Customer Reviews
Cant belive I missed this 1st time round! - By: S. Martin, 03 Mar 2010 
Received Life on Mars series for xmas & thoroughly enjoyed both series. Was a little apprehensive about the follow-up but after a couple of programs found it just as addictive. What memories it brought back. Ended up buyin series 2. Cannot praise the series enough.
I wish I hadn't bothered.... - By: A. Venables, 10 Feb 2010 
After the absolutely brilliant Life on Mars, I was somewhat disappointed after watching the first episode of A2A. However, being a "benefit of the doubt" kind of person, I continued with episode 2 thinking it might grow on me. Sorry, female sidekick is no match for John Simm (she is actuallly quite sickly & irritating) & the programme relies too much on 80's nostalgia instead of a gripping storyline. I was a teenager in the 80's & was looking forward to a trip down memory lane, but alas, it was crap. The remainder of the discs remain in the box never to be watched. This could have been a good series, but is so bad it should be buried forever...ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Great TV Show. - By: Mr. S. Newbury, 08 Jan 2010 Great stories & great acting from the superb characters in this show. One of the best TV shows the BBC have produced in years. Pleased the Yanks have now copied it as there version is cool too.
its goooooooooooood...... - By: Franco Nero, 26 Dec 2009 Everyone is aware that is not life on mars & this series is quite short of what life on mars was. However, the direction that this show took the whole franchise into was very sensible. Gene Hunt is somewhat toned down due to the changes he had experienced in his personal life, the police force & his country's state. If he had continued in the manner we had saw in the previous series, he would have quickly became some tiresome novelty act. The characters of Ray & Chris were developed more-so which gives the show a whole new dimension of interest. Many will say they find the performance of keeley hawes in this particular series annoying & snobish, but i think this is simply the result of good acting & a strong portrayl of the character, which is what the writers were trying to acheive. Alex Drake is not Sam Tyler, both have different personalities & come from different backgrounds which, in a a sense, is more interesting to watch. The relationship between Hunt & Drake is compelling as both are almost complete opposites & there is also a tension which lingers as they are opposite sexes. Anyway, overalll, some parts of this series are very good, the last episode in particular, & also many are not so good which i think s the result of a rush job. The second series of this show far surpasses this, but ths series was solely for helping the show find its feet. It's still entertaining, nobody can say its not, & those who cannot help but rubbish it in comparison to life on mars are rather deluded in my opinion. Apart from references made about sam tyler on rare occasions, this show is now one in its own right & name. Early episodes are undeniably dissapointing but from the last episode onwards into the second series it has become the most gripping thing on british TV. So yeah, its the best thing on TV when its on, i think its worth a watch, if you do not like this i would still strongly reccomend wathcing the second series, which wont dissapoint. Enjoy, if you can...
Where was this going? - By: Mystery Shopper, 09 Dec 2009 
I was straight into this series having never seen anything before.
My expectations were high from a BBC series.
My first impressions:
- Confusion at where the story is going in the initial episodes
- Agreement with previous reviewers that it can be 'obvious & crass'
- One minute the series takes a very serious turn & the rest it's 'slapstick violence'
There are nice touches, such as the clothing, music & settings
But in summary reallly quite disappointing, I've watched a great deal of TV series where the violence & sex & bad language is an important part of the plot. This just seemed badly written with deliberate bad behavior passed off with a sense of "it's ok they did that in the 80s" There is a particular scene involving Gene & a pool cue that was particularly distasteful which put me off a series which could have been pretty good. That kind of material is better served in a film such as 'lock stock'.
