To anyone still moaning about Ashes to Ashes: Shut up

If nothing else, the just-ended series Ashes to Ashes has certainly proved a talking point.

Lets get one thing straight from the start: It was no Life on Mars. But then again, it wasn't meant to be. In the same way that if CSI:New York was exactly the same as the original CSI, just flipped to another city, it would be boring, the same applies to Ashes to Ashes.

It was spin off, it wasn't obliged to quite as serious, and quite frankly, couldn't have been. By the very fact we watched Life on Mars means we knew a lot more about how DI Alex Drake ended up back in the 80s - half the game with Life on Mars, at first, was working out what the heck was going on.

Perhaps the writers could have taken the easy option as moved Life on Mars to the 80s, swapped John Simm for Keeley Hawes, and just replayed the whole thing over again. But that would have been dull.

Instead, they put Keeley Hawes in the role of someone who actually understood what was going on with her mind, but lightened the overall tone somewhat. For me, the way it worked as a parody of the 1980s was its absolute strength, and anyone who suggests Keeley Hawes was the wrong woman for the job is, in my mind, bonkers.

She played perfectly the role of a woman who feels like she's living some sort of dream, knowing how she got there, but not knowing how to get back. Crucially, she played a role a million miles away from the Spooks role most people know her from.

Which is more than can be said for John Simm - want someone serious and dull? Call on John.

Ashes to Ashes, in my opinion, has been a great series, cleverly cued up for a second run. And as for Gene Hunt? Genius.

PS: Note to BBC schedulers: Telling people at the end of a programme on BBC 1 that they can watch the next episode straight away on BBC 3 is a great idea: telling them they can watch the previous week's episode straight away on BBC 4, is just plain daft.

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