DCI Tyler is an officer in the Greater Manchester Police in 2006; then something strange happens... he is involved in a traffic accident and when he wakes up it is 1973! As he repeatedly asks; 'Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet'. Whatever has actually happened he is now living the life of a Detective Inspector who has newly transferred to a police station in central Manchester. He soon learns that policing and attitudes were very different then with casual sexism, racism and homophobia as well as a habit of beating suspects till they confess! Sam is in a team led by the no nonsense DCI Gene Hunt. The only person he tells about his predicament is WPC Annie Cartwright. Over the course of the series the team are involved in a variety of cases; he also crosses paths with members of his own family and even his younger self. While he is never fully certain what is going on he gets occasional messages from 2006 which suggest he might really be in a coma but he can't be sure... he can just hope that one day he finds a way home.
As the saying goes 'The past is another country; they do things differently there' and this certainly illustrates that. Some details are deliberately exaggerated but the series does have a great seventies feel. The central premise is a lot of fun but it only works because of the characters and the actors playing them. John Simm is impressive as Sam Tyler but it is Philip Glenister who steals the show as Gene Hunt; a character who at times make one yearn for the good old, no-nonsense days just before saying something so jaw-droppingly offensive to modern attitudes one realises the past wasn't that great. Liz White impresses as Annie, the most normal character and Dean Andrews and Marshall Lancaster are solid as cops Ray and Chris. Throughout the series I was interested in both the cases they were investigating and the question of what really happened to DCI Tyler. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody looking for a cop show with an interesting twist.
As the saying goes 'The past is another country; they do things differently there' and this certainly illustrates that. Some details are deliberately exaggerated but the series does have a great seventies feel. The central premise is a lot of fun but it only works because of the characters and the actors playing them. John Simm is impressive as Sam Tyler but it is Philip Glenister who steals the show as Gene Hunt; a character who at times make one yearn for the good old, no-nonsense days just before saying something so jaw-droppingly offensive to modern attitudes one realises the past wasn't that great. Liz White impresses as Annie, the most normal character and Dean Andrews and Marshall Lancaster are solid as cops Ray and Chris. Throughout the series I was interested in both the cases they were investigating and the question of what really happened to DCI Tyler. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody looking for a cop show with an interesting twist.