Review: GHTTB: LoM, 1.1

Life on Mars: Series One, Episode One

I've often spoken about how it's important to set up your stall cohesively but quickly. The only thing that Life on Mars has going for it is the nostalgic richness of the 1970s environment, and so the first five or so minutes in the present really fail to catch one's immediate interest...
     It's only when work-obsessed DCI Sam Tyler gets knocked down in a car crash that the story really starts to unfold. You see, Tyler happens to wake up in 1973 to a soundtrack of David Bowie, demoted to DI and forced to work with the much more instinctive DCI Gene Hunt. Hunt is a loudmouthed, misogynist bigot, and he's captured the heart of the nation.
    As an opener, LoM's first episode does wonders to get you in the mood for some 70s police prodecure, as well as stamping down its strange style. Only Sam is particularly well characterised at this point, with the others merely empty shells of their particular character trait.
     Of note (of course), is the soundtrack, which is an excuse on its own to watch the show. A mix of some of the best songs of the 1970s (however unchronological) gives the show a great atmosphere. Adding to this are the nostalgic flares all over the place, and, at least for me, the recognisable places in Manchester where the series was filmed.
     Overall, the pilot shows us the ropes of the series, and gives basic outlines of its characters. It firmly lays down the cutesy, nostalgic atmosphere, while having a gritty murder to get along with. It is a little unnerving to see Sam go on mad rants as he tries to wake himself up, but that's part of the series and it would seem odd without it.

Thanks.