Ashes to Ashes - Back to the 80s - The Complete Season 3 - DVD

Film: After nearly a year and a half of waiting, Ashes to Ashes - Back to the 80s finally comes to a close on DVD with its third season. The follow-up series to Life on Mars - Trapped in the 70s said goodbye to the second season with a solid cliffhanger. Not only that will be resolved in the final episodes. The big mystery that underlies both series is also finally revealed. We remember: when police psychologist Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) is shot during a kidnapping, she falls into a coma. When she awakens, she finds herself in 1981, meeting people she knows from accounts of police officer Sam Tyler, whose case she had studied in depth. Knowing that she is still in a coma in the present, she desperately searches for a way to return to her time and to her daughter.

In the meantime, however, she must survive the rigors of everyday police life in early 1980s London with gruff DCI Gene Hunt (superbly portrayed by Philip Glenister, as he was in Life on Mars) and his colleagues Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) and Chris Shelton (Marshall Lancaster). At the end of season 2, this led to Alex being shot by Gene and falling into a coma. When she wakes up, she is still in the 80s. Meanwhile, three months have passed. Hunt has gone into hiding, as it appears he purposefully shot Alex. After the latter is able to clear Hunt of all charges, things quickly return to normal at the precinct. But only apparently. For the appearance of the mysterious DCI Jim Keats (Daniel Mays), who warns Alex urgently about Gene, a strange ghostly apparition that keeps haunting Alex and her unwavering conviction that she does not belong in this decade, make it difficult for her to pursue normal police duty. Soon, however, all secrets will be revealed...

Ashes to Ashes - Back to the 80s has slowly but surely broken away from the shadow of Life on Mars over the course of three seasons, though the substantive connection is maintained to the end. The mix of thriller, mystery and drama, spiced with a pinch of dry humor makes the series extremely entertaining until the last episode, which is supported by the authentic 80s decor and the matching soundtrack. Admittedly, the actual cases that Alex, Hunt and his team work on fade more and more into the background as the series nears its conclusion. Nevertheless, the crime aspects never get lost under the mystery elements, which is what the very special character of the series is based on.

The finale, however, will certainly divide minds. After everything that happened in Life on Mars - Trapped in the 70s and in the previous seasons, probably no one expected a rational, perfectly logical ending. But since the resolution, despite many explanations especially concerning the question of the fate of Alex and Sam Tyler, leaves some not exactly small logic holes and also demands a certain openness from the viewer concerning the direction the whole thing is going, simply not all fans can be satisfied. Especially since most have certainly already made their own picture of it, which can actually inevitably only lead to disappointment - the makers of Lost can sing a song about it.

But who can get involved in the resolution, which is rewarded with a really nice finale, which brings the series to an absolutely worthy conclusion and allows the fan to say a proper farewell to the cherished characters. A very good and entertaining season that can convince with great scripts, clever twists and good actors. Thus, Ashes to Ashes - Back to the 80s is still first-class, gripping TV entertainment even on the home stretch, for which there is only one possible conclusion: absolutely worth watching!

Picture + Sound: The technical realization of the individual episodes is again in the last season on a good to very good TV level. The picture is absolutely clean, the overall sharpness is especially in brighter outdoor scenes absolutely satisfactory, only in the representation of smaller details in primarily darker scenes, there are slight point deductions here. The audio, which is in stereo, does a good job of showcasing both the dialogue and the great soundtrack, though the English soundtrack sounds a bit more harmonious and not quite as front mixed as the German soundtrack does. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, there is a Making of (approx. 24 min.) on the third DVD, which is worth seeing, but should definitely not be switched on before watching the final episode. Not much, but absolutely worth watching for fans!

Conclusion: The third and final season of Ashes to Ashes takes not only the mysteries of this series, but also those of Life on Mars to a resolution that is sure to divide minds. But even if the finale leaves a few logic questions unanswered, it's still very well done overall, which is also true for the episodes that precede it. Thrilling, mysterious, but also humorous and entertaining, this is how Ashes to Ashes says goodbye to its fans on a qualitatively high level. A nice making of sweetens the end a little bit. Who liked Life on Mars and the first two seasons of Ashes to Ashes, comes to this DVD box not past - even if the finale may not convince everyone!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp