Episode Eight

This moderately successful finale to the first season was greatly improved by a clever twist ending and a magnificent performance by Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt.

The episode initially threatened to lapse once more into a nauseating display of Alex Drake's smugness and arrogance - interspersed with the footage of young Alex and her red balloon yet again. Her irritating habit of thinking aloud and using French words certainly didn't help to endear us to her cause, but Keeley Hawes managed to salvage the ropey characterisation through a searingly honest farewell scene with her mother in the police station.

The return of Arthur Layton as the bad guy appeared to be rather predictable and mundane at first. After all, he has barely featured since the very first episode. However, his presence worked well as a means to conceal the real truth - that Alex's dad was behind both the bomb and the clown all along. As far as shock twists go, this was very impressive and not signposted at all.

Guest star Geoffrey Palmer did his usual dependable turn as Lord Scarman and DC Chris Skelton was on hand to provide the comedy, but the real highlight came when Gene Hunt delivered a memorable and powerful speech. Standing up to Scarman's findings, Gene gave him a serious earful and praised both the unity of his team and their hardcore policing methods in the process. The rant was up there with Winston Churchill's "we shall fight them on the beaches..." rally cry.

There's far more to Gene - and Glenister - than the ability to be brutish and brash though. The vulnerable, lonely side of the character was magnificently teased out during dinner with Drake - which surprisingly wasn't a punishment for Gene instigated by Scarman.

Ashes To Ashes has certainly been flawed, but capable of providing great entertainment throughout the season. In many ways, this episode encapsulates this in your proverbial nutshell.


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