You are not logged in. (Ashes to Ashes: The Clown
Spoiler alert: Major plot spoilers ahead, particularly in the comments
Ashes to Ashes was shown on Friday, but I only got round o watching it last night. Seemed like a good start (with some great comments like “Langley? Is that near Macclesfield?”) with an already confusing plot.
One thing that seems to occasionally crop-up is a creepy clown, who seems to be the equivalent of Life on Mars’ test card girl. One thing I just spotted was the clown appearing in the reflection on the desk in this shot when Alex is conducting an interview. The clown of course, is only in the reflection.
Any suggestions for what’s going on?
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February 10th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I’ve never heard of the programme but, man, that looks creepy!
February 21st, 2008 at 9:20 pm
the clown may be a referance to ashes to ashes, the song by bowie just like life on mars. In the music video of ashes to ashes by bowie he is dressed as a clown similar to that in the series.
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I got where the clown is from, but I was wondering if anyone has any clue as to WHY he’s there!?
The song Life on Mars also had certain suggestions about living in a TV programme that were relevant to the series. Ashes to Ashes, as far as I can tell, is about heroin and shattering the illusions of Space Oddity. What with Alex being a fairly straightforward police officer, I have no idea how that relates to anything.
March 14th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
[NB: Rob edited this post to remove unrelated content]
Who exactly is the clown in Ashes to Ashes meant to be? He is apparently meant to the symbol to represent 1981. I originally assumed he was meant to be Visage. Now I think he might be Adam Ant. However, I do not remember Adam Ant ever wearing such a costume. Speaking of Visage, I think I know who the equivalent was in the first decade of the 20th century, or whenever. In YouTube there is the sound film experiment from about 1905.
March 14th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Although the programme references Adam Ant and Visage, it seems to me that the clown is almost certainly from Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes video. The question is why.
The test card girl fitted in with Life on Mars and the theme of life as a television show. I’ve no idea where the clown fits in though, particularly since Ashes to Ashes seems to be about drug abuse.
On an unrelated note, apologies for having to edit your comment, especially since I gather from your website you are attempting to gain publicity. However, please only do so on related posts. Posts are supposed to provoke discussion about a particular point and not go completely off-topic. Cheers.
March 14th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
As well as the clown, I’ve noticed that the Queen features a lot in the episodes. She’s on a large painting on the wall in the Police Station, on a small 4″ x 7″ frame in DCI Gene Hunt’s office, on another painting in the junk seller’s office and God Save the Queen plays at the closedown of BBC television (as it did back in the day). It’s just, she’s been shown more often, than simply being part of the set; it’s as if she has a role in the programme - not just a reflection of attitudes towards her at the time.
Also, I think the link to that video on YouTube is entirely appropriate - he wasn’t trying to gain publicity to it as I’m pretty sure he isn’t head of Google! (who own the site). By linking to that video, it would “provoke discussion about a particular point” - exactly what Rob said. Tthe video contained material relevant to what he was saying.
March 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Good point - hadn’t spotted the stuff about the Queen. Gene Hunt seems to be something of a Royalist too!
Sorry, to clarify. I agree, the post as it stands is entirely relevant. But I agree because I edited it!
The post originally contained a line encouraging people to visit a BBC page about his fascination with science and technology. This was removed to try and keep the subject on-topic.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
The clown is peering over her left shoulder, isn’t that where the devil is supposed to hang around? In these series, the clown is death. The test card girl and her clown chase Sam and the Adam Ant clown is after Alex. The clown preys on them especially at night or when they are alone which can be linked to the use of clowns in the circus. They are traditionally interlude acts to the main event. Alex’s clown is a whiteface, they’re usually the boss of all other clowns. There’s lots of literature about clown performances constituting a state of liminality - being ‘outside of this world.’ A clown acts outside the boundaries of acceptable behaviour and sometimes with a fourth wall (ignorant of audience). Perhaps the time travelling death clown is the hardest element of the show to accept. By making it a clown the weirdness becomes more acceptable…or perhaps the writers just have coulrophobia.
March 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
The clown reminds Alex she’s in a dream world and in reality she’s injured and has to get back to her daughter.
As a young child, Alex remembers holding a red balloon and going on holiday with her parents in their car. The road is blocked by a turning van and Alex lets the balloon go out the window, then hops out go catch it again.
As she runs up the hill to catch the balloon, both her parents are suddenly killed by a car bomb. The tape Alex’s dad is playing in the car just before the bomb detonates is Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes”.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Note from Rob - major spoiler ahead!
The Clown is Alex’s father, Tim. At the moment of his suicide in which he also killed Caroline, Alex’s mother, he was transformed into this figure. The actor who plays him refers to The Clown as an “Angel of Death”.