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Life On Mars
Season 2
SERIES: BBC America, Tuesday 8:00p (60 minutes)

Life On Mars
Critic Score
Metascore: 79 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.7 out of 10
based on 8 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 16 votes
read user comments
rate this tv show

Starring John Simm, Philip Glenister, Liz White, Marshall Lancaster, and Dean Andrews

In the final season of Life on Mars, Sam Tyler (John Simms), a modern day detective who woke up from a car crash in 1973 Manchester, tries to determine if he's dreaming or not.

GENRE(S): Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
CREATED BY: Matthew Graham
Tony Jordan
Ashley Pharoah
FIRST AIR DATE: December 11, 2007

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88
USA Today Robert Bianco
The British Mars produced only 16 episodes, and when the last of this season's final eight is over, you will have all the answers you need. What's more, they're satisfying and well worth the relatively short amount of time expended.
Read Full Review
80
TV Guide Matt Roush
Mars is an entertaining collision of bare-knuckled police-procedural realism and mind-blowing surrealism.
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80
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
If anything, season 2--also just eight hours long--is even better as Tyler's world in 1973 becomes even more complicated.
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80
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
Cop show, fantasy, mystery, comedy, romance, puzzle -- there are a lot of ways to approach "Life on Mars," which begins its second and final season tonight on BBC America, and they all pay off.
Read Full Review
80
The New York Times Ginia Bellafante
Life on Mars is a smarter, gloomier "Journeyman."
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
It's helpful to remember that Life on Mars is less about said realism and more about Sam's twisted journey. Enjoying that retro-cool ride is the essence of the series.
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75
Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn
This isn't much different from Season 1--confusion, frustration, bell-bottoms--but it's still a good, uneasy time. [14 Dec 2007, p.62]
70
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
Simm is also compelling (as he was in a couple of standout “Doctor Who” episodes earlier this year), though his performance is sometimes pitched to a level of intensity that the occasionally formulaic storytelling doesn’t quite match.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this tv show is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Alex V. gave it a9:
Excellent soundtrack!!!

Harry B. gave it a0:
Abysmal British tat.

Gloria H. gave it a10:
Excellent show. Hate to see it end.

Mr Edd Horse gave it a10:
B****Y Good. Intriguing throughout the show I I wanted to know how it ends and it ends very Satisfyingly..

Andrew R. gave it a7:
Although the "gritty" police procedure goes a bit over the top sometimes, the 70's dress and music is spot on. The story is almost incidental in this well acted trip down memory lane.

Chris A gave it a9:
While the some episodes aren't as uniformly good as the first season, the finale more than makes up for it, tying up the story in a tidy, pitch-perfect conclusion.

Bart C. gave it a10:
This show was at times surprisingly dark, and always left you wanting more. It's nice to have seen a show that didn't insist on being around forever. I dread the day that the American version hits the air. ...and I hope the spin-off(ashes to ashes) is just as good as this.

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