'Life on Mars' creator: Sam Tyler is dead

The co-creator of Life On Mars has stated that lead character Sam Tyler definitely died during the last ever episode of the hit BBC show.

The ambiguous ending to the finale left viewers uncertain of the policeman’s fate after he emerged from his coma, but Matthew Graham told the Daily Mirror: “What I was trying to say is that he's died, and that for however long that last second of life is going to be, it will stretch out for an age, as an eternity for Sam. When he drives off in that car, he's really driving off into the afterlife."

Tyler’s partner in crime-solving – Gene Hunt – is set to return to our screens in spin-off series Ashes to Ashes next year. To find out more about this series and Life on Mars, click here.