Add to FavouritesAbout this Broadcast
Season 1, Episode 8
The investigation into the murder of a bookies' clerk leads the team to 29-year-old Vic Tyler - who Sam is shocked to discover is his own father. He realises the time when he and his mother were abandoned is coming up and desperately tries to persuade the small-time gambler not to leave his wife and child. Meanwhile, Gene sees an opportunity to bring down a crime syndicate
General
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
John Simm
(Actor)
.. Sam Tyler
Philip Glenister
(Actor)
.. Gene Hunt
Liz White
(Actor)
.. Annie Cartwright
Dean Andrews
(Actor)
.. Ray Carling
Marshall Lancaster
(Actor)
.. Chris Skelton
Lee Ingleby
(Actor)
.. Vic Tyler
Joanne Froggatt
(Actor)
.. Ruth Tyler
Noreen Kershaw
(Actor)
.. Phyllis Dobbs
Tony Marshall
(Actor)
.. Nelson
Matt Cross
(Actor)
.. Jimmy Lips
Paul Kemp
(Actor)
.. Manager
Alexander O'Loughlin
(Actor)
.. Young Sam
Claire Parker
(Producer)
John Alexander
(Director)
Matthew Graham
(Writer)
More Information
Did You Know..
John Simm
(Actor)
.. Sam Tyler
Born:
July 10, 1970
in
Leeds
Best Known For:
Playing Sam Tyler in Life on Mars
Early-life:
Born John Ronald Simm on July 10, 1970, in Leeds. He was raised in Nelson, Lancashire, and attended Edge End High School. He's the eldest of three children. His father Ronald, a local musician, taught him how to play the guitar and together they toured the region's working men's clubs. In 1986, aged 16, John enrolled at Blackpool Drama College, and two years later moved to London to study Stanislavsky's acting methods at London's Drama Centre.
Career:
Simm made his TV debut in a 1992 episode of Rumpole of the Bailey. He also appeared in Heartbeat, TV movie Meat, Dalziel and Pascoe's first drama A Pinch of Snuff, Cracker and the film Boston Kickout. Simm became a familiar face thanks to acclaimed series The Lakes. He went on to appear in such projects as Human Traffic, 24 Hour Party People, Spaced, White Teeth, State of Play and Sex Traffic. Simm's performance as troubled cop Sam Tyler in BBC hit Life on Mars made him a household name. Since then he's appeared in Doctor Who, Mad Dogs, The Village, Mad Dogs and Prey. While continuing his work as an actor, during the 1990s he was also a founder member of the rock band Magic Alex.
Quote:
On why he chose to make Life on Mars: 'The mad twist at the start appealed to me. I thought, if I can make that believable I can make anything believable.'
Trivia:
He's also played alongside his friend, Echo and the Bunnymen star Ian McCulloch, on albums and live on stage.
Philip Glenister
(Actor)
.. Gene Hunt
Born:
February 10, 1963
in
London
Best Known For:
Playing gruff copper Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
Early-life:
Philip Haywood Glenister was born on February 10, 1963, in London. Showbusiness was in his blood from an early age, especially as his father, John, is a TV director and his elder brother Robert is an actor. He went to Hatch End Comprehensive School, worked as a film publicist, and later studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama for three years, before appearing in 1990 stage play Mad Forest.
Career:
Glenister's first professional role was as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet at the Lyceum, Edinburgh. He went on to star in Jonathan Harvey's acclaimed play Beautiful Thing at the Bush Theatre in London. On TV, Glenister honed his craft in Minder, Love Hurts, True Love, The Perfect Blue and Sharpe. However, it was roles in Clocking Off, The Hunt, State of Play and Island at War that boosted his profile. On the big screen he has appeared in ID, Calendar Girls, Kingdom of Heaven and Bel Ami. Award-winning BBC drama Life on Mars and its follow-up Ashes to Ashes turned him into a cult hero. He has also starred in the film Tuesday, and on TV in Cranford, Demons, Big School and Mad Dogs. He hosts the series For the Love of Cars.
Quote:
'The celebrity stuff really isn't me. I'm interested in the work: good writing, getting the part and the character right, pleasing the audience.'
Trivia:
In 2008, he published a book on 1970s and 80s culture called Things Ain't What They Used to Be.
Liz White
(Actor)
.. Annie Cartwright
Born:
November 05, 1979
in
Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Best Known For:
Playing Annie Cartwright in Life on Mars.
Early-life:
Elizabeth White was born on November 5, 1979 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. She moved to Devon at age nine and then to Liverpool years later, when she went to train at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Her earliest TV roles were in episodes of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Always and Everyone in 2002.
Career:
In 2003, White appeared in the TV series Teachers. Her first feature film role came the year after in Vera Drake (2004) and she also appeared in TV series A Thing Called Love. She played Annie Cartwright in two seasons of BBC drama Life on Mars from 2006 until 2007 and then played Jess Mercer in The Fixer in 2008. White then went on to appear in episodes of Agatha Christie's Marple, Doctor Who, Line of Duty and New Tricks as well as the films Franklyn (2008), The Woman in Black (2012), U Want Me 2 Kill Him? (2013) and Pride (2014). She also played Lizzie Mottershead in Our Zoo. More recently, she has had roles in The Halcyon, Call the Midwife and Ackley Bridge.
Quote:
On keeping a private personal life: 'I like to be invisible anyway but I think it's a wise choice for an actor. The less people know about you as a person, the more they can believe you as someone else.'
Trivia:
She teaches yoga.
Dean Andrews
(Actor)
.. Ray Carling
Born:
August 06, 1963
in
Rotherham
Best Known For:
Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
Early-life:
Dean was born in Rotherham on August 6, 1963. His parents were publicans. He spent 20 years singing at holiday resorts and on cruise ships before his big break came when he successfully auditioned for a part in Ken Loach's The Navigators (2001), a film set in Sheffield.
Career:
Andrews went on to pick up guest roles in the likes of Buried, Clocking Off, No Angels, Casualty, Wire in the Blood and Shameless before landing his dream part as Ray Carling in the critically acclaimed Life on Mars. He played Carling in two series of Life on Mars and three series of spin-off show Ashes to Ashes. Since then, Andrews has rarely been off TV screens. He has starred in Marchlands, The Case, Being Eileen, Vera and Last Tango in Halifax.
Quote:
'I've been so lucky in my career as I was a late starter and I owe it all to film director Ken Loach.'
Trivia:
In 2013, he got to sing in his first stage play, Victoria Wood's That Day We Sang at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.
Marshall Lancaster
(Actor)
.. Chris Skelton
Lee Ingleby
(Actor)
.. Vic Tyler
Born:
January 20, 1976
in
Burnley, Lancashire
Best Known For:
Playing Martin Shaw's sidekick in Inspector George Gently.
Early-life:
Born January 28, 1976, in Burnley. He was brought up in Brierfield, Lancashire and attended Edge End High School in Nelson - the same establishment that educated fellow actor John Simm. In fact, they had the same drama teacher who encouraged them both to take up acting professionally. Coincidentally, years later, Ingleby played Simm's father in a flashback sequence during Life on Mars. Ingleby's parents and sister appeared in amateur productions while he was growing up, and the acting bug bit him while appearing with the Burnley Youth Theatre.
Career:
After studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Ingleby landed his first regular role in 1997, playing Kevin Fitzpatrick in Soldier Soldier. Killer Net, Cadfael and Jonathan Creek followed, before he won the lead in the BBC's Nature Boy, alongside Paul McGann. He's rarely been out of work since, juggling stage and screen work. Other notable projects include Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Early Doors, The Street, Crooked House and, of course, Inspector George Gently. Recent projects include Being Human, Luther and an audio production of the Robin Hood legend, in which he played the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Quote:
'If someone's well-established, you always think ‘I won't know what to say to them because they're on a pedestal'. But actually, within 10 minutes, you forget who they are and what they've done before and they're just a bloke who enjoys working.'
Trivia:
In 2015, Ingleby replaced Neil Morrissey as the voice of Bob the Builder.
Joanne Froggatt
(Actor)
.. Ruth Tyler
Born:
August 21, 1980
in
Littlebeck, North Yorkshire
Best Known For:
Downton Abbey.
Early-life:
Joanne was born in Littlebeck, North Yorkshire, on August 21, 1980. At the age of 13, she left home to attend the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead. She was also a member of a youth theatre group at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. She landed her first TV role in 1996 as a teenage prostitute in The Bill.
Career:
Froggatt reached a wider audience in 1997 when she was cast in Coronation Street as troubled teenager Zoe Tattersall. She went on to play the role in 126 episodes. After leaving the Street, Froggatt went on to appear in a number of TV shows, including Bad Girls, dinnerladies, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, Murder in the Outback, Island at War, Life on Mars, Robin Hood and The Royle Family. In 2010, she began playing housemaid Anna in Downton Abbey. It has brought her worldwide recognition as the show is broadcast in more than 100 countries and is hugely popular in America.
Quote:
On Downton Abbey: 'I think when we started filming we all knew that it was something really, really good, but we never dared imagine it would have hit the dizzy heights that it has.'
Trivia:
Nominated for an Emmy for Downton Abbey.
Noreen Kershaw
(Actor)
.. Phyllis Dobbs
Tony Marshall
(Actor)
.. Nelson
Born:
May 14, 1974
in
Manchester
Best Known For:
Playing Noel Garcia in Casualty.
Early-life:
Tony was born in Manchester on May 14, 1974. He made his TV debut in 1989 as a waiter in the TV drama Saracen. Minor roles followed in The Paradise Club, Second Thoughts, Only Fools and Horses and Nelson's Column.
Career:
Marshall had a recurring role on All Quiet on the Preston Front and went on to make guest appearances in the likes of Faith in the Future, The Bill, The Queen's Nose, Doctors, My Family, Judge John Deed and Holby City. He played the bartender Nelson in Life on Mars. His big break came in 2008 when he began playing receptionist Noel Garcia in Casualty.
Quote:
On his Casualty character: 'He's a chancer! Cheeky, up for a laugh - looking out for ways to make money.'
Trivia:
Away from acting, Marshall enjoys classic cars, football and comedy DVDs.
Matt Cross
(Actor)
.. Jimmy Lips
Paul Kemp
(Actor)
.. Manager
Alexander O'Loughlin
(Actor)
.. Young Sam
Claire Parker
(Producer)
John Alexander
(Director)
Matthew Graham
(Writer)
