for those who have finished Life on Mars :---> Ashes to Ashes. "HUNT ... WHAT?"

[dcharlie]

Turn away now , as it's mildly spoilerish of Life on Mars....

Ashes to Ashes will feature DCI Gene Hunt (played by Philip Glenister) as its main character. He will be joined by a female detective from the 21st century, DCI Alex Drake, who is stranded in 1981 after an accident.[3] She will be played by Keeley Hawes.[1] Also reappearing are Chris Skelton (played by Marshall Lancaster) who is stated to be a "technical wizard" and Ray Carling (played by Dean Andrews). All have transferred to the Metropolitan Police in London and Chris and Ray remain loyal to Gene. There will be a new recruit in the form of WPC Sharon 'Shaz' Granger (to be played by Montserrat Lombard) to replace WDC Annie Cartwright. As with the parent series, the show's name comes from a David Bowie song of the era in which it is set. The Times reported that this spin-off would pick up the lives of Gene Hunt and other characters from the series in 1981[4] and Matthew Graham also said in interviews that the great mystery of Gene Hunt will be revealed.[citation needed] BBC Wales Head of Drama Julie Gardner confirmed that the spin-off was to be produced during an interview for BBC Radio Wales in March 2007.[5]

Since Alex Drake is said to have spent months (in 2008) poring over detailed reports left behind by Sam Tyler (John Simm's character from Life on Mars) Ashes to Ashes seems to take the position that Sam's 2006 life was real, with Alex patterning her 1981 on Sam's reports. Sam himself will not be appearing in the new series, with actor John Simm quoted as saying, "My instinct tells me not to hang around too long." The suggested transmission date is January 2008.[6]

F**K YES!!!

[TVC15]

It sounds like things are coming together pretty well.  I was really taking a wait and see stance on this, but it sounds like they are on to something.

Have they said if this is just going to be one self-contained series, or do they generally not give away info like that?