So did Alex Drake get home or didn’t she?

I watched the whole Ashes to Ashes finale and I still don’t really know.

If Gene Hunt actor Philip Glenister is to be believed, and there’s no reason why he should not be, then the Life On Mars spin-off will be renewed for a third series, thus outliving its superior predecessor.

The second series finally let the show come into its own. Keeley Hawes, free from that dreadful perm, settled into a character that had been insipid to say the least.

It was always obvious that she was not the main character this time because of how many scenes Hunt had without her around.

In Life On Mars Sam Tyler was in every scene, it was his fantasy after all.

This time Hunt, along with his trusty sidekicks Ray and Chris, had been carrying the show.

Watching last night’s climax I was left with a sense of dread, not fear about what would happen to Alex, but that we were seeing the same plot recycled. Life On Mars ended with a big gun-heavy robbery.

Lo and behold that was the overall scheme this time.

There were some heart-stoppingly brilliant moments. As poor, guilty DC Skelton charged up the stairs after the bent copper we were led to believe he might pay the ultimate price for his foolishness in being on the take throughout the series ­ the enemy within.

Then it all went a bit silly when Shaz turned up in a wedding dress with a gun. How had she managed to get hold of that when she’s just a regular constable, and off duty to boot?

Actually, forget that. We are, of course, talking about a show where the main character has gone back in time after being shot in the head. The laws of realism don’t exactly apply here in the same way they do in The Bill.

You’ve also got to love the way that Hunt bristles with righteous indignation. Sure he beats up suspects in chip shops, turns up to work eight times the legal limit, drives like a crackhead (Sam Tyler’s word, not mine) and treats women like beanbags ­ but he¹s a good copper.

Why is it that this dinosaur of a police officer, the sort of man who shoots first, asks later and then covers it all up before going down the pub, prompts so much misty-eyed nostalgia?

Is it because he spends more time running over suspects in the Quattro than filling in paperwork? At least he gets things done, right?

And let’s hope we have a new catchphrase now: “You’ve been Quattroed.”

However the episode reached a new level of brilliance for the way in which it ended.

Do not read any further if you have not seen it yet.

The last few minutes posed more questions than answers. Is DI Drake safely home with daughter Molly but still hallucinating about her angry, Mancunian boss?

Or is she in some sort of deeper coma in 1982? Will she now have to wake up twice in order to get properly home?

The potential for the first episode of series three is excellent.

Whether or not it can sustain a whole series remains to be seen.

I feel extremely cheated that we have been building to something monumental ever since Super-Mac met his maker only to have a cliffhanger ending.

But let’s look on the bright side. There will be a whole new set of eight episodes to look forward to.

Far better to keep it in the 80s than have another copper end up with a retirement-age Gene in the 1990s driving a Ford Sierra Saphire or a Vauxhall Carlton.

By Dan Wainwright