Ashes to Ashes (TV Series) Episode #2.7 (2009) User Reviews

Inside information

[xmasdaybaby1966 · 7/10 · 6 October 2020]

Another dark episode backed up with less popular music from the era. No cameos from 80s icons in this episode either. A member of the team is thought to be giving away secrets. A strong performance from one of the regular cast and someone meets up with their past but hard to understand how they are still alive.

A fascinating episode

[studioAT · 7/10 · 20 September 2017]

There's a traitor in CID, and Gene Hunt is determined to find out, along with solving another case involving a construction site and some Polish workers.

There are some emotional scenes once the traitor is revealed, with the idea of one story threading through the whole series really paying off.

In amongst all that the 'Alex goes home' story has a few more developments, many of which will cause viewers to think a bit more about the time travel nature of the show.

As ever all involved give good performances, though I do feel the 'goodbye' speeches from Alex do get a bit annoying after a while, as does the story device that the police informant ends up in hospital/dead, which has occurred in lots of episodes in this second series.

I disagree with the previous reviewer that this is the worst episode yet, if anything the fact that 'Ashes' is playing around with its time travel elements is broadening the landscape more.

The peak of Ashes?

[maximovlE · 10/10 · 16 April 2021]

Up until this point this is by far the best episode. Still brings a tear to my eye 12 years later.

HOLY!

[cbatukilic · 10/10 · 22 October 2020]

I started to watch this show right after the original one "Life on Mars" and first season was very disappointment to me. I mean Sam Tyler was gone, 80's doesn't felt like 80's and main character Alex Drake didn't take my attention. But second season... Ooh couldn't be more beautiful. This dark episode is the best one yet.

Retrospectively spectacular

[dafoxx-212-78211 · 10/10 · 31 July 2020]

When you see this first time like I did, it is no surprise that other reviews found it muddling and over emotional. And to be fair, even having watched it a few times now, the storyline IS muddling and a lot of complexity is added to the script which makes it seem almost surreal. The depth comes out from the blue with rapid references to earlier scenes, episodes and characters, and it is only if you stop, pause, rewind and really take notice of it all do you understand what the writers were trying to pack into 60 minutes, the previous 6 episode were lowkey building up to it, and the script is razor sharp because of it with a hauntingly fantastic conclusion. Mark my words, you will come back to this episode retrospectively to see how it was a defining episode in the whole Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes universe and Gene Hunt and the team. Anyone who would rewatch this back after finishing the 3rd season would agree. Without spoilers it would be impossible to review this episode any further than that, other than this episode alone could have been twice as long to match the weight of the storyline and content here. One of the best

The most surreal episode to date, Ashes to Ashes or Dr Who? Slightly muddled

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 10 August 2015]

A very dramatic start, a raid and a brawl at a construction site unearths a body part buried in cement. Alex continues her 'going home' outbursts and her moving on speeches again, she seems more confident as the bullet was seemingly removed in the last episode. Viv's birthday celebrations unearth some really dodgy 80s fashions, Alex's gold lame dress, Viv's garish shirt and Shaz's crimped hair, class!! PC Summers (Operation Rose) appears in the young guise of Midsomer Murders very own Gwilym Lee. Is he as bad as his older self (Adrian Dunbar) only time will tell. A fairly good, but confusing episode, that asks more questions then it answers. Half way through it turns into Doctor Who, watch it and you'll see what I mean. It does go a little bit surreal, her mum makes a very random cameo appearance. Things start to go wrong, evidence is tampered with, and Gene believes a member of his team is responsible, but which one? Infighting starts to happen, with the team all at each other. I don't think the ending fits in with the series, to me it goes a bit off the boil, the direction that is, not the acting which (by all) is superb. Possibly the weakest episode to date?