4. A Detective From 2006 And A Detective From 1973 (Life On Mars)
Continuing with the television theme, we have Life on Mars, a show that I
recently placed at #1 in a piece about the greatest contemporary British series. Its premise is a bizarre yet effective one, which sees Sam Tyler (John Simm), a Manchester police officer from 2006, transported to 1973 following an accident, where he finds himself under the authority of DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Hunt is the definition of an old-school officer, whose brutality and penchant for political incorrectness clash strongly with Sams modern policing methods. Across two seasons, however, the pair form an efficient partnership to combat criminal threats as Sam seeks to uncover the reasoning for his temporal displacement. The series continued in the form of Ashes to Ashes, which paired Hunt with a contemporary female officer, Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes), in 1980s London. Though not as critically lauded as its predecessor, it brought a sense of closure to everything with its third and final season.