Britain's Finest ...

"Don't move, you're surrounded by armed bastards!"

- Gene Hunt, Life on Mars,
episode 2.2

Dr Who aside, I was beginning to despair of the current state of British sci-fi. Yes, I sat through ITV's Primeval on Saturday - and yes, half way through I turned to Rachel and uttered this constructive criticism: "It's a bit sh*t, isn't it?" Not only was the acting generally poor (S Club's Hannah is very cute, but she's no actress), but the script was primary school panto stuff (for instance, the CGI dinosaur finding its way into the school corridor was particularly brain taxing), even if we can suspend disbelief over the whole suspect time-travel schtick.

Then, this evening, Life on Mars returned and reminded that when we Brits put our minds to doing something classy - that's when we can shine. Thanks to BBC4 I already have two episodes under my belt; the second actually being the stronger because it had less overt sci-fi elements in it.

Life on Mars sees 21st Century policeman Sam Tyler 'somehow' transported back to the 1970s - after being knocked down by a speeding car - and teamed up with the excellent rough'n'ready Gene Hunt - who solves crimes "the old fashioned way" (punching confessions out of people, stitching them up etc), but with his own strange code of honour.

It's a nostalgic look back at the days when coppers - and cop shows - didn't use high-tech gadgets to solve crimes, just leg work, muscle and contacts; but given a unique twist and an intriguing 'conspiracy' subplot as Sam tries to find out what's happened to him and how he can "get home".

The first episode of this second series had the duo investigating a string of brutal attacks around a casino that, Sam discovers, are also somehow connected with an attempt on his own life 30 years in the future by a villain he was trying to put away in the 2006! Meanwhile the second episode - which will be screened on BBC1 next week - has our unlikely heroes tangling with a turf war between armed robbers, that has ramifications closer to home.

Snappy dialogue, hilarious one-liners, brutal realism, subtle use of effects and sci-fi weirdness and clever scripts make this stand head-and-shoulders over such low-brow fodder as Primeval - which isn't to say I won't watch any more Primeval, but I won't be terribly upset or confused if I miss an episode or two.