Factual error: In episode two, "Souvenir" by OMD was featured. It was not released until a month after the royal wedding that year.
Factual error: One of the songs played on the boat party is too early for july 1981. "Ay Ay Ay Ay Mosey" by Modern Romance was a Christmas time hit that year.
Character mistake: Series 1, Episode 3: When Alex tells Ray she will re-trace his steps for clues linking to the murder of a girl, he says, "Don't worry, lads! Wonder Woman's here!" Alex replies, "FYI DI Carling." Ray is a DS, not a DI.
Factual error: Series 2, episode 8: As the security van is leaving the depot it drives past an N-registration Rover 600. N registration is 1995/96 and the Rover 600 didn't go into production until 1993. (00:43:00)
Factual error: Series 2, episode 3: "Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran wasn't released until 1983.
Factual error: When the police arrive at the prison during the riot, the transit van they jump out of is a post-1984 model fitted with a 1980/81 w registration number.
Plot hole: At the very end of series two, there was a shootout during an armed robbery. WPC Granger somehow had access to a firearm. Surely the fact of her uniform rank would not have allowed this.
Plot hole: Series 1, Episode 7: Alex has a car wrecked by having a tank driven over it. She is seen in the turret, so who was behind the wheel?
Factual error: Series two is set in 1982. TV A.M. didn't come around till 1983 with Roland Rat on it.
Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Factual error: Souvenir by OMD was not released until 04/08/81. But the date for this episode was July 1981.
Episode #1.4 - S1-E4
Factual error: A man in glasses is sitting in the rear seat of a car with "Lexus" on the window. The first Lexus was 1989.
Episode #3.4 - S3-E4
Revealing mistake: After DC Louise Gardiner dies, DCI Jim Keats closes her eyelids. She swallows as he moves his hand across her face.
Other mistake: The song 'Happy birthday' by 'Altered images' wasn't a hit until the autumn of 1981, and couldn't have been played at the boat party.
Factual error: An Austin Maestro van is used in this episode, and although the hatchback Maestro started production in 1983, vans were not added to the range until 1984.
Factual error: "Walking on Sunshine" wasn't a hit until 1985. "Two Tribes" by Frankie-goes-to-Hollywood wasn't out till June 84, not 83. As for "Uptown Girl," it wasn't out till the Autumn.
Factual error: Series 3 episode 2: at the end of this episode Cyndi Lauper's record "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" is being played. Unfortunately this song wasn't issued until 1984 - the year after the show was set.
Factual error: Series 2, episode 6: A white Austin Maestro van can be seen. These didn't start production until 1984.
Episode #2.2 - S2-E2
Factual error: When Alex leaves the police station at the start of the episode, there is a police liveried Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 with a cross hatched front grille. The episode is set in 1982, and this type of grille didn't appear until the Cavalier was facelifted in 1986.
Factual error: Series 2, episode 1: Two songs heard in this episode, "Rio" by Duran Duran and "Mirror Man" by the Human League, were Christmas time hits in 1982. This episode is set during the Falklands war (April-June, 1982), so these two songs would not have been released yet.
Episode #2.4 - S2-E4
Factual error: There are several errors relating the photo of Mac and Jarvis at Hendon in 1962. 1) Gene Hunt says that he was at Hendon several years behind Mac. First, he began his career with Manchester Police (he says in the first series that he only transferred to the Met in the last year or two); and only the Metropolitan Police train at Hendon. Second, he was already a DCI by 1973 (as we know from the prequel 'Life on Mars', which is referenced in 'Ashes to Ashes'). There's no way he could have reached DCI in such a short time if he didn't join the police until at least the mid-1960s. 2) Hendon didn't actually open until 1974 anyway; before then, the Met training school was at Peel House in Westminster. 3) Apparently Jarvis left Hendon "in his last year." The Met training course actually only lasted for 17 weeks.
Answer: Have you finished watching the entire series? I don't think it's fair to answer this for someone who hasn't.
Bishop73