Have you ever had a dream that is told in the third person, in which you do not appear and which is cinematic in scope? I have. Last night’s sleep was notable for the fact that my entire dreamtime was spent stuck in some kind of zombie movie. The undead had risen and were slowly feasting on the occupants of an office building. It was a bit like “Land of the Dead” but with more chrome and white space. I am not a big zombie movie fan as I find the protagonists to be quite dull – more of a werewolf guy, myself, enjoying the duality of the lycanthrope. But anyway, I was stuck watching various people being chomped, eviscerated and turned into the shambling walking dead. It wasn’t particularly fun, it was particularly gory and I woke in a bad mood.
So this evening was the finale of the TV series “Life on Mars”. Though I was a big fan of the first series, I found the second series much better written and still love the initial premise. However, there were moments when I lost interest in the stories and the 70s shtick wore me down a little. As a kid from the 1970s, it wasn’t that great. Yes, life was a lot more simple and things weren’t as complicated or as shallow as they are now and this was borne out by the ending. Without giving it totally away, at one point I thought I was heading for the most depressing end to a series since the bloodbath at the of “Blake’s Seven” but the inanity of modern times weighing on Sam Tyler made the real ending somewhat predictable. On the roof, I heard the Missus mutter “Oh no, here comes the ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart’ ending…” If you know that pop video, you’ll know what she was getting at.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed parts of “Life on Mars”, but it didn’t play around with the format enough. I wanted it to get a little wacky or as I kept saying “When’s it going to go all Dennis Potter” – alas, it never really bothered with the surreal and that’s a shame because I think it had the potential to strike out in similar areas that “The Singing Detective” or “Cold Lazarus” did. Still, it was an interesting premise and I look forward to the return of Gene Hunt in the 1980s, with a female partner from the 21st century in the follow-up “Ashes to Ashes”.
Meanwhile, much has been written about John Simm appearing in Doctor Who. Some say he is going to turn up as the Doctor’s nemesis: the Master, despite being billed to appear as the politician Mr Saxon. Funnily enough, last week’s “Life on Mars” featured “Master of the Universe” by Hawkwind and tonight’s show clashed with a show on Channel 4 hosted by Harvey Goldsmith in which he tried to improve the fortunes of ailing heavy metal band Saxon. Whoooo…spooky – do you see the synchronicity there?
And here’s that “Owner of a Lonely Heart” video, so you can understand what The Missus was hinting at. Scroll to the end if you have to.

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