Life on Mars Is Dead, Ashes To Ashes Rises: Watch Trailer

So ABC’s version of Life On Mars has been cancelled, canned, axed. Are you shocked? Good riddance, I say. I won’t reiterate all of the problems I had with the remake, but let’s just say the show was a misfire from Day One. Star Jason O’Mara may have been delicious with his shirt off, but he was a thoroughly weak leading man, especially after John Simm set the bar so high with Sam Tyler on the UK version. And the writers didn’t have command of the material, and the depth and psychological intrigue of the original were lost. Oh well, at least ABC has allowed LOM‘s writers to bring the narrative to a conclusion; this story was always meant to be close-ended.

But the timing couldn’t have been better for Ashes To Ashes, the ’80s-set sequel to the UK Life On Mars, which premieres this Saturday on BBC AMERICA. Now viewers can see the real, meat-and-potatoes Gene Hunt, as played by Philip Glenister, in action. Today, the full trailer for the series has been released, and you can watch it below:

In other news:

• The Royal Television Society Award nominations have been announced. BBC AMERICA nominees include The American Future: A History By Simon Schama for Best History Program, James Corden of Gavin & Stacey for Best Comedy Performance, and Peep Show, which received nominations for Best Scripted Comedy and for writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong.
• News on British TV exports: sci-fi is in, costume dramas are out.(UK Express)
• Torchwood and Doctor Who exec producer Julie Gardner will work her magic for the BBC here in America.(Variety)
• In an untitled ITV drama, Billie Piper is set to play a poor single mother who meets the multi-millionaire father she’s never known.(The Sun)
• Danny Boyle has been asked to direct the next Bond film. WTF? Martin Campbell, people! Beg him to do the next movie.(The Sun)
• Danny Boyle brings his Oscar back to his hometown of Radcliffe, England. A resident says, “I think it’s superb. He’s done something no one else around here has ever done. I think he deserves some sort of award for his achievements.”(The Independent)
• Slumdog star Freida Pinto walked the catwalk at the Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan.(The Sun)
• The late Wendy Richard gets a tribute from her EastEnders son.(Mirror)
• Sean Connery = shhhcam artishhht?(Daily Mail)
• The brilliant Paddy Considine compares himself to a similarly hotheaded actor, Russell Crowe, whom he worked with on Cinderella Man.: “He [Crowe] was telling me about how he went to LA and had no money and he got paid nothing to do his first few jobs, and he grinded it out. That’s the difference. I’m not doing that. I don’t want the world and everything in it. I really don’t. My only problem is the pressure I put on myself.”(Guardian)
• Disturbia: when Amy Winehouse moves into a quiet neighborhood, nothing is ever the same. I smell an edgy sitcom!(Daily Mail)
• According to The Mirror, Tom Jones wants to work with fellow Welsh singer Duffy. Pants optional.
• Lily Allen carrying a pillow is apparently newsworthy.(Mirror)
• American girls like Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, and Lady GaGa have stormed the UK charts. The Daily Telegraph‘s Neil McCormick says, “There is a kind of perfect, plastic, escapist quality to these American girls. Perhaps, in trying times, that is what people want to hear, instead of the kookier, warts-and-all qualities of British pop. It’s the invasion of the cheerleaders. I suppose things could be worse.”
• Sharon Osbourne is being sued by that Rock of Love: Charm School girl she beat down.(The Sun)
• Natalia Imbruglia isn’t dating Prince Harry…so she says.(The Sun)
• Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay‘s Ferrari was vandalized.(Mirror)
• X Factor contestant Ray Quinn, runner-up to winner Leona Lewis, shows off his toned torso in a wet T-shirt. While his body is appealing, I’m a bit creeped out by this. It’s like a little boy’s face Photoshopped atop Brad Pitt‘s body.(Daily Mail)
• Noel Gallagher is still an idiot in case you’re wondering.(NME)
• Kill A Man Jar-Oh Update: Alesha Dixon came tumbling down. Thank God Chris Moyles didn’t come tumbling after.(The Sun)
• Jade Goody‘s husband, Jack Tweed, has been found guilty of assaulting a taxi driver.(The Sun)
• Danielle Lloyd says she’s faced domestic violence just like Rihanna – and she’s released a grisly photo of her beaten face to prove it.(The Sun)