In 2006, the BBC premiered the highly acclaimed and popular “Life on Mars” which essentially offered a “Back to the Future”-style take on the iconic 1970s cop show “The Sweeney”.
Running for two seasons, the show followed modern-day policeman DI Sam Tyler (John Simm) who has a car accident and finds himself taken back in time to 1970s Manchester, where police procedure is conducted very differently.
The show blended police procedural, comedy and mystery sci-fi – turning its gruff second lead character Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) into one of British TV’s most iconic cop characters.
Wining the International Emmy Award for Best Series, the show came to a close after just sixteen episodes (two seasons of eight episodes each) but the franchise continued with three seasons of the well-regarded “Ashes to Ashes” which saw Keeley Hawes take over as lead but kept the supporting characters and moved the action to the 1980s. A less well-regarded U.S. remake starring Jason O’Mara and Harvey Keitel was made, lasting a single season and completely changing up the show’s ending.
In recent years there’s been talk of a “Life on Mars” revival, one titled “Lazarus”. Co-creator Matthew Graham revealed on Twitter back in 2020 he’d been working on a new series which would be “set partially in the 1970s, partially in the 1980s and mostly in an alternate now.”
He added at the time: “We would never make another Mars unless we really had something to say and could push the envelope all over again. Finally, we have something.”
Then in March, Simm revealed on The One Show (via British Period Dramas) that he and Glenister had read a script for the new show and “we loved it and thought it was great, so we said yes. But it seems to have gone into some development place” and added he didn’t know its fate.
Cut to this week, and sadly both Graham and co-creator Ashley Pharoah have announced the project is no longer happening. In a posting on Twitter, Graham says:
“Some sad news, folks. After many months of planning, we will now not be making #Lazarus. I can’t go into details but the hurdles were financial, not creative. Naturally, all who were involved are sick as a jungle full of parrots. Not least myself and @AJPharoah.
It was a cracking concept – pertinent to our times. It had a whole new round of things to say about the relationship between the public and the police. And it was bloody funny too. But that, as they say, is showbiz baby.
Forgive us if we don’t take questions on the decision or on what happens next for Gene, Sam and the gang. But we wanted to let those who were interested know so that you could instead raise a pint of tan n bitter to the Guv.”
Pharoah then added in a tweet after that they are “still thinking of a way to either share the script with you or bring it out in another form. Until then.”
The original “Life on Mars” is currently available to stream on BritBox.
