Philip Glenister

In this light humour book, Philip Glenister, aka DCI Gene Hunt on “Life on Mars”, takes the reader through the 1970s and 1980s to determine whether we have things better now or whether the fads of yesteryear are really where it’s at. This was published in 2008, evidently to capitalize on the popularity of “Life on Mars” and its spinoff series, “Ashes to Ashes”. And it does feel authentically like Glenister’s own voice (in fact, he reads the audiobook as well).

This was OK. The show more short chapters worked well on some levels—no point in going on longer than necessary—but at other times they seemed a bit superficial. I did not grow up during this era, but some things I recognized from hearing about my parents’ childhoods (they are contemporaries of Glenister’s) and going through things at my grandparents’ place. Before reading this book I was convinced they were the only people who had those little phone books that popped up when you pressed a letter of the alphabet. Now I know that others had them! We used to play with them as kids when we played at “office” (or occasionally “spy agency”, because we were cool kids).

I did enjoy the tidbits from filming Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, and the showbiz stories from his father’s directing career. However, I would really have liked more photos of some of the things being discussed, and perhaps fewer topics covered in greater depth. Also some more input from his wife would have been good to balance out the gender gap. She contributed to one chapter, but I would have liked to hear more.

I bought this book secondhand with great puzzlement (“what is this book doing HERE, in Canada?”) and I think secondhand would be the way to go if you’re interested. show less

Clearly written to tie in with Philip Glenister’s role as DCI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, this is a light-hearted look back at how life was in the 1970s and 1980s compared to today. The audiobook is narrated by Glenister himself (although his accent is much softer than Gene’s) and he also co-wrote the book.

Each chapter starts with a snippet of trivia about something that happened in the news during those decades and Glenister then goes on to talk about this related show more subject as it pertains to his own life. He was born in 1963, so was growing up in the 70s and 80s and is therefore well placed to remember these decades with fondness.

The book is short (less than three hours for the audiobook) and the chapters are choppy and amusing, which made it the perfect book to listen to during my commute to work one week. It’s also peppered with little snippets of information from the recording of Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes.

Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes are two of my favourite TV shows, so if you like these too, give this book a go; you’ll probably enjoy it. I do recommend the audiobook though as it’s Glenister himself narrating. show less

An entertaining trip down memory lane, and I knew I was right about curly-wurlys being bigger when I was a kid.