Life on Mars

Episode 5 - S1-E5

Revealing mistake: When the Capri crashes into the goal net & they go to arrest the suspect you can see sky satellite dishes on the houses in front of them. Satellite TV didn't start in the UK until the 80s.

peter mcgougan

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Other mistake: The registration number of the Ford Zephyr police car is RVP154G but the security etching on the window reads EKM414C.

Episode 1 - S1-E1

Revealing mistake: When in the mortuary looking at the female murder victim's body, watch as Sam Tyler says "cord, no other attack marks". When the camera cuts to the corpse at this very moment, you can briefly see the "corpse" swallowing.

UKFilmFan

Episode 4 - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: When Sam and Gene enter the pub with the T.V., they both stand at the bar with Gene leaning one hand against the bar. In the next shot Gene is leaning on it with both hands. When the shot cuts again he is back in his original position with one hand on the bar.

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Other mistake: In the episode where Sam has to defuse a car bomb, a small boy stares down the camera close up during the street clearance shot.

Episode #2.4 - S2-E4

Continuity mistake: When Sam sits down next to Carol Twilling on the bed, asking, "Do things ever get a bit frisky?" the top button of his shirt is undone. The camera cuts away and back, only to find that there are now miraculously two buttons undone, not just one. Sam has not moved in this time.

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Factual error: In the penultimate episode of series 2, the date is given as July 1973, but in an earlier episode when the police were raiding the drug dealer's house, Cozy Powell's record "Dance with the Devil" can be heard. This was a Christmas time hit in 1973.

Episode #2.2 - S2-E2

Continuity mistake: During the scene between Hunt and Tyler, which takes place directly after Hunt has been "communicating" his outrage to Dickie Fingers, by hitting Dickie's hand repeatedly with a telephone, Hunt puts his hands in his pockets. However, in the next shot, which is the opposite camera angle, Hunt's hands are suddenly back out of his pockets. When the camera angle changes again, they're back in, all with no movement on Gene Hunt's part.

Episode 6 - S1-E6

Factual error: Sam's watch (which we see when he checks it just after the escape attempt) is a quartz movement "analog" with a little window at the bottom where an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display shows the date. LCD didn't appear on watches or calculators for another five or six years.(Although in 1973, there were Digital Watches with LED (Light Emitting Diode) displays. (You can see Roger Moore as James Bond wearing one in "Live and Let Die"(1973)).

Episode 5 - S1-E5

Factual error: At the end of the episode Sam walks down an alley looking for the son of the murder victim. In the background small split-system air-con units are visible on the outside of some buildings. These were not available at this time. (00:48:30)

Episode 6 - S1-E6

Factual error: There is a phone ringing in the police office, but it is using the American style ringing tone - with a single, repeated, long ring - instead of the British ring tone - two short rings repeated. (00:00:24 - 00:01:17)

Mhugh

Episode 4 - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: Sam and Gene are discussing how to deal with Stephen Warren and having a drink. Sam holds the bottle of scotch with the label facing away from him. It immediately does a 180 degrees turn as he takes a slug from it.

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Continuity mistake: In the episode about the Asian drug dealers, when Sam is tied to a bed and an iron is roped to his chest, the ropes change position depending on the camera angle.

Episode #2.2 - S2-E2

Continuity mistake: Look out for the self-cleaning windscreen on the car driven by D.C. Skelton. As it turns into the field, it's dirty one moment and clean the next.

Episode 1 - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Sam has just been clipped by a car in the first episode, Sam is rolling off the car with the car rear in this shot, however when we cut to an overhead shot of the car, Sam is seen to be rolling off the car AGAIN before he hits the floor.

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Character mistake: When Hunt was interviewing Rocket, he asked him who killed the "P*ki". At the time, the Asian man who had been shot was still alive in hospital, only to die later in that episode.

Episode 3 - S1-E3

Factual error: The reflection of a blue DAF XF lorry can be seen in a window. These lorries were not made until many years later. (00:31:51)

Episode #2.3 - S2-E3

Factual error: Sam and Gene arrive at a construction site to investigate stolen explosives. There is a green first generation Range Rover parked on the site. The Range Rover has its driver side (right side) side view mirror mounted on the door. In 1973 Range Rovers had side view mirrors mounted on the front end of the front wing (fender), not the door. The mirror was not mounted to the door until after 1978. (00:08:58)

Trivia: Continual references are made to The Wizard of Oz. In Episode 1 of season 1, Tyler leaves the station with the intention of walking back to reality. He says to Cartwright that he is going to 'follow the yellow brick road'. In episode two, after the principal drama has resolved Tyler suggests to Hunt that his 'guv' transfer him back to the division he came from. Hunt obliges by picking up his phone and saying that the Wizard of Oz will sort it out 'because of the wonderful things he does'. Throughout the series Hunt insultingly refers to Tyler as 'Dorothy'. And in the final episode, the song 'Over The Rainbow' can be heard in the soundtrack. Furthermore, the character Frank Morgan has the same name as the actor who portrayed the Wizard of Oz, an acknowledged "humbug", in the 1939 film.

More trivia for Life on Mars

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Question: When Sam reads someone their rights why does someone else tell him he's saying it wrong? This happens few times in different episodes.

strikeand

Chosen answer: Sam is using the modern wording of the right-to-silence caution prescribed by legislation such as the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. In the 1970s, the wording would have been different, if it was used at all.

Sierra1

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