Life On Mars Filming Locations: Where Is The Crime Series Filmed?

Crime drama fans will be thrilled to know we have spotted the filming locations of their favorite crime series titled Life On Mars, which premiered on October 9, 2008, and went off-air on April 1, 2009. Directed by S.J. Clarkson and John Alexander, the series touched the themes like time travel, science fiction, and police procedurals. Developed by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, the series takes inspiration from the British television series of the same name by Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah.

Life On Mars aired for one season with 17 episodes having a run time of 45-50 minutes each. The series didn’t receive the same amount of love from the viewers as the British series did. Viewers felt the series didn’t serve the thrill the original one did. The series lacked an extreme ending with a strong storyline. Viewers also felt that Life On Mars was like a beggar’s belief, where the ending was predictable and didn’t have the oomph factor to captivate their viewers.

 Life On Mars was brought to the viewers by ABC channel and stars Jasin O’Mara playing the role of Sam Tyler, the time traveler who travels from 2008 to 1973 after getting hit by a car, Michael Imperioli playing the role of Ray Varling, an ambitious detective, Gretchen Moi playing the role of Annie Noirs, a policewoman with big ambitions, Jonathan Murphy plays the role of Chris Skelton, a junior detective with a kind heart, and Harvey Keitel plays the role of Gene Hunt, commander of detectives in the lead cast.

The recurring cast consists of Maggie Siff playing the role of Maria Hunt, a social worker, and John Cenatiempo playing the role of Sizable, a detective. Tanya Fischer plays the role of Windy, a hippie, and Lisa Bonet plays the role of Maya Daniel, Sam’s partner. Life On Mars focuses on Sam Tyler, an NYPD detective who time travels from 2008 to 1973 after getting hit by a car.

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Life On Mars – Premise

The series begins with Sam Tyler, a detective assigned to the 125th Precinct of NYPD, living with his girlfriend and NYPD partner, Maya Daniels. Maya gets kidnapped, to Sam’s horror, by a murderer they were investigating. Tyler is hit by a speeding police car after he crosses the road and gets distracted for a moment. After a while, Sam gains consciousness, but this time, he wakes up in the year 1973.

Sam is dressed in period civilian and has the identity of the same era. Sam returns to his assigned precinct, but this time he finds the same precinct but in the older times. The twist comes when the detectives are expecting his arrival as they think he is a transfer from Hyde. Sam is labeled as eccentric after he keeps talking about equipment from the future, but he still successfully becomes a valued member of the squad.

While in reality, Sam was in a coma in 2008, and Maya decided to end her relationship with Sam as his being in a coma was taking a toll on her mental health. After several plot twists, Sam gets the opportunity to see earlier versions of the cases he solved in 2008. He also discovers the sociopath mentor of a serial killer, and he gets the opportunity to stop him from becoming a serial killer. Sam struggles to figure out what happened to him and how did he end up in 1973 while he also tries to figure out his way to return in 2008.

Sam’s reality of 2008 often intrudes into 1973 through surreal visions with cryptic phone calls. After he goes through several cases and solves them, he plans his way to return in 2008. The series ends with the revelation that both Sam in 2008 and 1975 were fictitious circumstances created by the onboard computer of a spacecraft on the mission to reach Mars.

Everything was an altered reality imagined by Sam. The crew with which Sam was working in 1975 and 2008 were both virtual reality versions of his crewmen from the spaceship. Sam’s spaceship’s room number 2B, and his precinct, Hyde, were based on the name of the spacecraft. Windy, his neighbor, turns out to be an A.I., and the FBI agent Frank Morga turns out to be the Mission Control Flight Director of the spaceship.

The crew members’ mind was kept active on a routine basis with the help of virtual realities that was chosen by the crew members. The change in Sam’s reality happened due to a computer glitch induced by a meteor shower. Sam reconciles with his dad at the end of the series as the duo walks out on the red planet.

Life On Mars – Filming Locations

Manchester

Manchester, a city located in the northwest region of England, was used as the prime location by the production crew of Life On Mars to film important scenes of the series. The series is shot in and around Manchester, as the location had everything the crew desired. Manchester is known for its landscaped beauty and alluring architecture. The Stopford House, located in Piccadilly in Greater Manchester, serves as the prime location for the filming of the series as it was used to film the police station.

All the scenes with Sam in the police station were filmed at this location. Victoria Baths, located on Hathersage Road in Manchester, was used to film the morgue in the series. Windsor Street, located in Salford in Manchester, was used for the gas towers’ street scenes. The Cobbled Street in Manchester was used by the crew to film the scene where Sam and Gene stop at a vendor stand. The Spark Lane in Manchester was used by the crew to film the armed robbery scene with the wages van.

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