Life On Mars
Philip Glenister plays the "Sheriff of Manchester" DCI Gene Hunt
What was it like returning to series two of Life On Mars?
Ìý
"Like ground hog day! It was like we had never been away!"
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Was it good to get back into it?
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"Yes. Sometimes, when you start a second series, it can feel different because you get a new set of crew members and, obviously, things change but we had a lot of the same crew, which was nice – it was like they hadn't even changed their clothes!"
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How did you feel when you found out that this series would reveal a little more about Gene's background?
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"I was quite reluctant about it initially, mainly because I'm very protective of Gene and I think one of the great things about him is that he's an enigma – and I think the audience like that a lot.
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"I think the fact that Sam sees him like that is very important within their relationship, so I felt he needed to remain an enigma. But, of course, the writing is so good and when Gene talks about the details of what happened to his brother, he's quite dismissive and aloof. Gene doesn't do psychology."
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Do you think he's proud of his team? He does occasionally dish out the odd compliment...
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"This is why I always based him on a football manager because it's a very similar thing. Brian Clough, for example, would never over-praise his players, but when they won the European Cup everyone knew he was the proudest man in the country and those were some of the proudest players on the pitch.
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"It's still apparent in current football managers, Sir Alex Ferguson, for example, is training footballers who are paid £100,000 per week. Since they're been paid a hell of a lot of money, you know he thinks: 'you get out there and win the football match!'
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"Gene's the same as Ferguson and Clough but, obviously, with him it's about catching criminals. Instead, Gene would say to his team: 'You bloody well get out there and catch criminals. And I don't care how you get them. There are some nasty bastards out there and I want them off the streets.'
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"In that respect I agree with Gene, because if there are nasty bastards out there, I don't care how he gets them off the streets. As you get older you get less tolerant of these things."
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Gene is very protective of his patch, isn't he?
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"He's Wyatt Earp; he's the Sheriff who wears the badge. When I've been asked what genre you would put Life On Mars in, I say it's a Western. It's got everything that a great Western has: the frontier, the town, the characters and the Sheriff – and that Sheriff is Gene.
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"Yes, he does cut corners and he does see things in black and white, but I still maintain that he keeps it in-house. You never see Gene really picking on someone who is the wrong person. The only time I think he goes over the top is with the suspected IRA bomber, in episode three."
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Gene's insensitive humour definitely makes people laugh, even when they shouldn't...
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"I love his subtlety! As an actor that stuff is great fun to play. However, we all do laugh at his lines.That's a metaphor for life, in some respects, the whole political correctness thing.
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"I was talking to a friend the other day and we said I haven't heard a single person saying: 'isn't it marvellous that whole political correctness thing?' It's just red tape and bureaucracy that gets in the way."
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How do you feel about Life On Mars coming to an end?
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"Mixed feelings, in a way. It was a great, great show to do, and Gene was a wonderful character to play – probably the most fun I've ever had.
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"It was a great team, and part of the thing I love about a job is the camaraderie of the crew and cast. When you're away from home they become your family. We were very fortunate we had a phenomenal crew who worked their backsides off."
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