Last night an estimated six million viewers tuned in to watch the conclusion of the hit BBC One time-travel drama Life on Mars, as Sam Tyler finally made it back home — wherever that may be.

The series, about a modern-day detective catapulted back to a grimy 1973 after a car accident, won acclaim for bringing Sweeney-style police thrills back to modern television.

While John Simm was praised for his role as Detective Chief Inspector Tyler, it was Philip Glenister’s Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt, an unreconstructed copper with a taste for hard liquor and roughing up suspects, who emerged as the real star.

Producers took the bold decision to end the show after just two series, but fans deprived of Life on Mars will be delighted to learn that DCI Hunt’s temper will be sorely tested in a BBC sequel.

Today the BBC announces details of a sequel, set in 1981, when Brixton is burning and “nancy-boy” New Romantics roam the streets, which places Hunt centre-stage. In Ashes To Ashes, again named after a David Bowie song, the Ford Cortina is replaced by an Audi Quattro, and Hunt has been transferred from Manchester to the Metropolitan Police in London.

This time Hunt is partnered with a sexy, intelligent female DCI, Alex Drake, who is an expert in the modern arts of psychological profiling.

Producers are seeking an actress to play Drake, a single mother described as a rising star in today’s force but who finds herself in 1981 after a Tyler-style accident.

While Simm does not appear, it is Tyler’s detailed logged reports that provide the clues which Drake must follow to rescue her kidnapped daughter and return home.

Drake educates Hunt in the values of sexual equality and respect while the soundtrack resounds to Adam Ant, Roxy Music and Human League.

A Life On Mars feature film is also planned, and the rights have been bought for a US television remake. The series is again made by Kudos, the independent company behind Spooks.