THE day after the night before.
Seven million viewers watched the first episode of Ashes To Ashes, according to the first overnight figures.
And that doesn’t include those who recorded it to watch later.
As predicted, there are mixed reviews – some hate it, some can’t decide and some want to marry it.
It’s a good start in terms of the ratings, but only a start.
Personally, as already discussed, I loved the opening episode and watched it yet again (for the seventh time) as it went out last night.
Yes, the shootout scene was a bit daft and a little overblown.
And it didn’t seem right that Alex would go out on duty in those stockings, even if she only had half a wardrobe.
But most of it was glorious television – remembering that, yes, this is only a TV programme.
Philip Glenister is magnificent as Gene Hunt, both when riding to the rescue and in more melancholic alcoholic moments, knowing his time is running out.
Author: ianwylie
WE know what’s happened to Sam Tyler.
Well, at least we think we know.
His fate – both in 2007 and in the years after 1973 – has already been discussed at length in this blog.
Whatever your view on Sam, played by John Simm, he is not in Ashes To Ashes.
And neither is DC Annie Cartwright, played by Liz White.
Annie and Sam’s relationship was one of the many delights of Life On Mars.
Some fans believe they would have gone on to marry and have little Sams and Annies of their own.
I caught up with Liz yesterday and asked her if production company Kudos had ever talked to her about Annie moving from Manchester to London.
“No. They didn’t have to, really,” she replied.
“I just knew that they couldn’t have spent all that time and energy – and spent people’s heartstrings – on Sam and Annie getting together, and then get them together, and then Annie turns up in Ashes To Ashes.
LESS than 24 hours to go now before Ashes To Ashes finally arrives on BBC1.
There’s an interview with Keeley Hawes in tomorrow’s MEN.
Update: The interview is here.
There’ll also be a special blog in the next day or two with Ashes producer Beth Willis.
Not to mention future stories from interviews with Dean Andrews (DS Ray Carling), Marshall Lancaster (DC Chris Skelton) and Montserrat Lombard (WPC Shaz Granger).
Plus an interview with costume designer Rosie Hackett.
Don’t forget to also check out all the previous material from Philip Glenister (DCI Gene Hunt), Keeley (DI Alex Drake) and co in recent blogs and features.
Fire up the links at the bottom of this blog for lots more.
I’m off to the launch of a new ITV drama series which co-stars Liz White – unforgettable as Annie in Life On Mars.
IT was standing room only at today’s press launch for new ITV1 drama Rock Rivals.
Former Coronation Street actor Sean Gallagher and ex-EastEnder Michelle Collins play the two lead roles.
That’s husband and wife Mal and Karina Faith, judges on music talent show Rock Rivals.
If images of The X Factor pop into your head, it’s hardly surprising.
Simon Cowell was the script consultant in an eight-part series inspired by the real thing.
It’s made by Shed Productions, the people who gave us Bad Girls and Footballers’ Wives.
Several hacks, me included, turned up at the London venue this morning fearing the worst.
But I have to say that although Rock Rivals is totally daft – it’s also very entertaining.
FANS still live in hope that Spider Nugent will one day return to the cobbles.
Not that actor Martin Hancock has stood still since eco warrior Geoffrey was last seen in Coronation Street.
And you can see him today, guest starring as a baddie called Chuckworth (pictured) in BBC1’s MI High.
If you’re not familiar with the CBBC series, it’s a teen spy drama set in a high school.
Today’s episode, screened at 5pm, finds the teen spies stunned when spymaster Lenny is arrested for a jewel robbery.
But I think we might be able to guess who the real thief is.
Spider arrived in Weatherfield in 1997 and is still fondly remembered today.
WAS there a subtle tribute to Liz Dawn in Coronation Street’s farewell to Vera Duckworth?
That’s the question I asked here last Wednesday.
Well, I’ve since had a chance to take some screengrabs.
They show members of the cast walking into two separate diagonal lines, as the hearse drove away.
And whether it was deliberate or not, the two lines definitely spell out V for Vera.
Check out the screengrabs below and judge for yourself, keeping an eye on both the foreground and background.
IT’S not a good idea to get ahead of ourselves.
But I thought I’d just say that episode two of Ashes To Ashes does not disappoint.
It confirms the TV team really has pulled this project off, despite the views of some non-believers.
That includes John Harris and Tony Parsons, who savaged Ashes To Ashes on BBC2’s Newsnight Review last night.
Any late night discussion which includes the word “postmodern” in the introduction needs to be treated with caution.
Cheshire-raised writer John was upset about the move from Manchester to London.
He also missed John Simm’s Sam Tyler and believed Ashes To Ashes was lacking in several departments.
“It makes reasonably entertaining TV – it’s very thin,” he said.
Author and writer Tony was even more vocal in his criticism.
“I thought it was unforgiveably feeble,” he commented.
THERE’S no doubt that Stephen Tompkinson has an affinity with animals.
Talk to anyone linked to Wild At Heart and they’ll tell you how good he is with all creatures great and small out in the African bush.
Even when he’s back home in Britain, he rings up to check how those in a local animal sanctuary are getting on.
It can probably be traced back to his childhood, when the Tompkinson family had a pet beagle dog and a rabbit.
“We also had a tortoise that managed to escape from the garden, somehow,” he told us recently.
“It was all over in a flash – moved too quickly for us,” he laughed.
“My dad said I’ve never had any fear of animals and would always go up to strange dogs and manage to avoid being bitten.
“This is just on a much bigger scale.”
WALKING around the set for Ashes To Ashes is a real treat.
With just seven days to go before the start of the new series, this is what’s on the menu at Gene Hunt’s new drinking den.
Luigi’s wine bar and Italian restaurant sent me spinning back to 1981.
With maroon tablecloths and Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling, it looks and feels exactly like the sort of place I frequented 27 years ago.
There are even real Luigi’s menus, lovingly created by the art department.
The menu includes: Pizza: 90p / Spaghetti Bolognese: 95p / Beer: 55p / Coffee: 20p plus: “Please ask for Specials of the Day.”
Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) doesn’t have far to go once she’s “settled” in 1981.
Her flat is upstairs, directly above Luigi’s.
It contains an L-shaped lounge, with a sheepskin rug, glass coffee table and red brick wall.
PERHAPS it’s just me.
Was there a subtle tribute to actress Liz Dawn and the character she played for 33 years in Coronation Street’s final farewell to Vera Duckworth?
I’ve not seen a comment on it anywhere, so maybe I saw what I wanted to see on Vera’s funeral day.
We’d already watched a large number of Corrie residents gather on the cobbles to pay their respects.
As the Co-op hearse carrying Vera’s coffin to the crematorium drove away from No 9 and past the Rovers, the camera swung slowly upwards.
And looking down back along Coronation Street, the majority of the cast fell into two separate diagonal lines – spelling out V for Vera.
Life of Wylie 