Life on Mars

Sam Tyler is a modern 2006 detective who, in the middle of a high-pressure serial killer inquiry, is struck by a car and wakes up in 1973. He has to work with outdated radios, typewriters and patrol methods while reporting to a boss whose style is loud and unapologetic. As he balances old-school policing with the instincts of a contemporary investigator, he keeps testing whether he’s in a coma, in the past, or hallucinating. He clashes with colleagues, protects witnesses with what he knows from the future, and chases leads that echo his original case, all the while trying to piece together how to prove where he really belongs.

Premiering in 2006, the series was created by Ashley Pharoah, Matthew Graham and Tony Jordan for BBC One, and it launched John Simm and Philip Glenister as its lead duo, blending crime drama with science fiction touches.

The show drew strong attention from British television award bodies, earning nominations and several wins that raised the profiles of its cast and crew, and it helped cement the series as a standout in mid 2000s UK TV.

Gene Hunt became an emblematic character, his blunt, macho policing style turned into a recognizable TV persona, and the series inspired a US remake and a narrative follow up in the form of a related BBC drama. Its look and music helped revive interest in 1970s aesthetics on television, and fans still reference its atmosphere when talking about retro police shows.

Critics tended to praise the cast chemistry and the central mystery, and audience scores sit solidly above average, with a 7.747/10 from user votes. The show focuses on memory, identity and moral ambiguity in law enforcement, questioning whether modern ethics can fit into an older system and whether a man’s sense of self can survive a world that feels both familiar and eerily foreign.