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ship_manifestoTitle: Any problems, you just call the Gene Genie
Fandom: Ashes to Ashes
Pairing: Gene Hunt/Alex Drake
Spoilers: Spoilers to the end of S02E08, i.e. all aired episodes. Also spoilers for Life on Mars (UK)
Word count: ~1,600
I was supposed to go home!
Your presence is required here a little bit longer... by me.
Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt is a character who first appeared in Life on Mars. DCI Sam Tyler gets hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973 to find he is detective inspector to the bullish, straight talking DCI Hunt. Tyler believes he is in a coma in 2006 and nothing he is experiencing is real. Although he initially seems repelled by Hunt and his methods, as the series progresses you learn that Hunt represents everything Tyler wishes he could be himself, as far from the bureaucratic rule-following DCI he was in his own time as possible.
Detective Inspector Alex Drake was introduced in the last episode as the unseen and as yet unnamed psychologist who works with Tyler when he awakes from his coma. Sam Tyler ultimately commits suicide to 'return to 1973' where he has fallen in love with a colleague named Annie Cartwright.
Creators Ashley Pharoah and Mathew Graham have created a complex supernatural mystery, one which they promise will be resolved come April 2010 with the final series of Ashes but their series' were born out of a simple thought; they considered the British police force as it is today and they wondered how, if it should be possible for them to come face to face, policemen from different eras would interact. With Ashes to Ashes the officers in question are additionally male and female and from different backgrounds. She's posh and privately educated and he is, in her words, a 'northern flatfoot'. A hard man. Their conflict and discoveries of common ground is what makes the pairing so interesting.
D.I. Alex Drake
What's so special about you, Gene? When good coppers go under why do you appear?
Alex is a police psychologist with the London Metropolitan Police in 2008. She is often involved in hostage negotiation. One day she is called to an unusual situation. The gunman is asking for her by name. He is Arthur Layton and he seems to recognise Alex. He insinuates that he knew her parents. He shoots her in the head.
When Alex opens her eyes it is 1981 and she is DCI Hunt's inspector. Just like Sam Tyler, whose case notes are lying in her car in 2008.
Alex is in her early thirties and, a divorcee, has left a daughter, Molly in 2008.
Alex initially believes she knows exactly what's happening to her. She theorises that she is comatose and that her traumatised brain has sent her into a dream as it tries to recover. Nothing is real but everything is significant, what's happening around her represents events in the 'real' world and she must keep her mind active to stay alive. Later she begins to lose absolute confidence in her theory and uncertainty gnaws at her.
D.C.I. Gene Hunt
It's my aftershave and stop wiggling your bloody fingers every time you say my name!
Gene Hunt arrived in the London Met in 1980 having served 12 years with 'A Division' in Manchester. He is divorced and Alex surmises that the loss of his wife and his friend Sam Tyler (who returned to 1973 when he leapt from a roof in 2006 and who then 'died' in 1980) may be the reason he decided to leave Manchester behind for a new start. He is accompanied by two of his most trusted officers from Manchester, Detective Sergeant Ray Carling and Detective Constable Chris Skelton.
Gene is not by nature a progressive, modern officer. Although he is grudgingly accepting of new methods if he sees they're effective against the criminal fraternity, he in his mid-forties and the modernisation of the police force depresses him and makes him wonder if his days of usefulness are coming to an end.
A life long fan of American westerns, Gene identifies with Gary Cooper's Sheriff Will Kane from High Noon. He values loyalty to the police force and to one's colleagues above all. The increasing corruption of the Met at the highest level leaves him feeling adrift.
He is unlikely to be romantic but is a more loving man than he'd like to admit. He doesn't see himself as a family man but he holds family values in high regard.
Any problems, you just call the Gene Genie
You and me Bols, we're a team. Fighting the rot together.
There is a physical attracted between Gene and Alex immediately but their initial thoughts on each other as police officers are less flattering. She thinks he's crude and abrupt and he, already a man who finds it difficult to relate to women, feels doubly threatened by her education. It takes them both a little time to appreciate the other's intelligence and dedication.
Alex arrives in 1981 just weeks before her parents' death in a car explosion and she discovers it was Gene who came to her side when she was a frightened eight year old looking down on the burning wreck. He took her hand, carried her away from the carnage and made her feel safe in the worst moment of her life. She had always believed it was her godfather, who was also present, but when she sees that is was Gene she starts to respond to him emotionally. And starts to wonder if there's a possibility he may really exist outside of her mind.
Gene is very protective of Alex and demands the same from the whole team. Despite the fact that he privately amuses himself with pornographic doodling, when Alex becomes drunk one night and propositions him, he gently dissuades her.
He does manage to ask her on a date some time later, becoming uncharacteristically hesitant. Gene is a man who hates being hesitant but he clearly harbours insecurities about whether a classy and intelligent woman could find him attractive. He thinks he is the old and Alex is the new and can't see why she would be interested in him.
For her part Alex is drawn to his sense of justice, his decency and the caring side of his nature that few people will be allowed to see. As their respect for each other becomes evident, Gene declares them to be an unbreakable team, fighting the rot together. Alex struggles internally with this. If she becomes settled in 1981 and cares about a man who is an illusion created by her mind as it fights to hold on to life then will she give up and slip away from her daughter in the 'real' world?
Alex responds positively to her team's loyalty and protectiveness and admits to Gene that she cares for him but despite this he still seems to consider Alex out of his reach romantically. Unknown to him (at least unknown until S02E08) she is literally a woman out of time. She is existing in limbo, feeling afraid and adrift just like Gene but for different reasons, reasons she can't discuss with him or anyone. She relies on his solid presence and her distress is evident whenever their connection is threatened, whether by another woman or by the machinations of their superior officers.
For me the major appeal of this pairing lies in how they break down each other's defenses. When Alex first arrives, looking on eighties policing methods as old and dusty she hits a sore spot with Gene. He is concerned that she's laughing at him and she thinks he can't change or grow. They both have their walls but they connect through a shared desire to protect and serve. They admire loyalty and long for friendship and belonging. His straight forward nature diffuses her cynicism and her constant push for justice gives him hope.
Eventually Alex feels such a strong bond with Gene that she shares the secret she has been hiding from him about her origins in the 21st century. It's a decision that initially has disastrous consequences. Gene, already feeling old and tired out from dealing with a major heist which seems to have been arranged by his own bosses and a serious betrayal by another of his closest officers, reacts violently and throws Alex out of the station. He suspects she is deceiving him and dressing it up in fancy psychological terms but fortunately he shortly discovers that she has not been disloyal to him or to the force and he is there to help her when she's in danger.
The final scenes of the last aired episode leave Alex and Gene separated. She is now in a coma within her coma after he accidentally wounds her in a shoot out with a gang member during the heist. Reports and pictures from the third series which is now filming in London assure that Alex will return to what will now be 1983. Their bond of trust appears to have survived the ultimate test but whether they are destined to become romantically involved remains to be seen.
The Fandom
The Ashes to Ashes page on Fanfiction.net.
Unlike Life on Mars, which has a fanfic base on LiveJournal, ff.net is the place to go for Ashes to Ashes fic. Here are some of my recommendations.
Adult Content:
A New Year by clownish
Hearts & Flowers by cats-tale
Dearly Beloved by cats-tale (WIP, almost complete)
The Man Who Sold The World by siggy
More general fic:
Red by skywise
The Most Alive by lucidshard (WIP, unlikely to be finished but well worth reading)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
gentlydoesit is a vidding comm which covers Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars. This is the tag for Gene/Alex. Again, here are a few recs.
Gene/Alex:
His 'n Hers by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hollywoodgrrl
That Thing You Do byarefadedaway
More general vids:
Nothing Else Matters byrhoboat
The Wizard and I bychasarumba
(If you enjoy The Wizard and I, you may be interested in my commentary on it.
a2ashes is the main comm for the series, discussions tend to be general rather than shippy. For your shippy needs, The Railway Arms, a combined Ashes/LoM forum is the place to go. A dip into almost any thread will show you pairing discussions. Gene/Alex (nicknames 'Galex' by the forum members) is by far the show's most popular ship.
My Ashes to Ashes/Jacob's Ladder comparison
"The movie's events can be interpreted as the wanderings of an unknowing soul through purgatory, or as a lengthy delirious hallucination prior to death" says Wikipedia on Jacob's Ladder. A sentence which may also be applied to Ashes to Ashes (spoilers).
Fandom: Ashes to Ashes
Pairing: Gene Hunt/Alex Drake
Spoilers: Spoilers to the end of S02E08, i.e. all aired episodes. Also spoilers for Life on Mars (UK)
Word count: ~1,600
I was supposed to go home!
Your presence is required here a little bit longer... by me.
Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt is a character who first appeared in Life on Mars. DCI Sam Tyler gets hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973 to find he is detective inspector to the bullish, straight talking DCI Hunt. Tyler believes he is in a coma in 2006 and nothing he is experiencing is real. Although he initially seems repelled by Hunt and his methods, as the series progresses you learn that Hunt represents everything Tyler wishes he could be himself, as far from the bureaucratic rule-following DCI he was in his own time as possible.
Detective Inspector Alex Drake was introduced in the last episode as the unseen and as yet unnamed psychologist who works with Tyler when he awakes from his coma. Sam Tyler ultimately commits suicide to 'return to 1973' where he has fallen in love with a colleague named Annie Cartwright.
Creators Ashley Pharoah and Mathew Graham have created a complex supernatural mystery, one which they promise will be resolved come April 2010 with the final series of Ashes but their series' were born out of a simple thought; they considered the British police force as it is today and they wondered how, if it should be possible for them to come face to face, policemen from different eras would interact. With Ashes to Ashes the officers in question are additionally male and female and from different backgrounds. She's posh and privately educated and he is, in her words, a 'northern flatfoot'. A hard man. Their conflict and discoveries of common ground is what makes the pairing so interesting.
D.I. Alex Drake
What's so special about you, Gene? When good coppers go under why do you appear?
Alex is a police psychologist with the London Metropolitan Police in 2008. She is often involved in hostage negotiation. One day she is called to an unusual situation. The gunman is asking for her by name. He is Arthur Layton and he seems to recognise Alex. He insinuates that he knew her parents. He shoots her in the head.
When Alex opens her eyes it is 1981 and she is DCI Hunt's inspector. Just like Sam Tyler, whose case notes are lying in her car in 2008.
Alex is in her early thirties and, a divorcee, has left a daughter, Molly in 2008.
Alex initially believes she knows exactly what's happening to her. She theorises that she is comatose and that her traumatised brain has sent her into a dream as it tries to recover. Nothing is real but everything is significant, what's happening around her represents events in the 'real' world and she must keep her mind active to stay alive. Later she begins to lose absolute confidence in her theory and uncertainty gnaws at her.
D.C.I. Gene Hunt
It's my aftershave and stop wiggling your bloody fingers every time you say my name!
Gene Hunt arrived in the London Met in 1980 having served 12 years with 'A Division' in Manchester. He is divorced and Alex surmises that the loss of his wife and his friend Sam Tyler (who returned to 1973 when he leapt from a roof in 2006 and who then 'died' in 1980) may be the reason he decided to leave Manchester behind for a new start. He is accompanied by two of his most trusted officers from Manchester, Detective Sergeant Ray Carling and Detective Constable Chris Skelton.
Gene is not by nature a progressive, modern officer. Although he is grudgingly accepting of new methods if he sees they're effective against the criminal fraternity, he in his mid-forties and the modernisation of the police force depresses him and makes him wonder if his days of usefulness are coming to an end.
A life long fan of American westerns, Gene identifies with Gary Cooper's Sheriff Will Kane from High Noon. He values loyalty to the police force and to one's colleagues above all. The increasing corruption of the Met at the highest level leaves him feeling adrift.
He is unlikely to be romantic but is a more loving man than he'd like to admit. He doesn't see himself as a family man but he holds family values in high regard.
Any problems, you just call the Gene Genie
You and me Bols, we're a team. Fighting the rot together.
There is a physical attracted between Gene and Alex immediately but their initial thoughts on each other as police officers are less flattering. She thinks he's crude and abrupt and he, already a man who finds it difficult to relate to women, feels doubly threatened by her education. It takes them both a little time to appreciate the other's intelligence and dedication.
Alex arrives in 1981 just weeks before her parents' death in a car explosion and she discovers it was Gene who came to her side when she was a frightened eight year old looking down on the burning wreck. He took her hand, carried her away from the carnage and made her feel safe in the worst moment of her life. She had always believed it was her godfather, who was also present, but when she sees that is was Gene she starts to respond to him emotionally. And starts to wonder if there's a possibility he may really exist outside of her mind.
Gene is very protective of Alex and demands the same from the whole team. Despite the fact that he privately amuses himself with pornographic doodling, when Alex becomes drunk one night and propositions him, he gently dissuades her.
He does manage to ask her on a date some time later, becoming uncharacteristically hesitant. Gene is a man who hates being hesitant but he clearly harbours insecurities about whether a classy and intelligent woman could find him attractive. He thinks he is the old and Alex is the new and can't see why she would be interested in him.
For her part Alex is drawn to his sense of justice, his decency and the caring side of his nature that few people will be allowed to see. As their respect for each other becomes evident, Gene declares them to be an unbreakable team, fighting the rot together. Alex struggles internally with this. If she becomes settled in 1981 and cares about a man who is an illusion created by her mind as it fights to hold on to life then will she give up and slip away from her daughter in the 'real' world?
Alex responds positively to her team's loyalty and protectiveness and admits to Gene that she cares for him but despite this he still seems to consider Alex out of his reach romantically. Unknown to him (at least unknown until S02E08) she is literally a woman out of time. She is existing in limbo, feeling afraid and adrift just like Gene but for different reasons, reasons she can't discuss with him or anyone. She relies on his solid presence and her distress is evident whenever their connection is threatened, whether by another woman or by the machinations of their superior officers.
For me the major appeal of this pairing lies in how they break down each other's defenses. When Alex first arrives, looking on eighties policing methods as old and dusty she hits a sore spot with Gene. He is concerned that she's laughing at him and she thinks he can't change or grow. They both have their walls but they connect through a shared desire to protect and serve. They admire loyalty and long for friendship and belonging. His straight forward nature diffuses her cynicism and her constant push for justice gives him hope.
Eventually Alex feels such a strong bond with Gene that she shares the secret she has been hiding from him about her origins in the 21st century. It's a decision that initially has disastrous consequences. Gene, already feeling old and tired out from dealing with a major heist which seems to have been arranged by his own bosses and a serious betrayal by another of his closest officers, reacts violently and throws Alex out of the station. He suspects she is deceiving him and dressing it up in fancy psychological terms but fortunately he shortly discovers that she has not been disloyal to him or to the force and he is there to help her when she's in danger.
The final scenes of the last aired episode leave Alex and Gene separated. She is now in a coma within her coma after he accidentally wounds her in a shoot out with a gang member during the heist. Reports and pictures from the third series which is now filming in London assure that Alex will return to what will now be 1983. Their bond of trust appears to have survived the ultimate test but whether they are destined to become romantically involved remains to be seen.
The Fandom
The Ashes to Ashes page on Fanfiction.net.
Unlike Life on Mars, which has a fanfic base on LiveJournal, ff.net is the place to go for Ashes to Ashes fic. Here are some of my recommendations.
Adult Content:
A New Year by clownish
Hearts & Flowers by cats-tale
Dearly Beloved by cats-tale (WIP, almost complete)
The Man Who Sold The World by siggy
More general fic:
Red by skywise
The Most Alive by lucidshard (WIP, unlikely to be finished but well worth reading)
gentlydoesit is a vidding comm which covers Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars. This is the tag for Gene/Alex. Again, here are a few recs.Gene/Alex:
His 'n Hers by
hollywoodgrrlThat Thing You Do by
arefadedawayMore general vids:
Nothing Else Matters by
rhoboatThe Wizard and I by
chasarumba(If you enjoy The Wizard and I, you may be interested in my commentary on it.
a2ashes is the main comm for the series, discussions tend to be general rather than shippy. For your shippy needs, The Railway Arms, a combined Ashes/LoM forum is the place to go. A dip into almost any thread will show you pairing discussions. Gene/Alex (nicknames 'Galex' by the forum members) is by far the show's most popular ship.My Ashes to Ashes/Jacob's Ladder comparison
"The movie's events can be interpreted as the wanderings of an unknowing soul through purgatory, or as a lengthy delirious hallucination prior to death" says Wikipedia on Jacob's Ladder. A sentence which may also be applied to Ashes to Ashes (spoilers).
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