INTERVIEW: Life on Mars writer and co-creator Matthew Graham

Men are from (Life on) Mars

There's an interesting quote in my Life on Mars interview with writer/co-creator Matthew Graham.

“Obviously that is a bit of a cheat. To say there were no racist police officers in the Manchester force in 1973 would be a bit naïve. But while we obviously don't want our characters to be racist, I don’t think people will mind them being racially lazy. And of course when it comes to women they are bare-faced misogynists. And yet strangely it sort of makes them lovable. I feel confidence in it because the fact that my executive producer and my producer are both women, and young women who have very strong opinions and they love the characters, we all love the characters – no-one is saying ‘God this is horrible!’”

This shows how far the race movement has come and how far the women's movement still has to go. Full-on racism (even if it’s realistic for the time period) is a no go these days, but full-on treating-women-like-objects only makes those male characters more adorable.

And does that last line sound like the phrase: “Some of my best friends are women”?