A Life On Mars Sequel Series Is In Development

The writers of Life on Mars have finished a script for a pilot episode of a sequel, giving fans hope that a new series may be on the way. 

The BBC show first landed all the way back in 2006 and ran for two seasons, before leaving our screens. 

For those unfamiliar with the show, it centred on policeman Sam Tyler (played by John Simm) who gets hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973.

Realising he's firmly stuck in the past, Tyler gets on with his job as a policeman, working under DCI Gene Hunt (played by Philip Glenister) a cop who is very much of his time, while also trying to work out exactly what is going on and how he’s been sent back three decades. 

The show was given a spin-off, Ashes to Ashes, starring Keeley Hawes as a police officer at the Metropolitan Police who is shot in the line of duty and wakes up in 1981. 

Since Life on Mars ended in 2007, the show has developed a bit of a cult following with fans routinely calling on its creators to make a sequel. 

And now it appears as though their calls have been heard, as screenwriter and creator Matthew Graham has now confirmed he and collaborator Ashley Pharoah had completed a script for a pilot of a sequel, titled Lazarus. 

Posting on social media via his production company, Graham said: “So @AJPharoah and I have completed the pilot script for Lazarus. 

“It contains the words – Hanging, Boogie, Creme Fraiche.”

As you can imagine, the news that a script is completed has got fans very excited, with one commenting: “Best two series I’ve ever seen by a very wide margin. The acting was perfect and I’d love to see these artists reprise their roles… but the writing was mind blowing. Simply the fact that these two have created a final chapter gives me hope for humankind. Thank you!”

As yet, the show doesn’t appear to have been picked up, but Graham recently told The Express that there is ‘broadcaster interest’. 

When asked if we may see a new series next year, he said: "If it gets greenlit soonish I guess we'd film later this year – so possible. God only knows what the actors' diaries are like."

While Simm has all but confirmed he’d reprise his role is given the chance, he said: "There has been talk of it coming back. Me and Phil [Glenister] talked to Matthew and Ashley.

"They gave us this brilliant idea about how it could come back and we talked to them about it. Obviously I can't tell you what it is, but it is called Lazarus."