Glenister thrilled with 'Ashes To Ashes'

Ashes To Ashes star Philip Glenister has said he was "blown over" when he watched the new show.

The Life On Mars spinoff sees DCI Gene Hunt transported to 1980s London, where he is joined by new partner Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes).

However, he insisted that the new series is not simply a copy of the original, saying: "Ashes To Ashes is very much of its own making, it has a completely different feel to Life On Mars.

"We didn't want to remake Life On Mars, there'd be no point, so the writers were adamant about making it its own show, and having seen the DVDs of the final show, they were totally right. I was blown over."

Glenister added that he loved filming a scene in the opening episode where Hunt and colleagues Chris and Ray race under Tower Bridge in a speedboat carrying machine guns.

He said: "That's a bit over-the-top, but it was our Miami Vice moment. The guy driving the boat was a loon. You just can't let stuntmen loose in speedboats. The director said, 'Come round at a bit of a lick' so he took that to mean going as fast as he could and throwing us about."

Ashes To Ashes begins tomorrow at 9pm on BBC One.

> Click here for Ten Things You Never Knew About Philip Glenister