You may recall in April we learned (here) that two of the best things ever made by the BBC – Life on Mars and sequel series Ashes to Ashes – were set to get a trilogy-closing series.
The news was revealed in the dark, long nights of lockdown by series creator Matthew Graham and there was much rejoicing here at FTN HQ.
The two series centred around DCI Gene Hunt, an unorthodox cop, perpetually stuck in the stereotype of being a TV copper, who mentored two officers lost in time – the first was Sam Tyler who was knocked over in the modern world and ended up in the 1970s wile the second was psychologist Alex Drake who found herself working under Hunt, this time in the 1980s.
The shows, by their end, became much more than the police procedural series they pretended to be and dealt with life, death and the eteranl struggle between good and evil. Honestly, if you’d not see them, you really should – the US remake of Life on Mars was ok, but lost the magic of the original.
Since April Graham and various stars from the shows have live tweeted during rewatches of Life on Mars and it’s been a lot of fun with loads of fun trivia, but as of the final rewatch a few evening ago, we have now had it confirmed that, as we had heard rumoured, the third series is to be called Lazarus.
#LifeOnMarsLive God bless you all for watching with us during lockdown. You are the stars that guide our way. We thank you. Us merry band of writers, actors, crew. We thank you and we ask you to come back for one last time.
Come home to #Lazarus
Yes. It IS the title.— Matthew Graham (@TremensDr) July 15, 2020
On top of all this, while we’ve known for a while that Hunt – the amazing Phillip Glenister – would be returning along with Sam – Doctor Who star John Simm – it seems we now have confirmation that another familair face
Later in the same thread Graham was asked if Alex would be returning – Alex being Alex Drake, played by Keeley Hawes – to which he replied: ‘We’ll never forget Alex’.
Now, the title Lazarus is clearly a nod to the Biblical story of Lazarus who returned from the grave. In Ashes to Ashes it was revealed that Alex Drake – and indeed Sam Tyler – was likely dead the whole time, making us wonder just what the context of the whole adventure really was.
Graham’s reply seems to hint that, like the cast of Life on Mars, there’s a chance Keely Hawes will be returning as Drake.
Sam, Alex and Hunt all together? I’ve waited a long time for this, folks.
Let me know your thoughts, folks…
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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