Life On Mars And Ashes To Ashes: Philip Glenister - Politically Correct Twit Who Doesn't Know His 70s From His '80s...'

Being a good middle class boy of a certain age and background, Philip Glenister, of Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes, abhors the 1980s - his version of them - and adores the 1970s - which he apparently pretends were the 1960s.

He appears to be the type who imagines that any kind words about the 1980s will immediately label him a selfish, yuppie-type git. Perish the thought, Philip, dear, nobody could be more giving than you, I'm sure.

But when he decides to insult the 1980s, Mr G should at least get his facts straight. In this week's Radio Times, he burbles about the '80s being all brown and hessian in colour. No, dear, that was the '70s, as we all know.

The '80s were more nauseating neons and pastels.

What a wally Mr Glenister seems. He also tells us that his character, Gene Hunt, is very much a "seventies copper". Wrong again, dear. He's a parody of a '70s TV copper. That is all.

I shan't watch Ashes To Ashes 2, which moves to what is supposedly 1982 this season. The pop culture errors in the last series - and in Life On Mars - put me right off.

And Mr Glenister's priggish posturings don't endear me either.

Who needs it when you can watch real 1980s cop dramas The Gentle Touch and Juliet Bravo on DVD? And who needs Life On Mars when you can watch The Sweeney?

Philip Glenister - "Shut Up You 70s Hyping Twit!"

Or would Jack Regan have said "shart up!" No matter. Stood in WH Smith's in Cambridge yesterday, I had the grave misfortune to riffle through Things Ain't What They Used To Be - a book by Philip Glenister - apparently if you're going on a nostalgia trip you couldn't ask for a better guide.

Well, perhaps not if he was writing about the 1990s or something, but Mr Glenister's knowledge of the '70s and '80s is (completely in tune with the production team on Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes) somewhat muddled - and he has, you guessed it, an alarming tendency to hype the '70s. They become GASP - almost 60s! Jason King - "a dandy for the 1970s" says Mr G - but didn't he originate in the 1960s series Department S? Were we all using fancy burbling coffee machines in the UK in the 1950s? No. But Mr Glenister infers that we were.

Yes, it's good to get steamed up about Thatcher - but why don't you make your voice known in modern day politics, Mr Glenister? After all, New Labour is far from Old Labour, far from Socialist - what about the scandal of nursing and care staff forced to sign secrecy clauses? If they speak up about the HUGE cutbacks imposed by UK Government organisations like Supporting People and the Primary Care Trusts, they get the sack. What about looking into something like that, which is so typical of the sleight of hand politics happening under New Labour?

But no, Mr Glenister, that's too much like hard work, isn't it? Finding out what's going on today and going into battle? Better to sound off about the 1980s, eh? And if the governing party has "Labour" in its title, then all's well - regardless of the fact that the party bears no resemblance to Old Labour and are creating a country which make the 1980s look like happy valley?

Sadly Mr Glenister's book is a load of cobblers. He rants on politically at times like it's 1982 or 1984 and at other times doesn't know 1967 from 1973 or 1978 from 1983.

His politics are out of touch, lost in the '80s, dead and gone left wing. Completely irrelevant to the modern day. And pop culturally he seems to believe "I Love The 1970s", which hugely raided the 1960s and 1980s. And what about Life On Mars itself, set in 1973, and featuring a two-tone red trimphone which was not available until 1982? Ridiculous. More here.

Buy the book if you're a Glenister fan. But remember it's a personal view and if it's an accurate and objective view of the '70s and '80s you want, avoid.