Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Stephen King, Netflix, BBC, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin
When it comes to a seal of approval for a TV show, there are few names around that carry as much weight as Stephen King.
The writer is behind some of the most iconic novels and films of all time, but is also one of the few people held in such esteem that will regularly let you know the TV and movies they have been digging.
One detective drama in particular is beloved by King, who labelled it one of his all time favourites, and you can watch it on Netflix.
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While King’s approval does help, it is not one that necessarily needs it, with the series sitting at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and widely considered one of the best British shows ever.
The series in question is Life on Mars, and it is a sci-fi detective drama that features on a number of best shows of the 21st century lists, and can be watched right now in full on Netflix in the UK and Ireland.
The Guardian had it in their top 100 shows of the century, Vice had it in their top 50, and The Independent called it the best show of 2006.
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Life on Mars has a simple yet mind-bending concept for those who don’t know it – a Manchester policeman in 2006 gets into a car crash.
When he wakes up, he finds himself still a policeman, but in 1973.
The show starred John Simm, Philip Glenister, and Liz White, and eventually got its own spin-off starring Glenister and Keeley Hawes.
The BBC show ran for two iconic seasons, both of which sit at a perfect 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. A reboot called Lazarus, which was set to close the book on the story of Simm's Sam Tyler and Glenister's Gene Hunt, was announced back in 2020, but plans for it were crapped three years later.
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King tweeted about the show in 2020 saying: “One of my favorite shows of all time. The kind you go to when you’re feeling sad.”
Dorian Lynskey said in their review of season one for Empire Magazine: “Life On Mars' bedrock is its deft, thought-provoking recreation of a very different Britain, an eloquent confirmation of novelist L. P. Hartley's famous line, 'The past is another country.'"
The show averages a whopping 8.4 on IMDb, with viewers just as obsessed with the series as reviewers.
One 10/10 review read: “I rarely watch TV, but I was absolutely hooked to Life on Mars.
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“It was intelligent and humorous, more than I can say for most of what is on TV today!
“The plots are good and they really do portray the 70s as it was.
“This is the best TV drama I have seen in years - don't miss it!”
Life on Mars is available to stream on Netflix in the UK and Ireland.