Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between 9 January 2006 and 10 April 2007. It follows Sam Tyler (John Simm), a Manchester policeman in 2006 who wakes up after a car accident to discover that he has time-travelled to 1973, where he works the same job in the same location under the command of Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) while attempting to solve the mystery of what has happened to him.

Life on Mars (named after David Bowie's song of the same name) and its sequel, Ashes to Ashes (also named after a David Bowie song), received acclaim for blending elements of mystery, police procedurals, supernatural drama, science fiction, and historical drama. It won two International Emmy Awards for Best Drama Series. An American adaptation was produced by ABC and ran for one season from October 2008 to April 2009, a Spanish adaptation was broadcast from April to June 2009, a Russian adaptation was broadcast in November 2012, a Czech adaptation was broadcast from January to March 2017, a South Korean adaptation began broadcasting in June 2018, and a Chinese adaptation began airing in 2019.Ashes to Ashes aired on BBC One from February 2008 to May 2010. A third series entitled Lazarus (again a David Bowie song) was announced in 2020, but its development was cancelled in 2023.