Out of this world

MARION MCMULLEN remembers the launch of quirky police drama Life On Mars two decades ago

- MARION MCMULLEN

"MY NAME is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landing on a different planet.

It was back to the era of glam rock, platform shoes and disco as Life On Mars took off on the BBC twenty years ago.

John Simm played modern-day copper DCI Sam Tyler who found himself living life in the 1970s after suffering a car accident.