TVSquad

If you've been watching Life on Mars for the past eight weeks, like me, you've probably invested much of that time in the pursuit of a rounded conclusion to the overall storyline involving Sam Tyler and his accident-induced journey back to the Manchester police force in 1973.

The series of reviews I've produced over the past two months seem to have given over a lot of time to pursuing the 'end game' of the show, when I really should have spent more time just enjoying the series for what it is; pure, entertaining and nostalgic escapism.

When the final show arrived on Monday night, I had resigned myself to the notion that there were only four possibilities to round off the final episode; Sam would somehow manage to get back to 2006 (possible), Sam would wake up in another time period (unlikely), Sam would get killed (not too likely, but possible), or Sam would stay in 1973 to fight crime the 2006 way.

Warning: spoilers after the jump.

Unfortunately, there wasn't really a conclusion, as such, but it would be unfair to describe the outcome as an unsatisfactory ending. It's been a great show, with some brilliant storylines, some funny one-liners and great performances from the lead actors (John Simm and Phillip Gleinster) -- along with some excellent production values from the BBC.

The final storyline revolved around Sam and Gene setting out on the trail of local gang bosses The Morton Brothers, and accidentally stumbling across Sam's father, Vic Tyler, who seemed to be caught in the middle of some dodgy porn-making affairs.

While Sam's emotions pushed him to try and eliminate his father from the criminal inquiry, Gene was convinced that Vic was at the center of the porn ring, and seemed intent of fitting-up the so-called family man.

All the while, Sam started experiencing more vivid flashbacks from his past, with a little boy wandering in the woods witnessing the murder of a woman in a red dress, which made Sam realize that he was fast approaching the period of 1973 when his father left the family for good, never to be seen again.

It turned out that the woman in the red dress was Sam's fellow-officer Annie Cartwright, whom Vic brutally murdered while trying to escape arrest as he fled from a family wedding. Apparently, Sam witnessed the entire thing as a little boy -- but blocked the memory out. However, this time around, he was able to step in and save Annie, wiping the memory from the mind of his four-year-old self in the process.

Unfortunately, Sam also discovered that his father really was a brutal criminal and a murderer, with The Morton Brothers being nothing more than a myth created by Vic to disguise his own identity and protect his family.

The story climaxed with Sam's biggest dilemma of the series; if he arrested Vic, Sam's mother would face a life of shame and hurt, but more importantly, Sam might wake up and return to 2006. However, if Sam let Vic escape, nothing in history would change -- except Annie being alive -- and Sam's would remain in 1973.

It was a tough confrontation, but Sam realized that his decision would have to be for a greater good, and for the benefit of his younger self, and his mother, he decided to let Vic go and cover up the escape.

The series ended with Sam, Gene, Chris and Ray all heading off to the pub for a drink -- and Sam telling Annie that 1973 was a better place with her in it.

It would seem that life in the past isn't so bad after all, especially when the show ended with the iconic BBC Test Card and the promise of Sam, Gene, Annie and the rest of the gang returning to our screens in 2007...