If I woke up in 1973...

I'm three episodes into Life on Mars (UK version, of course), and it's such a delight, I have absolutely no idea why I've ignored all advice to watch it until now. One thing that keeps bothering me: If I woke up in 1973, the first thing I'd do is try to find the people I know -- especially me. I'm completely unspoiled (please keep me that way!), so this could be coming, but Sam's lack of curiosity and the fact that he just keeps going to work contributes to the surrealism. I mean, I get it, policing is in his blood, but still.

As an American who was old enough to remember 1973, the whole thing feels more like an homage to Starsky and Hutch than like real life, especially in the UK, where I strongly suspect the real-life cops were even less Mod Squad than in the US. And they probably weren't total idiots on either side of the Atlantic. (I'm pretty sure "don't handle the evidence" wouldn't have been an unfamiliar concept in 1973.) The nice thing about this premise, though, is that you can give the writers all the benefit of the doubt, because anything that doesn't seem realistic could be intentional.

And anyway, who cares? John Simm and Philip Glenister.