Life is great

You’re a brave TV studio calling a new show ‘Life’.

Obviously if the series works, the critics can be awfully banal and write a headline much like the one I’m using for this post.

However, if it falls flat on its arse, then you get quips like ‘Life Sucks’.

Fortunately, Life is actually pretty good. Now showing in the UK on ITV3, it’s quickly become one of my favourite new shows to watch and Brit actor Damian Lewis is very watchable.

I can’t help noticing similarities between his character and another notable redhead cop, Horatio Kane – aka David Caruso – on CSI: Miami.

The other similarity, for me, is with Michael Dibdin’s Italian detective Aurelio Zen – the surname giving away the common denominator.

The weird thing is, though, that the more we watched Life the other night, the less red Lewis’ hair seemed to be. What happened to his crowning glory? Surely the producers didn’t turn round and demand he toned the colour down.

By the end of Episode 1, he was almost dark brown – and a long way from his strawberry blonde roots. I mean, it’s not as if the studio bosses could act surprised by his hair colour, could they?

Anyway, that is a minor distraction – the rest of it was highly enjoyable.

Here’s a clip from the opening of Life – where he still looks quite ginger. But I can assure you, it’s not always the case!