probably more well-balanced than the master. maybe.

and since john simm did, to my mind, such a fantastic job as the master -- particularly in end of time -- and more than made good any doubts i had about his ability to walk in the footsteps of roger delgado and anthony ainley, anna and i decided to check out the other series we knew him to have been in, a time-travelling police procedural called life on mars.

i know there's a u.s. remake of this starring, i think, harvey keitel. which only goes to show that american networks will rip anything and convert it to a u.s. cast to try and make ratings. which is sad, really, when you think about it, because then a lot of people miss the really good original versions of shows like cracker. (really. if you've only seen the u.s. remake -- just -- forgive yourself and then go watch the robbie coltrane original.)

so, yes, anyway, john simm, life on mars:

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