One of my favourite TV shows, Life on Mars, returns next week.
I can’t wait, but I’m a bit worried about discussions I hear about whether Sam Tyler has really gone back in time, if he’s in a coma or if he really lives in 1973. Even the writers themselves were posing this question in a docco on BBC4; I hope they’re just trying to drum up a bit of Lost-style interest, because to me it’s been utterly clear from the get-go that he’s in a coma in the present day (2006).
If he really lives in 1973, then he’s predicted the invention of the iPod, mobile phone and desktop PC. Not a bad afternoon’s work for a jobbing copper. Must have been some liquid lunch.
If he’s really gone back in time, then why do people – sounding suspiciously like doctors and friends – break through into his 1973 world to communicate with him? Numerous clues have been scattered throughout series 1 to make it clear that he’s in a coma. It seems unambiguous. Or am I missing something?