Hustle, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes

I did not possess a television set during much of 1980-90s or the twenty-first century but over the last three years, I have found a plethora of programmes that I missed 'first time around' on, mainly, BBC iPlayer/

Most of the 'old stuff' on itv.com are mostly either 'too dated', like 'The Sweeney''  or too pedestrian like 'Vera' or 'Poirot';  you don't want to go with 'The Protectors' or 'The Saint'!

But the BBC is, or seems to be, pulling out all the stops of their back catalogue of  'prime-time viewing', which on reflection is not half bad.  As well as informative documentaries, which belie their limited audience, history, astronomy, physics, chemistry et al, we have 'Silent Witness', 'The Three Musketeers', 'Robin Hood', 'Waking the Dead' as well as the very excellent 'Thirteen' and 'Killing Eve', which both starred the beyond awesome Jodie Comer. If some forty years on, she doesn't become a 'national treasure', there is something very wrong with the world!

However, I would like to concentrate my 'critique', if that what it is, on three programmes. First up is 'Hustle'. OK, I'll admit, somebody watched 'The Sting' and thought 'I could make a series out this concept'; the same thing happened with 'Now you see it, now you don't'. (Parts one and two; is there a three on the cards? I enjoyed them immensely.)

The basic premise is that a group of five set out to 'con' a 'mark', who is not very nice to know. This gets you rooting for the criminals; the con men and woman. To defraud 'nice' people out of their money would be somewhat immoral and so is avoided; just like 'The Sting'. The skill in the plotting and in the script-writing is to use the old 'magical trick' of misdirection; you think that you see but you actually don't. And sometimes it works,and sometimes it doesn't. Eventually one wises up to the tricks the 'story plotters' play. However, the 'reveal' does give a certain amount of pleasure or contentment if you spotted it ten minutes in to the programme.

'Life on Mars' and 'Ashes to Ashes', both Bowie songs, is about a policeman and, in 'Ashes to Ashes', a policewoman suddenly thrown back in time to a totally different era of 'policing'; fans of  'The Sweeney' will love it! The question is; can they deal with it? Robert Glenister is absolutely superb in his role as DI and DCI. There are numerous questions to be answered at the end of 'Life on Mars'. Was it a dream? A mere fantasy cooked up by a screen-writer looking for an interesting plot-line? A suicide whose life flashes before him in an instant? Was it real? These questions puzzled me for a time.

'Ashes to Ashes' poses the same questions in a different way, still interesting to keep you engaged,  However, one realises that the reason why the ending of  'Life on Mars' was ambiguous was that 'Ashes to Ashes' would resolve the issue in the final episode. I will not spoil the ending but I will say that the policewoman is good enough to enjoy a night in the pub; the way the Met always celebrated in the 70s and 80s.

As an idea, I thought it wonderful; As a concept that would carry two series, let alone one, I thought it awesome!