Steve Crimmins, one-time boss of the borough's CID department, was a consultant on the hit retro cop series Life on Mars.
And last night he featured in a documentary comparing it with genuine law enforcement practices on the 1970s.

The truth behind Det Chief Insp Hunt and his non-PC style of work was explored in new TV documentary The Real Life On Mars, screened as part of BBC4's Britcop season.

Gene, played by Philip Glenister, became an iconic figure after appearing in two series of the BBC1 hit.
He has now moved on to London and the 1980s in Ashes To Ashes, with filming for a second series starting next month.

Co-creator Matthew Graham sent the first draft of Life On Mars to former Det Chief Insp Steve Crimmins who acted as an advisor on the series.

"He was a DC in Manchester in the early seventies," said Matthew. "And I was pretty sure his reaction would be 'I can see why you've pushed Gene Hunt into a sort of caricature for dramatic effect. But, of course, it wasn't really like that'."

But Steve said: "My response to that was 'No, it isn't over the top at all. In fact, if anything, it's rather toned down by comparison with real life'. All these things happened. They just didn't all happen in one hour."

So, was there really life on Mars? Robert Reiner, professor of criminology at the London School of Economics, certainly believes so.
He said: "I think Gene Hunt is very typical of CID before the mid-1980s when a variety of reforms kicked in slowly, but which transformed the whole world of criminal investigation and the way suspects are handled."

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