Life on Mars (UK)
BBC-1 | BBC | Release Date: January 9, 2006
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyJennifer Armstrong
Season 1 Review: It's Quantum Leap meets The Streets of San Francisco--with narry a C, S, or I in sight. [28 Jul 2006, p.56]
90
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: Surreal and harrowing. Read full review
88
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 2 Review: The British Mars produced only 16 episodes, and when the last of this season's final eight is over, you will have all the answers you need. What's more, they're satisfying and well worth the relatively short amount of time expended. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: Don’t mistake the slick-but-not-stupid Life on Mars for brain-bending sci-fi or Austin Powers-style farce. Aside from the psychological stress of its star... this is actually at heart an old-school cops-and-robbers show, with that dash of Twilight Zone to give it 21st-century cachet. Read full review
80
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: Plain wonderful. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 2 Review: Cop show, fantasy, mystery, comedy, romance, puzzle -- there are a lot of ways to approach "Life on Mars," which begins its second and final season tonight on BBC America, and they all pay off. Read full review
80
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 2 Review: Life on Mars is a smarter, gloomier "Journeyman." Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 2 Review: Mars is an entertaining collision of bare-knuckled police-procedural realism and mind-blowing surrealism. Read full review
80
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 2 Review: If anything, season 2--also just eight hours long--is even better as Tyler's world in 1973 becomes even more complicated. Read full review
80
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 2 Review: Life on Mars is colorful and fun and well-written. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 2 Review: It's helpful to remember that Life on Mars is less about said realism and more about Sam's twisted journey. Enjoying that retro-cool ride is the essence of the series. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Season 2 Review: This isn't much different from Season 1--confusion, frustration, bell-bottoms--but it's still a good, uneasy time. [14 Dec 2007, p.62]
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: The show is exceptionally well made from top to bottom and pulls you in and pulls you along, owing not least to a host of terrific performances. Read full review
70
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: It’s an ambitious and ever-shifting examination of the lack of foresight in a culture addicted to rapid change. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: "Life on Mars" has the makings of an intoxicating treat, proving how far a little atmosphere can go in breathing life into a format that occasionally appears close to flatlining. Read full review
70
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 2 Review: Simm is also compelling (as he was in a couple of standout “Doctor Who” episodes earlier this year), though his performance is sometimes pitched to a level of intensity that the occasionally formulaic storytelling doesn’t quite match. Read full review
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