Ashes to Ashes- first episodes are hard

Who thought I’d see the day when Thursday night provided television salvation? It felt a bit weird getting excited about my least favourite day of the week and yet the evidence was irrefutable. The premiere of Ashes to Ashes, flanked by Young Ones and Graham Norton on ABC2, made last night the best television since Smithmas.


Ashes to Ashes holds a proud place among my television obsessions. While the first two series were on air in late 2009 I used to miss the end of GNW to watch it. That’s a really big deal. Its a "nobody make any loud noises or sudden movements" sort of show in my house. So needless to say the new series was a highly anticipated event. 


Did it live up to that? 
Well…ok so not really. I’ll admit I spent the beginning of the episode feeling confused. I found myself distracted and unable to properly switch off and enjoy it. When you finish a series in brain smashingly amazing style, there’s a certain expectation that you’ll begin the same way. Instead we got Alex shopping in what looked remarkably like Big W then a weird dream sequence. Then Gene woke her up with zero effort and they went to a moodily light warehouse. Finally, with a suddenness that was jolting, it was all business as usual. Except there was this weird new greasy man. But first episode are hard. 


And another thing. Alex’s hair. 
I don’t hate it anymore, on the contrary I think it may just grow on me. It was just her handling of it that bothered me. 
You see, when you have hair like Alex’s (and, as previously mentioned, I do) it isn’t something you take lightly. Hair like that takes constant vigilance. Having it all cut off (for whatever reason) is not something you would simply take in your stride (what even WAS the reason?! She got shot IN THE STOMACH not the head!). Despite everything else going on, waking up to find you had significantly less hair than before would throw you, at least for a while. I seriously can’t see Alex just shrugging and flicking it effortlessly into a clip, as much as I’d like to. Neither can I see Gene bringing her three different blue shadows and an eye pencil. So where did she get all that make up? 


But despite everything, I loved it. The sharp dialogue was out in force, Alex’s blue earrings made me actually want to get my ears pierced and the team were all on fine form. I know it’ll take a while to settle back into my addiction but I’m looking forward doing just that. 


The hardest thing is that I don’t really feel like I can speculate. Because it’s taken so long to get to our screens most people have already seen series 3 via slightly less legal means. I have nothing against that but I really don’t believe there’s any substitute for watching it at an allocated time on telly.
You get more colours that way. 


Anyone else doing it properly with me? Can I speculate a bit more in weeks to come without knowing “I’ve peeked at the ending on YouTube” glances?