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The highly anticipated sequel to Life on Mars is upon this week on BBC One, featuring the return of Gene Hunt and the arrival of Detective Inspector Alex Drake (played by the sexy Keeley Hawes).

The action has been updated to 1981 and Gene has moved from Manchester down to the glitz of the Met where he determined to rid the streets of "Southern scum". Whether the series will equal the brilliance of Life remains to be seen but the shows creators have rather handily come up with a work around for Drake to meet up with Hunt and his gang - she had been reading the story of Sam Tyler and it made a strong connection with her...

In the first scene setting episode police psychologist DI Alex Drake wakes up in a brothel, wearing a red leather skirt and fur coat, and surrounded by men who look like something out of Miami Vice, she is confused, to say the least. Her last memory is of being taken hostage and shot in London – in 2008.

It's not long before "The Manc Lion", DCI Gene Hunt, a newly permed DS Ray Carling, the over-cautious DC Chris Skelton and young, enthusiastic WPC Sharon "Shaz" Granger come to her rescue.

Alex soon recognises her new surroundings and colleagues from the detailed reports of Sam Tyler, whose experiences she has studied in 2008. Armed with this knowledge, she thinks she is in the driving seat and knows how this world works – but she doesn't. If she can just keep her brain working by solving cases, then it should buy her time to work out how to get back to her daughter in 2008.

There's a growing drug problem in London and Gene believes he's the man to stop it. He suspects that city playboy, Edward Markham, is the brains behind it all. However, when Alex finds a tape titled "Arthur Layton", she isn't convinced the case is so black and white and challenges Gene; Layton was her kidnapper in 2008 and could be the key to her getting home.

Following a few bottles of Chianti, Gene looks at the evidence acquired by Alex and finally sees she isn't just a bit of posh totty; she has brains, as well as looks.

Gene is ready to take on the London drug dealers in his own, classic, Northern style, but Alex is convinced she needs to solve the problem alone in order to get home.

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