Life On Mars (UK)
Several of the show's plots involve Sam looking into earlier versions of his cases from 2008, such as in "Out Here in the Fields" where he discovers the sociopath mentor of a future serial killer, and in "The Simple Secret of the Note in Us All" where Sam has the opportunity to stop a serial killer early in his career. Additional storylines are driven by the conflict between Sam's 2008 values and the more corrupt, almost vigilante-style policing of the era he finds himself in, while others are driven by Sam's discovery of more personal information about his past in this era that radically reshapes his understanding of the life he's left behind. He engages in an ongoing struggle to figure out what has happened to him, torn between his developing relationships in 1973 and his desire to return to 2008.
Life on Mars (UK)
On 9 October 2006, it was confirmed that the second series of Life on Mars would be the last. Matthew Graham stated: "We decided that Sam's journey should have a finite life span and a clear-cut ending and we feel that we have now reached that point after two series".[14] Graham's claim that two endings had been filmed was later revealed to be a ruse.[15]
A recurring motif throughout the series is the overlapping of the past and present. For example, during Series 1: Episode 6 Sam hears the voice of his mother in 2006, telling him his life-support will be switched off at 2:00 pm. At the same time he is called into a hostage-taking situation, where the perpetrator states that he will kill his victims at precisely the same hour. Sam also encounters as their younger selves people whom he knows in the future, including suspects, friends, his own parents, and himself as a child.
The series frequently makes use of Gene Hunt's comical rudeness in the form of jokes and dramatic irony about a future which the audience already knows, but which the characters in 1973 do not. For example, in Series 1: Episode 5, Hunt declares, "There will never be a woman prime minister as long as I have a hole in my arse." However, in line with the ambivalence of the Hunt character, the irony is qualified by the fact that, in the real 1973, Margaret Thatcher herself told the BBC's Valerie Singleton in an interview, "I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime." The clip of this remark had often been replayed on British TV and the audience would be familiar with it.[41]
It is revealed in the final episode that Sam's coma had lasted so long because he had a tumour of the brain. Tyler comes to believe the tumour is embodied by Hunt, and begins to think that by bringing Hunt down, his own body can recover. To this end, Tyler begins to collaborate with Frank Morgan (Ralph Brown) to bring Hunt down. While Tyler and the team are engaged in a firefight with armed robbers, Sam returns to 2006. He eventually comes to realise that he has become used to, and enjoys, the 1970s, seeing it as his "real world". In an attempt to get back to 1973 to save Annie and the rest of the team from death, Sam leaps off the roof of the police station, arriving back in 1973 and saving the team, promising never to leave them again. Writer Matthew Graham wrote the scene to indicate that Sam is now in the afterlife, but acknowledged that the ending is ambiguous and open to other interpretations, such as lead actor John Simm's belief that Sam may not have returned to the present.[15] One way this could work is that Sam is actually the Hyde detective that Frank Morgan says he is, who had an accident on the way to Manchester. The doctor treating Sam in the future is the same as Frank Morgan, but Sam couldn't have seen him in the future since he's in a coma. The only way they could be the same is if the Frank Morgan in 1973 is the real one, and Sam is hallucinating the future doctor.
In the final scene, the team drive off, with Sam and Gene bickering as usual. Children run past, including the girl from Test Card F who symbolizes the death that has been stalking Sam since the beginning. She looks directly into the camera before reaching out and "switching off" the television the viewer is watching, signifying that Sam's life has come to an end.[15]
During an interview John Stalker, Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester in the early 1980s and himself a Detective Inspector in 1973, has stated that the depiction of the police "has got nothing to do with real policing in the 1970s. It could not be more inaccurate in terms of procedure, the way they talk or the way they dress. In all the time I was in the CID in the 1970s I never saw a copper in a leather bomber jacket and I never heard an officer call anyone 'guv'. ... Actually, there were a few police officers in London who started to behave like Regan and Carter in The Sweeney, but that was a case of life following art, not the other way round".[42] The journalist who interviewed Stalker, Ray King, remarks that the depiction of the police can be defended if we assume that Sam is indeed in a coma and that we are seeing his imaginary idea of 1973, filtered through 1970s police shows.[42]
On 9 October 2006, it was confirmed that the second series of Life on Mars would also be the last. Matthew Graham stated, "We decided that Sam's journey should have a finite life span and a clear-cut ending and we feel that we have now reached that point after two series." Graham's claim that two separate endings had been filmed was later revealed to be a ruse.
A recurring motif throughout the series is the overlapping of past and present. In episode six, for example, Sam hears the voice of his mother (in 2006) saying his life-support machine will be switched off at 2:00 pm. He is immediately called to investigate a hostage-taking where the perpetrator will start killing his victims at precisely the same hour. Sam also occasionally encounters people in 1973 whom he knows in the "real world" of 2006 including suspects, friends and his own parents.
The final episode depicts Sam waking from his coma, only to find the modern world devoid of feeling compared to his life in 1973. He ultimately takes a joyful leap from the top of the police station, returning to the past. Writer Matthew Graham wrote the scene to indicate that Sam is now in the afterlife, but acknowledged that the ending is ambiguous and open to other interpretations, such as lead actor John Simm's belief that Sam may not have returned to the present at all. The first episode of sequel series Ashes to Ashes shows Sam's personnel file, which is stamped "SUICIDE".
In an interview John Stalker, Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester in the early 1980s, and himself a Detective Inspector in 1973, has stated that the depiction of the police "has got nothing to do with real policing in the 1970s. It could not be more inaccurate in terms of procedure, the way they talk or the way they dress. In all the time I was in the CID in the 1970s I never saw a copper in a leather bomber jacket and I never heard an officer call anyone 'guv'. ... Actually, there were a few police officers in London who started to behave like Regan and Carter in The Sweeney, but that was a case of life following art, not the other way round." Journalist Ray King, who interviewed Stalker, notes that this depiction of the police can be defended if we assume that Sam is indeed in a coma, and that we are seeing his imaginary idea of 1973, filtered through 1970s cop shows.
The primary goal of the upcoming 2020 ExoMars mission is to look for evidence of life on Mars, extant or extinct. After escaping Earth's atmosphere in a proton rocket, the rover will make a nine-month journey to enter the orbit of Mars.
According to Peter, Mars is one of the most likely places we will find evidence of extraterrestrial life. The red planet's similar history to that of Earth, as well as its relatively pristine conditions, make it an ideal place to start the search.
'Since then the two planets have gone down very different evolutionary paths, but the chances of finding evidence of early life on Mars could be higher than elsewhere in our solar system,' Peter adds.
In fact, it might be easier to find signs of very early microbial life on Mars than here on Earth, where plate tectonics and the abundance of life make rocks from this time a challenge to find and interpret.
'Evidence for life about 3.5 to four billion years ago is primarily going to be morphological - meaning you look for patterns in rocks and supporting evidence so that you can make the argument that it was caused by life.'
'The presence of phyllosilicate minerals like clay can show an area not only had water present, but that there was a neutral pH, which is quite life-friendly. Sulphate minerals indicate high acidity, which is, as a general rule, less friendly for life.'
Small amounts of methane and formaldehyde have been found in Mars's atmosphere. Methane can be produced geologically (meaning without the presence of living organisms) but might be an indicator of microscopic life below the surface of Mars.
In the 1970s the Viking programme sent two landers to seek evidence of microbial life on the surface of Mars. Each lander performed four experiments and only one experiment gave a positive result for metabolism (chemical transformations in celled organisms).
Several contentious claims have also been made that there is evidence of life in Martian meteorites collected right here on Earth. Alan Hills 84001, which was found in Antarctica in 1984, is perhaps the most famous example.
'Unfortunately, this will rule out almost the entire southern hemisphere, which is higher, older and might also present a good chance of finding life,' Peter says. 'Due to the climate on Mars the rover must also land near the equator - between 25 degrees north and five degrees south.
The research destination is Jezero crater, a 28-mile-wide depression containing sediments of an ancient river delta. At this location, evidence of past life could be preserved. The Perseverance rover will gather samples of Martian rocks and soil using its drill. The rover will then store the sample cores in tubes on the Martian surface ready for a return mission to bring around 30 samples to Earth in the early 2030s. 041b061a72