Swapping the Ford Cortina for an Audi Quattro, DCI Gene Hunt rolls up his sleeves and embraces the Eighties in the sequel to Life On Mars. DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) is back but he's no longer the self-styled 'Sheriff of Manchester'.

 

Flanked by his faithful sidekicks, Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) and Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster), and drawn to the action and intrigue of the London Met, Gene turns his attentions to taking on the 'southern nancy' criminal scum. However, Gene does not expect to be thrown together with sexy, intelligent, DCI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes). Single mother to daughter Molly, Alex has rapidly risen through the ranks of the Met and skilfully uses psychological profiling to capture suspects.

 

When Alex and her daughter are kidnapped she makes a daring attempt at escape, resulting in a horrific accident. Alex suddenly finds herself in 1981 interacting with familiar characters, not just from her own life-time, but also from the detailed reports logged by none other than Sam Tyler, which Alex has previously spent months pouring over. Alex is ripped from her current world of sexual equality and respect in 2008 and finds herself opposite an arrogant fellow DCI in a Two Tone, New Romantic Eighties London with a soundtrack of Adam Ant, Roxy Music and The Human League ringing in her ears.