Life on Mars: Series 2

One of today's most original police dramas follows modern-day Manchester detective Sam Tyler (John Simm, State of Play)-a cop who's back on the beat...and back in 1973! The time-travelling International Emmy® Award-winning series returns with more twists and turns as Tyler hunts down a notorious cop killer, investigates a racial hate crime, follows the trail of a young woman's killer and attempts to deal with an IRA bombing threat.

Episode 1 - Despite eerie visions of 2006, DCI Sam Tyler remains in the 70s - where he encounters the young incarnation of a nasty villain Sam put away in 2006. He sees the chance every copper dreams about: stopping the killer before he kills.

Episode 2 - With his mentor presiding over an armed robbery investigation, DCI Gene Hunt is keen to show off his team. And with his own (future) mentor working with the team as a lowly DC, Sam too tries to be at his best.

Episode 3 - When a bomb warning is reported, A-Division go on red alert. The IRA have begun their mainland bombing campaign - now the terror has arrived. Or has it?

Episode 4 - The body of a young woman is found in wasteland. The investigation takes the team to suburbia, where a local car dealer is throwing private parties, employing the make-up girls to "help out" when the wife-swapping begins...

Episode 5 - Sam feels strange - stranger than usual. Whilst trying to work out the cause of his vivid imaginings, he has to deal with an urgent investigation when a man tries to hang himself in A-division. Sam must shake the demons from his head to help a desperate family.

Episode 6 - Heroin has hit the streets of Manchester and Gene wants culprits. When investigating the murder of a Ugandan Asian man, Sam battles against the bigoted reaction of his DCI. His sympathy is further stirred by messages from Maya, his Asian girlfriend in 2007.

Episode 7 - Gene wakes Sam in the middle of the night, drunk, and apparently having killed someone. Sam tries to prove his Guv's innocence, watched by DCI Frank Morgan, from Hyde division, while the evidence stacks up against Gene.

Episode 8 - CID is chasing a notorious cop killer and Gene is determined to beat Morgan to the arrest. But all Sam has to do, Morgan promises, is one more job and he can ‘come home'. Sam's presumptions about his past, future and his very soul unravel in a heart-stopping climax.

Directed by S.J. Clarkson, John Alexander, John McKay, Bharat Nalluri, Richard Clark, Andrew Gunn
Written by Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan, Ashley Pharoah, Chris Chibnall
Produced by Cameron Roach
Executive Produced by Jane Featherstone, Matthew Graham, Claire Parker
Original Music by Edmund Butt
Cinematography by Balazs Bolygo, Tim Palmer, Grant Cameron, Adam Suschitzky
Film Editing by Sarah Brewerton, Colin Fair, Barney Pilling, Roy Sharman, Liana Del Guidice, John gow, Jeremy Strachan
Costume Design by Emma Rosenthal

"I maintain that it is impossible to have a heartbeat and not love this show, though I grant that the under-10s and over-70s may not wholeheartedly endorse this view ... I'm not sure that an hour of popular drama can be any more entertaining than last week's episode." Kathryn Flett, Observer

"I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I love Life On Mars ... Funny, fresh, original, inventive, smart, nostalgic, intriguing, absorbing - it's easily my favourite show in years. Trouble is, I'm in danger of becoming seriously nerdy about it. I've re-watched all of series one, bought the companion book and I'll be off to Virgin at lunchtime to buy the soundtrack CD." Mike Ward, Daily Star

"... superb ... The confidence that marked out Life On Mars from the very start just continues to grow." Jane Simon, Daily Mirror

"... one of the best TV shows of the last ten years." Caitlin Moran, The Times

"Crisply scripted, funny, imaginative - why can't more telly be like this?" Jonathan Wright, Guardian

"... fantastic show ... The drama highlight of the week ... Life On Mars brings more than sunshine; it's a long, hot summer." David Stephenson, Express On Sunday

"As a slobberingly devoted fan of the work of John Simm, I never thought I'd say that Life on Mars has turned into the Philip Glenister show, but so potent is his swaggeringly intense and pathologically macho DCI Gene Hunt that it's a bit shocking to see him in any other context ... I fancy the idea of Hunt as a low-rent TV Bond who gets to snog as often as he shoots. Mmm... step away from the TV now, woman, goddammit." Kathryn Flett, Observer

"It seems as if Life on Mars, which was already pretty remarkable throughout its first run, is to become still richer and more interesting in its second and final series." Karl French, Financial Times

"...if only there was some way we could keep him trapped in Sweeneyland for ever, so that he and Gene Hunt could carry on fighting crime - and each other - indefinitely." Jane Simon, Daily Mirror

"Life on Mars could so easily have ended up repeating the one joke - look, fat chain-smoking coppers who smack women on the bum and call them ‘darling'! - but thanks to the dynamic between Simm and Glenister and the enduring mystery of Tyler's mission in the past, this new series is shaping up to be a smasher." Stephanie Merritt, Observer

"... marvellous..." Matt Baylis, Daily Star

"... first-rate..." Critics Choice, Sunday Times

"Another excellent episode full of great quips from the heavy-handed boss." Anila Baig, Sun

"Brut-ally brilliant ... The wonderful mix of then and now makes the show a joy; that and huge dollop of nostalgia: not just for old pop, Sweeney-style punch-ups and Double Diamond, but also for a time when men were men and crime was punished ... caveman copper Hunt is the show's runaway star ... played superbly by Philip Glenister." Garry Bushell, People