Pilot Script Completed For ‘Life on Mars’ & ‘Ashes To Ashes’ Sequel Series
Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham, creators of ‘Life on Mars’ and ‘Ashes to Ashes’, have revealed they have finished the pilot script for ‘Lazarus’, a potential third, and final series in their mind-bendingly original take on the police procedural.
For those of you who haven’t caught the original 2006 series, it followed John Simm as Sam Tyler, a police officer with the Greater Manchester Police in 2006. After an accident, he awakens apparently in 1973, still a policeman in Manchester and Salford, but now under the command of the brash, politically incorrect, brutal and somewhat corrupt DCI Gene Hunt, played by Philip Glenister. Is Sam going mad, in a coma, or has he really travelled back in time?
After two seasons, ‘Life on Mars’ was followed up by ‘Ashes to Ashes’ in 2008 where Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes), an officer with the London Met, finds herself in a similar position to Sam, but “travelled back” to the ’80s where she also encounters Gene Hunt, now dealing with the political correctness of the new decade.
Titled ‘Lazarus’, the potential third series would serve to bring both shows together in some way. Matthew Graham previously stated that the show would feature characters from both previous series and the time period would range across the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and present day. In a tweet, co-creator Matthew Graham commented “So [Ashley Pharoah] and I have completed the pilot script for Lazarus. It contains the words – Hanging, Boogie, Creme Fraiche.”
If you were wondering about the title, it sticks with the tradition of naming the series after David Bowie songs. ‘Lazarus’ was the final single released by the beloved iconic singer whilst he was still alive.
On the cast side, both Simm and Glenister teased they were discussing the possibility of returning to the roles back in January when Simm posted a photo of the duo together on Instagram with the caption “Spent a lovely afternoon with the husband, chatting about life on different planets…”, with the hashtags #watchthisspace #Lazarus. No word yet on whether Keeley Hawes would be involved or not.
We should stress, ‘Lazarus’ has not been officially ordered by the BBC or anyone else at this point, and this is only a pilot script, so might end up going nowhere. However, there is clearly a will to make it by the writer/creators, and at least some of the main cast, so we’ll have to see if they manage to move things forward. We will let you know if we hear more.
