TV What to make of tonight’s final episode of Ashes To Ashes? Eight weeks ago I wrote that this was “a far clever, far more complex prospect than the earlier series” and whilst I stand by that, whether it was as entertaining is another matter. As with Life On Mars, the problem the series has perennially faced is being a high-concept fantasy series and a cop show, never quite able to commit to either and ultimately falling through the cracks. In some of the worst episodes, we’ve seen a detective story peppered with random dream sequences and reminders of the clown, but in the best, Alex’s predicament has come to the fore along with attempts at building momentum for tonight’s climax.
And yet in the end, producers Kudos fumbled. On the one hand, the visit from Lord Scarman (deliciously played by Geoffrey Palmer) was well handled and as funny as anything we’ve seen before, the hero polemic from the Gene genie instantly clappable. Except, having waited eight weeks to see Alex fighting a life and death battle to stop her parents from dying, there was no urgency, the character and programme pottering about the subject in a series of disjointed scenes. Clearly the idea was not to do the expected thing of having a proper investigation, Alex box ticking much as she did in the first episode.
The two storylines simply didn’t mesh, rather like those episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which the Enterprise found yet another special spacial anomaly whilst Data learned a lesson about humanity. Scarman deserved a whole running time to himself as did the resolution of the ongoing story; instead they stole from each other and ultimately came out the weaker for it.
Plus – how much more interesting would it have been if Alex’s mother had lived but the officer from the future hadn’t returned home, suggesting something much wilder? I did gasp when it was revealed that her father had been the clown all of these weeks, but mostly because I'd not been able to make the connect between two images that have been right in front of me. Oh yes, explosions are lovely as were the scenes between young Alex and Gene, this seemed as usually to be looking at things from a moment to moment basis rather than the larger picture.
Perhaps I’m just disappointed that Sam Tyler didn’t make a late appearance as I predicted. But really there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Again I ask – if this all is in Alex’s head, why do we keep getting scenes from other character’s point of view? At first I thought it was part of some larger scheme, but I’m actually starting to conclude that it’s the producers not really thinking about their concept as much as they should and simply working to the needs of production and giving their cast something to do.
But then I look at the enigmatic dialogue, the times in which Gene seems to be totally aware of Alex’s predicament but unable to say and I wonder if in fact there really is something more interesting going on which is yet to be revealed as they take advantage of knowing that a second series is in the offering. Something I’ll definitely still be watching, if only because Keeley Hawes is still a rose and looks great in red.
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