Springing from the Ashes
Monday, June 8, 2009 by Graham Kibble-White
Kudos has confirmed a third and final series of Ashes to Ashes has been commissioned.
The press release comes out today, as the drama’s second series reaches its climax on BBC1. Here’s what it says…
June 8 2009: Don’t put the leg warmers and blue eyeliner away just yet because the 80s revival is set to continue in the gripping finale of Ashes to Ashes, to be screened on BBC One next year.
The hit drama from Kudos Film and Television in association with Monastic Productions has been recommissioned for a third series by the BBC following a fantastic second run which has kept millions of viewers hooked each week.
Fans have theorised since Life on Mars and throughout Ashes to Ashes about who Gene Hunt actually is and what his alternative world really means. Producers have now revealed the climax of series three will finally reveal all and writers and creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah have promised a stunning finale for fans.
Pharoah says: “We have thoroughly enjoyed following Alex Drake on her journey in the 80s and seeing her fiery relationship with Gene Hunt develop. We are also as excited as the viewers to see how her journey ends and we promise the third series will be packed full of intriguing twists and turns to keep viewers guessing about the final outcome.”
Simon Crawford Collins, Executive Producer Kudos Film and Television, says: “Will Alex make it back home, why is she living in this parallel 80s world, what will become of bullish Gene Hunt and will we ever discover what actually happened to Sam Tyler…..viewers will not be left disappointed because the series promises to finish with a bang!”
Ashes to Ashes is written and created by Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah, two creators of the award winning Life on Mars. It is produced by Kudos Film and Television, in association with Monastic Productions and was commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning.
Executive producer duties will be split between Jane Featherstone, Simon Crawford Collins and Alison Jackson for Kudos Film and Television, Ashley Pharoah for Monastic Productions and Piers Wenger for the BBC.
Filming on series three will begin in the Autumn and Ashes to Ashes will return to BBC One in 2010.
Stunning end to the series. I did think it interesting that after a certain level of caution, Sam Tyler’s name was being thrown about with abandon in this episode. Can we expect the third series to directly tie the two series together? Will John Simm cameo? I’m still awaiting the revelation that most of the characters have taken the same trip as Alex and Sam and are all on some kind of quest ..
I think it would be great if series three began in the present day, with Gene Hunt creeping through from the past. And, did you notice, the final episode pretty much abandoned the set-piece-1980s-music sequence, and that was all to the good, I reckon.
I did. It seems the more the series pulls back from the random “I Love the 80s” nostalgia — picking a copy of The Joy of Sex from the bookshelf etc — the better it is.