Life on Mars: Audience + Industry

Audience

Audience marketing

How did the marketing (trailers, advertising, etc) for Life on Mars target, identify and maximise its audience? This could also be by targeting an existing audience.

• Use of specific genres and their conventions
• Use of stars such as John Simm
• Use of characters
• Any other methods to target audiences e.g. enigmas, merchandise, links to other products or genres...

Life on Mars targets an older audience, given the 70s mis-en-scene, and this is exemplified through the trailer. The trailer's soundtrack, from a popular 70s rock band (Led Zeppelin), appeals to the older audience through familiarity. This is also achieved through the character of Gene Hunt, and the actor behind him, Philip Glenister, a familiar face for BBC audiences through previous series for the broadcaster. The press pack also makes it clear through sections like 'Do you remember the 70s, which aims at an audience that will play on the nostalgia factor. Nevertheless, the show does attempt to maximise its audience, the character of Sam Tyler being a prime example, as he's the antithesis of Gene Hunt, looking to bring a younger audience. The voiceover in the trailer clearly outlines the narrative in order to have a mainstream audience, along with the clearly established hybrid genre of crime and sci-fi. All this is achieved in less than a minute, with the quick paced editing. The posters all feature Gene Hunt and Sam Tyler, indicating they will be the main protagonist and side-kick, a common crime convention, and luring in the two audiences. The posters sell the star persona of John Simm, as he'd be a familiar face to BBC audiences due to Doctor Who.

Audience response

Audience pleasures:

• genres
• characters
• escapism e.g. enigma codes
• messages i.e. identity

Life on Mars found a cult following among fans, with a wiki page set up. This links to the sci-fi genre, from which there's a strong fandom. 

What could an oppositional reading of Life on Mars be, in particular in relation to how different types of audiences could respond to Gene Hunt and Sam Tyler? Any other examples?
An oppositional reading of Life

Critical response

The TV programme found success among fans and critics.
It won Best Drama twice on the International Emmy Awards (2006 and 2008) and the BAFTA Audience Award in 2007 (also nominated in other categories like Best Drama, Best Writer, Best Actor, etc). It was considered a good drama, with reviews from newspapers like The Telegraph claiming 'Theoretically, this should add up to a right old mess. In practice, it makes for [an] enjoyable piece of television' and The Guardian 'Once there in 1973, we find ourselves in a reasonably gripping police drama- yes, The Sweeney, perhaps, with better production values- [...]'. The critics acknowledge the success of the aims of the show, like hybridising crime and sci-fi and alluding to the audience's nostalgia with nods to the 70s.
Life on Mars found success among the audiences targeted, its mainstream aim highlighted through the transmission time, achieved an average audience of 6.8 million viewers. Despite rival shows like ITV1'S 'Northern Lights', the timing benefited the show, as it was scheduled post-watershed Monday nights at 9pm

Industry

Production and ownership

Produced by Kudos Film and Television for BBC Wales
Broadcast date: January 2006
Scheduling: Monday 9pm- peak viewing time post-watershed
Channel of original broadcast: BBC One (global producer; no money through ads but TV licenses)
Audience figures: S1 average audience of 6.8m
Spinoff: Ashes to Ashes - FRANCHISING
Different versions: USA, Spain, Russia, South Korea, Czetch Republic 

How does Life on Mars fit into BBC's remit of the kind of programmes it should be producing?

"To be the BBC's most popular mixed-genre television service across the UK, offering a wide range of high-quality programmes... the primary outlet for major UK and international events and it should reflect the whole of the UK in its output. A very high proportion of its programmes should be original productions." 

Life on Mars is targeted towards a mainstream audience despite its niche concept. The 1970s nostalgia appeal, with soundtracks and props that aim to reel in older audiences could have alienated younger audiences. Nevertheless, the programme seeks to "reflect the whole of the UK" through the protagonist, Sam Tyler, and other diverse characters like Annie, Nelson and Maya, nevertheless their minor roles could create an oppositional reading (as it can be argued that the 1970s was a less progressive time hence the predominancy of white characters) and claim that there's a lack of representation. Life on Mars is an original production, though, therefore BBC's remit is mostly met.

Regulation

Which bodies were in charge of producing the content of Life on Mars? What possible legal or ethical issues could have been raised by the content of S1 E1?

Kudos Film and Television were in charge of producing the content of Life on Mars. The regulation of all the UK television industry is by Ofcom, who's main duty is to "further the interests of citizens and consumers"

• Ensure TV television services are provided by a range of different organisations
• Ensure that a wide range of high-quality programmes are provided, which appeal to a range of tastes and interests
• Protect viewers from offensive or harmful material
• Protect people from unfair treatment and ensure their privacy is not invaded

Mainly accomplished by the operation of the Broadcasting Code

• Watershed 5.30am- 9pm = content deemed inappropriate for children
• Code deals with issues such as violence and dangerous behaviour, use of discriminatory language and portrayal of crime
• Code also ensures that any factual programming is not misleading to cause the audience harm or offence

The content of S1 E1 could have caused complaints to Ofcom due to...

Postmodernism on Life on Mars

To what extent can S1 episode 1 of Life on Mars be seen as a postmodernist text? [15]

Which of the following post-modernist techniques and attitudes does it use, refer to or follow in its narrative, mis-en-scene, performance, visual/ audio codes, etc?

Life on Mars utilises post-modernist techniques like intertextuality. Explicitly, the title references Bowie's 70s song which suggests the sci-fi part of the hybrid genre. More implicitly, there are references to 70s TV with the university challenge programme and news; Enoch Powell is referred to, a political figure which highlights the dark undertones the episode deals with such as racism.  These indicate a media awareness which raises the question of whether the events he's dealing with are his personal memories or the constructed media versions. The series makes Sam's confusion distinguishing reality and the artificial clear; the simulacra idea of Baudrillard is referenced throughout. Nevertheless, the audience is not engaged with hyper-reality, we are aware Sam isn't experiencing real life. Sam is engaged within his own world,
The parody and pastiche technique within post-modernism is used in the episode, with the 70s cop show The Sweeney being alluded to through bleak mis-en-scene and clothing and narrative like chasing and violent scenes. One could argue the text is closer to being parody as iconography like iPods and cassettes, Jeeps, batches are employed to emphasise the ancientness of the time he's been taken too to an extreme. The episode also utilises the technique of bricolage, as the episode is fragments of different texts in the same crime genre,
Life on Mars implies various dark social issues like gender and racial inequality, however it doesn't indulge in them, merely including them in its iconography like the newspaper with the Enoch Powell story. This follows the post-modernist value of ambiguity and no single meaning. It is also ironic in nature.

Does it also use more traditional established techniques to connect with its audience, such as follow established genre conventions, create original characters, follow a linear narrative, etc? Briefly summarise these.

hyper-reality?
It follows genre conventions like crime narratives of catching the criminal and sci-fi utilisations of music and audio codes. Bowie's song 'Life on Mars' plays at the start of the episode, and could be argued to be part of the reflexivity in post-modernism, as we are aware this is a constructed reality. Furthermore, the character of the psychologist could be argued that to an extent it breaks the 4th wall, nevertheless its appearance is explainable within the show's established rules (enigma as to whether he's unconscious or actually time-travelled).
Life on Mars isn't necessarily ambiguous and meaning can be denoted. It has the overarching theme of finding your identity, as the narrative of the episode, according to Todorov's narratology, sees him on the equilibrium being questioned by Maya who claims "you used to believe in gut feeling", indicating he's too cautious instead of being daring, and by the disruption he has to learn to find himself whilst being in the past.
Despite the two different eras (starting in the modern 2000s and going back to the 1970s), the text follows traditional techniques like the linear narrative, instead of a fragmented narrative. This allows the audience to follow Sam's strange journey in a more conventional and straightforward way.