Yahoo UK Entertainment
Roxy Simons
24 Feb 2025

The Life on Mars actor speaks to Yahoo UK about his longstanding friendship with John Simm, and why they love to work together so often.

John Simm and Philip Glenister pictured in November 2024, the pair have known each other for more than two decades and often want to work together | Photo: Dave Benett (Getty Images)

Philip Glenister’s friendship and longstanding professional relationship with John Simm has delighted fans over the years, and its equally as meaningful to the actors as the Gene Hunt star jokes with Yahoo UK that they can’t go “two weeks” without wanting to work together.

The pair first appeared onscreen together in Clocking Off when Simm had a guest role in one episode, and they became fast friends during production of BBC’s State of Play in 2003. It was their work on 2006 series Life on Mars that brought them widespread acclaim, but that wasn’t the last time as they starred together on Mad Dogs and even appeared in ITV’s Ancestry series DNA Journey in 2024.

Speaking with Yahoo UK for Role Recall in support of his new series Bergerac, Glenister explains that he and Simm are often looking for ways to work together which is exactly how their Sky crime series Mad Dogs came about: “I was doing a show at the time which I was miscast [in] and I wasn’t enjoying, one of those things you did for the money… I just remember thinking I hadn’t worked with John for about two weeks. So I said, ‘oh, we need to work together it’s been two weeks, it’s been too long’.

Philip Glenister joked with Yahoo UK that he can’t go ‘two weeks’ without wanting to work with John Simm, which is how their Sky series Mad Dogs came to be | Photo: Sky

“I went to my agent who represented Marc [Warren] as well, and I said ‘we should find something for me, John and Marc to do’ and she said that could be a good move. So I said, well, let’s put out some feelers, see if Marc’s up for it.”

In the end the trio took their idea to Max Beesley after realising they needed a fourth person to round out the main group: “We were at the Bafta Awards, or the Crafts awards, with a mission, me and Marc — I’d never met Max before, so Marc and I introduced ourselves to Max and said we thought Max would be great for the fourth character.

“We said to Max: ‘Look, we’ve got this idea, we don’t know what it is yet, but we’ve got an idea. You, me, Marc and John.’ And Max said ‘give me the script and I’ll look it over and let you know’ and we were like ‘No, Max, you don’t understand. We haven’t got a script, you’re either in or you’re out’.”

The quartet eventually did make the series, which ran for three seasons on Sky and followed middle-aged friends who discover their fifth pal (played by Ben Chaplin) is living the good life after rising up in the criminal underworld — only for chaos to ensue as a result of their reunion.

The pair first appeared onscreen together in Clocking Off and they became fast friends making 2003 series State of Play but it was their work on Life on Mars that brought them widespread acclaim | Photo: Getty Images

Glenister first met Simm back in 2000 but it was on 2003’s State of Play that they became fast friends, with the actor saying of his longtime pal: “I thought he was like me, grumpy. I’m the Southern grump, he’s the Northern grump.

“We just seemed to sort of hit it off, you know what I mean? Just had things in common, [it was] one of those things really. So when the whole Life on Mars thing came up about a year or so later, and I think John had been cast, I was like, alright yea, and then ‘oh no, not you again’.”

Life on Mars was an interesting production for Glenister because it was such an unexpected idea: “I think it was quite interesting really because you’re getting these two characters from completely opposite ends of the scale, you’re getting that supposed modern cop with the ’70s throwback cop and I guess that they learn from each other in many respects.

Philip Glenister said of his first impression of John Simm: ‘I thought he was like me, grumpy. I’m the Southern grump, he’s the Northern grump. We just seemed to sort of hit it off | Photo: Getty Images

“I mean, as I said, it was 20 years ago, so kind of strange looking back at it, but one thing I remember is I was told that Gene Hunt was this dinosaur figure but I remember reading the first two scripts and I just saw him as quite a figure of fun. I just thought it was funny, so I didn’t want to play him as a really vicious, thuggish [person]. There are moments of that, but I just saw the humour in him as well.”

The series became a nationwide sensation, gaining a dedicated fanbase that remains strong even two decades later. Glenister admits that the show’s enduring popularity is something he is “pleased” by, as he adds: “You never know whether something is going to be a hit or a miss, especially a show like this if you look at the concept of Life on Mars.

“When it was described to me by my agent, I remember I said ‘what?’ Was it a David Bowie thing? or is it a sci-fi show? Is it set on Mars? And they said, ‘well basically the only thing we know so far is it’s a cross between Back to the Future and The Sweeney’, and immediately you’re like ‘What? OK, alright, sounds interesting.’

Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer, Mad Dogs is available to buy on digital platforms.