Ray Carling, the boorish copper from Life on Mars, is back in Ashes to Ashes – and this time he’s armed with a stylish 80s perm. Actor Dean Andrews tells Matt McAllister how he didn’t hesitate to revisit the role.

How long did it take to create Ray’s perm?

They’ve done it every morning – hot sticks, 30 minutes….It’s fantastic for the actual look. Some people like it, some people don’t. I think it looks alright...

You weren’t tempted to keep it away from filming though?

No, I couldn’t walk around for six months with a perm! I’d look like a 70s porn star!

Do you think the dynamic between Gene, Chris and Ray has changed since Life on Mars?

They still have the same traits. People don’t change so much in eight years, especially people like Gene and Ray who are stuck in the past. They’ve got the same non-PC-ness about them. They still say every bloke with long hair is a ‘poof’…Ray’s still [Gene’s] right hand man. He’s still a Neanderthal, non-PC, woman-bashing prat!

Co-creator Matthew Graham has said Ashes to Ashes has gone far better than anyone dared hope…

I think he’s right. It looks fantastic, they’ve done an amazing job…I just think how lucky we are to have writers of the quality we’ve got. As soon as you read the script you know it’s in a different league altogether. It’s really clever writing how they intertwine stories, people and actions.

Do you think it’s even better than Life on Mars?

Well, you can’t judge it against Life on Mars…I’m not saying it’s not better, but they’re just different. Life on Mars was a breakthrough piece of television for me, and Ashes to Ashes is obviously keeping within that vein.

I just think it looks a lot more vibrant, it looks a lot more colourful and it’s slightly pacier…‘73 was very beige and brown, so they suppressed the colour on everything to give it that feel – and did it beautifully. But this is a lot more vibrant, maybe because London’s a bit more of a bustling place than Manchester.

What was the speedboat scene like to film?

The speedboat was fantastic! It was just so Gary Cooper riding in on his horse to save the day, so that was really good fun!

For blokes like us that really enjoy the action part of it, that was a perfect week. We started off on the Monday on the speedboat up the Thames; on Tuesday we blew up a pub; on Wednesday we were arresting 20 prostitutes in little short skirts; and then we had a shoot-out on the quayside…It was just one of those weeks that was all action, it was all fun. You felt like, ‘This just isn’t work’!

Do you think those expecting something similar to Life on Mars will be surprised by Ashes to Ashes?

I hope they’ll be surprised! I don’t think they could cast anyone better as Alex than Keeley [Hawes]. She’s a great actress and an amazing person to work with. Her dynamic with Gene is fantastic. She comes in with something that ties in with Life on Mars but adds a different dynamic to the unit because she’s female.

Have you felt much pressure from critics or audiences after the success of Life on Mars?

Yep, there’s always thoughts about whether they’ll like it or whether they’ll give it a chance because of Life on Mars or whether spin-offs work very often – all those things run through your mind. But the common denominator for me at the end of the day was the production company [Kudos] – and Jenny Featherstone [executive producer], Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah [creators]. It’s too good a combination, it’s proved itself too many times. They wouldn’t go for the money, they wouldn’t think, ‘Oh, we can get some more mileage out of this’. I didn’t have any qualms.

And you were happy to return to the role of Ray…

Oh yes, of course. Ray certainly wasn’t over-used in Life on Mars. I couldn’t say I was sick of the sight of him - I’m just not. So I was glad to get back and do more with him.

Was there any particular theory behind the Life on Mars finale that you were surprised by?

No, there wasn’t anything that I saw really – other than a lot of people not understanding it. Which I found difficult, because I thought it was pretty straightforward! But I just thought it was a cracking ending.

John Simm said he didn’t find out how Life on Mars ended until just before filming. Has it been the same with Ashes to Ashes?

Yes, it’s always like that. I often wondered why the secrecy’s kept surrounded. But I kind of know now - they do change things quite late on and they don’t want you to get a story structured in your mind in case they’re going to change it...

I think the big thing with Life on Mars last time was we knew it was ending. And they’d not quite decided on how it was going to finish or how it was going to pan out. On this one it’s been the same.