Many of the best material was in the earlier book, mainly due to the distance from 'now' making the extreme behaviour and vocabulary of Hunt the more shocking in contrast to now, and therefore 'funny'. The show's success in the "Ashes to Ashes" incarnation works due to the aspect of the 'fish out of water' character portrayed by Keeley Hawes. The bit where the new show falls down – and where "Life on Mars" worked – is that Hunt is on safe ground in Manchester. By shifting him to London, the fashions are more current, but he's also having to work hard to keep the upstairs people happy, and inevitably adjusts to their standards. The result is a watering-down of the very thing which made him so appealing: he does what he bloody well likes.

This 2nd book mirrors that to an extent, as the tone of the 'here's how you get it done' is lost from the approach of the first. Still, worth a look in. ( )