The follow up to Life on Mars - Ashes to Ashes - continues its run on BBC1 tonight. It's not quite as sparkling as LoM but there are still some wonderful lines from DCI Gene Hunt - the new Jack Regan.I loved The Sweeney. As a teenager still at school in the mid 1970s, I used to sit and watch in awe at the antics of Regan and Carter. Until then British television police dramas were the likes of Softly Softly and Z Cars. The Sweeney was daring for the times and blew away forever the cosy, homespun image of the British bobby on the beat.
'We're The Sweeney, son' Regan would bawl as he delivered several punches to the ribs of a hapless villan, 'and we haven't had any dinner'
I think the appeal of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes is that it takes viewers back to a time when political correctness didn't exist and people said and did things without the fear of upsetting anyone. Of course that wasn't necessarily a good thing but at least you knew where you stood. Working in Human Resources as I do, I shudder to think how long Messrs. Regan and Hunt would last in today's world!
1 comment:
Even The Bill which is shown on public television here in Australia is a lot more edgy than Dixon of Dock Green and Z Cars.
Some of the other ones that we get here are pretty grim, which is most of their appeal.
Taggart and Cracker are also rerun regularly.
Post a Comment