Ashes to Ashes
This should be free of spoilers....
It was quite an interesting strategy on the Beeb's part to only show a single, limited scene in their adverts for this series, and we were a little wary going in. The opening made good use of the blue filters, and seeing bits of London float across the screen upside-down gave it a nicely atmospheric intro. Then we meet Alex, and we see (if you hadn't already figured it out from the previously leaked info on the show) that the writers have taken things up a notch in terms of the meta-plot. Alex Drake is taking her daughter to school, and she's in possession of the notes and ramblings of Sam Tyler. She knows what he believes, and that gives her some knowledge (albeit flawed) of what she's up against when the plot takes its inevitable turn towards the eighties. Getting her there... well, I won't go into the details, except to say that they chose their Bowie title track very well indeed. [Jez didn't spot the lyrics when they first appeared by the river, but they're quite glaring if you're more familiar with the song than he is.]
What IS immediately clear is that they're not simply retreading the same old ground with this show. You can believe what you want about how real the past is, and how much is mere subconscious structure. I'm leaning towards the latter, because the characters come across very differently in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Hunt's charisma has been upped substantially - he never did anything for me as a viewer in Life on Mars, but seen through the lens of Drake's psyche, her fascination with the man and the tropes she sees in him and the others...well. The dynamic between them is oozing, and while I doubt the plausibility I can't fault the acting. Overall, I'd say the show has got an internal feel like damn good fanfic. Same characters, same type of plot, but very much observed/scripted/designed/created by a different personality in the form of Alex Drake.
Some complaints - Jez thought that they were trying too hard with all the eighties paraphernalia. Brash, garish, obvious, stereotyped. Part of it could just be the opening-episode culture-shock... but it's VERY different to the washed-out feel of seventies Manchester. Again, this makes me lean further towards the 'it's all in her head!' interpretation. That's one reason why I don't think this show is going to end happily, except perhaps in the bittersweet, self-recognising end that is as poignant as it is painful. But maybe not. All the same, looking at what Drake thinks of why she's there, what she has to do... I don't expect her to rewrite history. Nuh-uh.
Memorable moments - ooooh... the clown! There'll have been nightmares across Britain last night. Shame they couldn't get the original voice for George, but Zippy came across as freakily as ever. Drake realising that she's doing a Tyler and trying to figure out what's going on, and where it leaves her... Spine-tingling!
Edit to add - I'm not the only person who made the connection to 'this is LOM fanfic by Alex Drake".
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
chesneycat) wrote,
geeky
