Life on Mars spin-off Ashes to Ashes is a ratings hit as 7million viewers see first episode - Showbiz - Evening Standard
       

Life on Mars spin-off Ashes to Ashes is a ratings hit as 7million viewers see first episode

Ashes to Ashes, BBC1's spin-off from Life on Mars, took the ratings crown at 9pm last night with a strong audience of 7million (29.1%).

The time-travelling drama saw the return of macho anti-hero DCI Gene Hunt and much of the team from the original series.

But instead of being set in seventies, the series has moved to 1980s London while Hunt's Ford Cortina has been traded in for an Audi Quattro.

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Ratings winner: Gene Hunt (Philp Glenister) with Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes)

There is also a new face as Detective Inspector Sam Tyler, played by John Simm, has been replaced by actress Keely Hawes as D.I Alex Drake.

Life On Mars saw modern day detective Tyler awake from a coma in 1973 while Ashes to Ashes features a similar theme.

Drake is shot by a drug dealer in 2008 and comes round in 1981.

The fast-forwarded version of Life On Mars is named after another David Bowie hit, Ashes To Ashes.

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