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28 October 2014
Life on Mars

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Series 1

Scene in Series 1 Episode 3

Episode 3 | Written by Matthew Graham

- Monday 23rd January 2006, 9pm, BBC ONE

- Tuesday 7th March 2006, 1.55am, BBC ONE Sign Zone

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Sam (John Simm) starts to feel at home in 1973. But as comfortable as he's become, he knows that he can't give up the 'fight' if he is ever to get home. Only problem is that he's not sure what that 'fight' is.

When Sam responds to a fatal stabbing at Crester's Textiles, he's shocked to discover that Crester's is the converted Mill where he lives in 2006. The dead man is quite literally lying in his kitchen. Sam sets up a forensic investigation but Gene (Philip Glenister) thinks he's wasting his time. According to him there's a rule in these sorts of cases - first one to speak did it. Sam's incredulous but Gene and the team are convinced that Ted Bannister, the first man to speak up, is guilty. Sam has found his fight.

As he gets to know Ted and starts to uncover the truth of what happened at the Mill, Sam realises just how much the concept of family and community has changed since 1973. Battle lines are drawn in CID and Sam and Gene set up their own little camps. Frustratingly for Sam, all the evidence seems to be pointing to Gene being right about Ted Bannister. As the evidence stacks up against him Ted confesses, but there's something about the confession that doesn't feel right to Sam.

Sam's persistence eventually pays off when his powers of detection reveal that faulty machinery was responsible for the death. Ted confessed out of loyalty to the mill, fearing that if news of the accident came out, it would mean the mill was closed down for good.



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