Ashes to Ashes, the follow up to Life on Mars, returns later this month for its final series with producers promising to finally reveal the truth about Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister).
The second series ended with time-travelling copper Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) apparently making it home to the present day but all’s not what it seems and Alex has some uncomfortable discoveries to live with…
BEWARE SPOILERS
The opening episode finds Alex waking up in a hospital bed in 1983 having been shot by Hunt three months ago.
Back in CID a lot has changed; Gene is on the run, Ray Carling has been promoted to DI and is running the show, DC Chris Skelton and WPC Shaz Granger have ended their romance and new discipline and complaints officer, DCI Jim Keats, is breathing down everyone’s necks.
Jim has been sent by Scotland Yard to investigate the shooting of Alex, putting Gene and his team under the spotlight. But it soon becomes clear that Gene and Jim have history as Keats throws some unexpected light on past events. Jim’s presence puts a strain on the team which is exacerbated when Gene is forced to turn in his badge until his name is cleared.
The team is investigating the kidnap of a young girl, Dorothy Blonde, who was abducted as her stepmother walked her to school. With a £50,000 ransom demanded for Dotty’s life the team has to work fast. However, Dotty’s father, David, wants to go it alone and when newly promoted Ray panics while running the sting, it seems the family may have been better off without CID’s involvement. Gene is forced to put his career on the line as he’s unable to stand by and watch a young girl lose her life.
Meanwhile, Alex is being haunted by the ghost of a young policeman and with a gentle nudge from Jim she decides her only hope of getting home is to discover the truth about Gene Hunt and unlock the dark secrets of the past…