 8 - first transmitted 8th June 2009Alex learns from her surgeon that the operation was a success, but she now has an infection and the antibiotics that they are using are so powerful that they can only use 50ml of the stuff. The death of an informant puts Alex onto the trail of Operation Rose once again and Chris's disgrace proves to be an advantage. SPOILER ALERT - it is impossible to properly review this without giving away secrets. Don't read on if you don't want to know. It's season finale time and the team have come up with something special to sign off this second series with. All of the plot threads that have been waving around are finally woven together into a story that almost makes sense, certainly proves to be exciting and provides closure for most of the characters, closure of a sort anyway. The police procedural is fairly straightforward this time around, but tying it into the Brinks Mat bullion gold robbery is really clever stuff. This, though, is the finale and the police investigation comes secondary to the few things have to be sorted out about Alex's situation. Her final encounter with Martin Summers is particularly satisfying, and surprising. The characters continue to be really well written and when it comes down to Alex telling Gene the truth then he reacts in a way that is absolutely right for the man. Philip Glenister bestrides the show as Gene Hunt, but Keely Hawes has risen to match him and even the more minor characters get their moments as well. And the cliffhanger, well that's a hell of a thing that throws everything we thought we knew right out of the window. Classic way to end a series. There's no way we can go without a third now. Top |
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