Ashes to Ashes series 3

Here you go JK and Dan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2010/wk12/
So, this is the final one and supposed to tie the whole series together.
I started on my LoM dvd set a few nights back in preparation, and I'm on ep4 of series 1 tonight.
I'd forgotten how good it is!

Apparently we're gonna 'finally find out who Gene Hunt is' whatever that means. As long as it isn't God then everything should be fine. I don't think Ashes to Ashes has been as good as LoM but it's still better than 99% of all the other telly out there (100% if you're not counting Yankee-doodle-shizzle). Surprised big secret gay Ray is boss of the day though. Not that there's much to choose from with Chris being a scab.

Yeah, it is quality. It was better than Ashes To Ashes, although I possibly prefer A2A. I do need to get LoM on DVD as soon as possible. I can't wait for it to be back on our screens. I can't believe it's not too far away at all!!! Three f'in weeks man!

I couldn't be more intrigued as to 'what Gene Hunt is'.

Can't see him being God, Chiv. They've generally avoided any religious iconography so far. I'm looking forward to what they come up with, as I loved the ending of LoM.

Chivalry Augustus wrote:Apparently we're gonna 'finally find out who Gene Hunt is' whatever that means. .

Some aspect of Bolly's personality - her will to survive, maybe.

Jontyh wrote:Can't see him being God, Chiv. They've generally avoided any religious iconography so far. I'm looking forward to what they come up with, as I loved the ending of LoM.

Yeah, it will be interesting. I certainly don't think it will be some bullshit symbolism. There've been too many series for it to just be the easy answer as part of their mind.

Rob I wrote:
Some aspect of Bolly's personality - her will to survive, maybe.

Nah, I don't reckon so. It would be a bit too wishy washy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_%28personification%29

Blimey, forgot it was on that soon.

I actually prefer A2A myself. There are some weird LOM fanboys who hate it though.

My prediction is that it's actually Gene Hunt that is in a coma and imagining everyone else.

More likely to be Charon if we're going for a mythological figure:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(mythology)

I think they'll go for something like Sam and Alex are dying or died in 73 / 81 and they've imagined their futures. Both were betrayed and abandoned by their fathers so Gene functions as a replacement whilst helping them discover the truth.
Several characters have died in his arms (Supermac, the 'dancer' from Hyde, Summers) so they'll probably make something of that. I'm sure he'll turn out to be "real", even if he's dying too, rather than just a figment of their imagination.

There. Doubtless I'll be reading back over this thread in a couple of months and this will be as close to the actuality as my lottery predictions are.

JKLever wrote:
My prediction is that it's actually Gene Hunt that is in a coma and imagining everyone else.

Cool, I like that!

excellent news re series 3 - we'll have to wait a year for it I guess

Well, given that I'm not sure any of us saw what was coming at the end of LoM, I'm sure it'll be something that has us sat there for a couple of minutes thinking WTF?

Thought the first series of A2A was less than brilliant - but still enjoyable and the second series got progressively more and more interesting. I am pleased they're going to knock it on the head at the end of this one though, doing a Lost and getting more and more ludicrous and contrived would have been very disappointing. The re-make series of Battlestar Galactica was a perfect example of how stunning something can be if you focus on a tight storyline and finish it at the right time.

I enjoyed the first A2A but it was a lot more lighthearted.

The second series got the balance between storyline & jokey innuendo just about right.

Shoeshine wrote:The re-make series of Battlestar Galactica was a perfect example of how stunning something can be if you focus on a tight storyline and finish it at the right time.

Didn't like that show. Gave it until half way through series 2 and switched off, bored.

Wasn't compulsory to like it! But the critics thought it was amazing - and so did I. That clearly makes me vastly superior to you...

Gene Hunt is my hero.

"Cuppa tea, two sugars, love."

Legend.

Watched a few episodes of the first series of A2A and thought it a pale imitation of LoM...should I have persevered?

Well, it pretty much was bound to be an imitation of LoM wasn't it? But the second series is markedly better, because it does more than just repeat the lost in time story of LoM. The characters start to develop in interesting directions and by the end it's genuinely eyebrow raising - hence the anticipation for this final outing.

Shoeshine wrote:Wasn't compulsory to like it! But the critics thought it was amazing - and so did I. That clearly makes me vastly superior to you...

Well? I thought the Daniel Mays character was excellent - nice and twisted - and the mysterious copper with half a face. Put me in mind of the clown in the first series.
All in all a good start, though I'm hoping for some more humourous touches as we go on..

Thought it was a bit contrived to get them back to the team everyone's familiar with. I don't know why they bothered having her wake-up in the first place if only to plunge her straight back into it - the five minutes at the start in which Alex was in normals land was totally pointless and just dragged the thing out. In many respects I thought it was a bit of a waste of an episode, neither good nor bad but did a few things that I didn't like. Personally I think there are a few too many repetitive elements in a series of this nature.

I thought it was solid enough, and left plenty of questions about Gene open. They can't possibly turn him into the bad guy can they? Can't stand Daniel Mays - sh!thouse actor imo so i'm biased against his character.

Keeleys hair is farking awful though. Sack the stylist.

LoM & A2A will definitely be classic telly 20 years from now, you can tell by how the characters are in the public conciousness.

Mind you Labour farked this one up a bit didn't they?

Chivalry Augustus wrote:Thought it was a bit contrived to get them back to the team everyone's familiar with. I don't know why they bothered having her wake-up in the first place if only to plunge her straight back into it - the five minutes at the start in which Alex was in normals land was totally pointless and just dragged the thing out. In many respects I thought it was a bit of a waste of an episode, neither good nor bad but did a few things that I didn't like. Personally I think there are a few too many repetitive elements in a series of this nature.

Yeah, but she wasn't in normal land was she? She was still in a coma.
Personally, I'm glad they didn't fanny about too much with that and just got the team back together soon as. First episodes are always slightly awkward as everything has to be re-established, so I think you have to give it a bit of leeway.
For me the main problem is if they don't get the crime story it's all hung on quite right, the narrative can drag. I usually find the overall theme interesting, so I'm looking forward to seeing where they try to take this final series.