Just finished Ashes to Ashes. I've long considered Life on Mars one of my all time favorite shows, and I loved the way it was wrapped up ambiguously but on a happy yet kind of grim note. I found it very satisfying. So a spin-off series revisiting that world and giving us more information about the characters was always something I was uncertain how I felt about.
Shows with sci-fi mystery myth arcs seem to have a tendency to end in unsatisfying ways. Lost and Battlestar Galactica were two shows I really enjoyed and would have loved to enjoy rewatching, but their endings and knowing what silly business the writers came up with to explain it all seriously mars subsequent viewings of those two shows for me. The "A wizard did it!" endings of those shows just takes the fun out, it is too hard to take them seriously from beginning to end with the impossible to ignore end in mind while you watch the beginning.
I started watching Ashes to Ashes because I loved Life on Mars so much, but for the first season I didn't take it very seriously, I considered it kind of a non-canonical fun bonus following LoM, kind of how I consider all the Planet of the Apes sequels or Aliens and Alien 3. When I got to season two I really started to enjoy it and realized how well it did at stepping out from behind LoM's shadow and becoming its own show, in some ways it even became a much better show than LoM. I found myself more into the characters and the story of each individual episode than the over arcing mythology. Sometime during season two I decided I wanted it to last and really paced myself, only treating myself to an episode every now and then. In doing that I kind of got myself out of it and ended up not watching an episode in over a year.
Recently I introduced some friends to Life on Mars, and after watching a few episodes with them I ended up going home and watching an episode of Ashes to Ashes. Then another one and another one. I've ended up burning through the end of season two and all of season three in a week and a half. Was worried about reaching the end and finding the answers would ruin the entire show for me, almost to the point that I considered not watching the last episode and rewatching it all again from the beginning of Life on Mars on, just in case another one of those damn wizards ended up being responsible for it all once again in yet another very unsatisfying conclusion.
Turns out I really liked how it ended. All around great show. Can't believe I took such a long break in the middle of the series.
For anyone here who hasn't seen Life on Mars, do yourself a favor and watch it. If you enjoy it, then I'd highly recommend Ashes to Ashes.