THE postman knocked once today with something rather special.
It’s just three minutes and 27 seconds long, but packed full of joy.
Gene Hunt, played by Philip Glenister, rides again in the first promo DVD for BBC1’s Ashes To Ashes.
Screen grabs are strictly forbidden.
But I can give you a flavour of what we’ll all see in a matter of months.
Mild spoilers ahead for those who want to avoid:
Emerging from his 1981 office, Gene says, as we knew he would: “Right, let’s fire up the Quattro.”
Happily, there’s no sign that the passage of time has mellowed DCI Hunt.
He tells one bad lad: “Anything you say will be taken down, ripped up and shoved down your scrawny little throat till you choke to death.
“Gene Hunt: Chapter one, verse two.”

You can almost see the sparks flying when he’s on screen with DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes).
Alex: “You’re taller than I imagined.”
Gene: “I’m bigger in every department.”

Alex appears more than a match for Gene.
In one scene, she gives him a full throttle right-hand slap across the face, followed by a left-hand uppercut.
There are lots of machine guns, explosions and sunglasses, plus that speedboat ride up the Thames.
Ray sports his new perm, while Chris goes all New Romantic on the dance floor.
An old children’s favourite makes an appearance.
And there’s the first glimpse of something very scary indeed.
There is also a wonderful moment when Alex sees Chris, Ray and, finally, breathlessly, Gene for the first time.
She does what any other red-blooded female transported back in time would do – faints.
Music choices for the Life On Mars spin-off are still being negotiated.
But Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads could feature.
Along with The Clash classic I Fought The Law (And The Law Won).
The exact “spring” scheduling for Ashes To Ashes is also yet to be finalised.
But on the evidence of the promo, it looks well worth the wait.
Ashes To Ashes
Life On Mars Blogs
Ashes To Ashes: The David Bowie Video (YouTube)
The Railway Arms