TV: ‘Ashes to Ashes’ – Series 2, Episode 2

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Episode 2 tonight. Hope it’s as good as the episode 1 last week.

So, what was it like? Well, all-in-all, a disappointing lack-lustre episode in my view. Even though the acting was, as always, very good – especially Philip Glenister who IS Gene Hunt and Keeley Hawes in the lead roles, it just felt…well…boring!

The storyline was about GH accidentally killing a member of the Travelling community whilst in ‘hot-pursuit’ – and it just didn’t do it for me. The old plot-device of ‘the one you least suspect is really the true baddy’ stuck out a mile and made the episode very predictable.

In particular, there just weren’t enough references to the 80s. In one scene, the team were listening to the news dealing with the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falkland’s War and the whole scene felt very much like a last-minute add-on. I’m sure they could have made more references to 1982 overall in this episode, rather than just this one short scene.

One a more positive note, the best – and most intriguing – line in the episode that got me thinking (and no doubt most other devotees of the series) was spoken by the old Romany woman whilst in custody. Using her Tarot cards, she warned GH: “…You have power, power you will soon be forced to give up….you will give-up your power to a tiler…”. This must have got everyone thinking that Sam (Tyler) was going to return! What a neat red-herring, as we all found out later that the line was in fact referring to the role of the ’tiler’ in the Masons. Its significance being that the regular character ‘Ray’ was the ’tiler’ during GH’s initiation into the local Masons’ Lodge. Clever stuff!!!

It was good to see an ‘Austin Princess’ as part of the action. Although I personally hated the car back in the 80s, it was a shame to see it trashed as part of the chase-scene!

The biggest disappointment for me by far, was that there just wasn’t enough of the episode devoted to AD’s personal dilemma – it felt like just another cop-series.

A disappointing episode then, and worryingly, next week’s episode looks pretty mundane too from the excerpt shown at the end. 

I’d happily watch episode ONE again, but this was instantly forgettable. I really do hope the series shapes-up in the remaining six…

More music from the 80s, more Quattro and more of the dialogue dealing with AD’s situation please!