Life on Mars is a BAFTA and Emmy-winning British science fiction and police drama television series. It was first broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007.
The programme tells the story of DCI Sam Tyler of the Greater Manchester Police (played by John Simm), who, after being hit by a car in 2006, finds himself in the year 1973. There, he works for Manchester and Salford Police CID as a DI under DCI Gene Hunt (played by Philip Glenister). Over the course of the series, Tyler faces various culture clashes, most frequently regarding the differences between his modern approach to policing and the more traditional methods of his colleagues. Mixing the genres of science fiction and police procedural, the series centres around the ambiguity concerning Tyler's predicament: it is unclear whether he is insane, in a coma, or if he really has travelled back in time.
A sequel to the series, Ashes to Ashes, began transmission on BBC One in February 2008. Also, a US remake of the show has been commissioned by ABC.
