Life on Mars the high-concept police drama on BBCAmerica could be a one-note show that reduces its intriguing premise into a predicable but mildly-amusing shtick. Thankfully, the show explores its premise in many directions making Life on Mars a very rewarding police drama.

Life on Mars centers on Sam Tyler, a police detective who is hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973. There’s a little bit of the serialized mystery to this one — we get some hints that Sam is really in a coma (yet, how would he create such a detailed dream about how adults lived when he was only four years old?) but the other aspects of the show are so compelling that the unresolved mystery is easily forgotten.

Sam has a hard time fitting in as a police officer in 1973 Manchester. Not only does he miss modern luxuries he’s taken for granted like cell phones and 24-hour television channels, but he’s reminded about other things he’s taken for granted like forensics technology, cultural sensitivity and police who respect for civil rights. In 1973, he reports to a captain who wears his bigotries on his sleeve and thinks its fine to plant evidence and intimidate confessions out of suspects if he’s certain that they’re guilty anyway. Sam quickly becomes friendly with a young female officer who’s much smarter than the man with whom he’s partnered, a man who has to take notes about why you would treat suspects and witnesses differently.

What makes Life on Mars a compelling police drama is that the premise is played out at different levels. All at the same time, Sam Tyler is the fish out of water, the good cop buddy to the bad cop, the gifted observer with talents that mystify his peers, the moody, misunderstood loner and the guy racing to unravel a mystery no one else understands. It has more than one note to play out (as contrast, see USA’s Psyche which is similarly gimmicky but is also very slight) and plays each one very well. I don’t often get drawn into police dramas, but this one is completely engrossing.

A second chance to watch Life on Mars from the beginning will occur on August 20, when BBCAmerica gives the show a four-episode marathon. It’s first two episodes worked as stand alone stories, however, so there’s no need to put off this gem of a show.

Supplemental tags: Life on Mars