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Ashes To Ashes Series Two
Series 2 of the Life On Mars spin off, Ashes To Ashes, takes place in 1982. DI Alex Drake remains stuck in the past, desperately wanting to return to her daughter. As she feels she’s starting to get to grips with the world she has found herself in, surprising news from the future begins to change all she thought she new. Is Alex actually alone in her predicament, as she thought, or has someone else come back from the future? DCI Gene Hunt remains a fiery force for good, but even he finds himself with doubts of his own, as Hunt and his team find themselves facing a conspiracy that could go right to the top. With corrupt cops apparently everywhere, who can Hunt and Drake trust? Can they even trust each other?
Ashes To Ashes remains an original and high quality cop series with a twist. This season is darker than the first, whilst retaining the sense of humour and classic one-liners that made it a joy to watch the first time round. Creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh appear to have listened to the criticisms levelled towards the series first time round and have made adjustments.
Philip Glenister remains a joy to watch as Gene Hunt, however the character is moving away from the caricature it was dangerous of becoming. Hunt has been given a bit more depth, but this has not taken away from what made the character great in the first place. If anything it adds to our pleasure, finding out a little more about what makes DCI Gene Hunt tick.
Keeley Hawes goes from strength to strength this time around as well. Hawes came in for some criticism in the first series, mainly levelled at her performance. However Hawes has strengthened her performance and DI Alex Drake feels less of a one-note character, with Hawes being given the opportunity to stretch herself with some decent scripts.
Marshall Lancaster, Dean Andrews and Montserat Lompard all give strong performances throughout, with each being given more than one opportunity throughout the series to shine. Lancaster is the highlight, with some really meaty material being thrown his way, and you can tell he relishes the chance to get his teeth into it. Lompard herself gets some absolutely excellent scenes, with a brilliant moment in the final episode.
The storylines are stronger this time round, with a less episodic feel. The writers have given all of the characters more to do, with ongoing subplots for most of them. The police corruption plot, running alongside Drakes own predicaments, means there is a lot more to see here and the series is stronger because of it.
With good humour throughout, strong performances and plenty of ball busting action, Ashes To Ashes goes from strength to strength throughout, only improving as it goes along. The series ends with a hell of a killer final episode, and its great news to hear that it has been renewed for a third season. I,for one, can’t wait.
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