Life on Mars sequel jumps to '80s

Actor Philip Glenister (left) will be joined by a new female co-star

A sequel to TV drama Life on Mars is to be made with the action moving to the 1980s, it has been confirmed.

The announcement was made as the second and final series of Life on Mars - in which a modern police officer was trapped in 1973 - came to an end.

The sequel, Ashes to Ashes, will see Philip Glenister return as DCI Gene Hunt - but this time in London in 1981.

He will be joined by a female detective from the 21st Century who is stuck in the past after an accident.

She will replace Life on Mars star John Simm, who was at the centre of the original mystery after apparently being catapulted back in time following a car crash in 2006.

Viewers of Tuesday's finale finally saw the answer to his continual question: "Am I mad, in a coma or back in time?"

'Sexy sidekick'

The new character will be a modern woman who has risen through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police by using psychological profiling to capture suspects, producers said.

But when she and her daughter are kidnapped, she is injured in a rescue attempt - and finds herself in 1981.

Jane Featherstone, executive producer for TV production company Kudos, said the search was on for DCI Hunt's new "sexy sidekick".

"It's a touch of Moonlighting teamed with a measure of Miami Vice," she said.

Filming is due to begin this summer and the show will be broadcast on BBC One next year.