Life on Mars (South Korean TV series)

Life on Mars (Korean: 라이프 온 마스; RR: Raipeu on Maseu) is a South Korean television series based on the 2006–07 British series of the same name.^[1] It stars Jung Kyung-ho, Park Sung-woong, Go Ah-sung, Oh Dae-hwan and Noh Jong-hyun. The series aired on OCN from June 9 to August 5, 2018 on Saturdays and Sundays at 22:20 (KST).^[2][3][4][5]

Life on Mars
Promotional poster
Hangul	라이프 온 마스
Genre	Police procedural Crime Science fiction
Based on	Life on Mars by Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah
Developed by	Studio Dragon
Directed by	Lee Jung-hyo
Starring	Jung Kyung-ho Park Sung-woong Go Ah-sung Oh Dae-hwan Noh Jong-hyun
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producer	Kim Gun hong
Producers	Jeong Se-ryeong Hwang Chang Woo Cho Hye Rin
Production company	Production H
Release
Original network	OCN
Original release	June 9 (2018-06-09) – August 5, 2018 (2018-08-05)
Related
Life on Mars (UK)

Synopsis

Han Tae-joo (Jung Kyung-Ho) leads a crime investigation team. He has experienced a rapid rise in his career and he trusts data over people. While investigating a serial murder case, he has an accident. When Han Tae-joo wakes up, he finds himself in 1988. He does not know why, but he is now a detective appointed to work at a police station in a small city. To get back to the present day, Han Tae-joo tries to solve a serial murder case.

Cast

Main

• Jung Kyung-ho as Han Tae-joo^[6]

A modern-day forensics scientist who travels back to the past and became a detective. He is a brilliant, principled individual who prefers to rely on scientific data and evidence rather than people.

• Park Sung-woong as Kang Dong-chul

Head of the Homicide Team. A detective who is uninterested in evidence and instead uses his keen instincts and intuition to solve his cases.

• Go Ah-sung as Yoon Na-young

A passionate ace investigator who dreams of becoming a star detective.

• Oh Dae-hwan as Lee Yong-gi^[7]

A police sergeant in the homicide unit. He is described as unhinged and with a nasty temper.

• Noh Jong-hyun as Jo Nam-sik^[8]

The youngest detective on the team.

Recurring

• Jeon Seok-ho as Han Choong-Ho the father of Han Tae-Joo
• Kim Jae-kyung as Han Mal-sook^[9]
• Kim Dae-gon as Park Byung-doo
• Lee Bong-ryun as Yoo Soon-hee
• Kim Young-pil as Kim Myung-se^[10]

An elite head detective who cares more about his appearance than investigations.

• Lee Ji-ha as Han Mal-sook
• Yoo Yeon as Lee Sun-ja
• Lee Hee-won as Han Tae-joo
• Kim Ki-cheon as Manager Park^[11]
• Oh Ah-rin as Young-joo
• Choi Seung-yoon as Kim Min Seok (2018 - serial killer)
  • Oh Han-kyul as child Kim Min-seok (1988)

Special appearance

• Park Gyu-young as Daughter
• Moon Woo-jin as Kyung Ho (Ep. 6)
• Joo Suk-tae as Lee Kang Heon, 1988 - escaped prisoner & hostage-taker (Ep. 7)
• Hong Kyung as "E.T." / Oh Young Soo [1988] (Ep. 10,12)
• Moon Sook as Kim Mi-yeon - Tae Joo's mother [2018] (Ep. 15-16)
• Jeon Hye-bin as Jung Seo-hyun, Tae-joo’s fiancee and prosecutor

Production

• First script reading took place on March 12, 2018 at Studio Dragon in Sangam-dong.^[12]
• Im Chang-jung was offered a major supporting role but he declined the offer.^[13]
• Seo Ji-hoon was cast in the role of Jo Nam-sik but dropped out of the project.^[14]

Original soundtrack

Life on Mars OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	2018
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean English
Label	Stone Music Entertainment withHC

Part 1

Released on July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"AGNES"	Nam Hye-seung Jello Ann	Nam Hye-seung Kim Hee-jin	Patrick Joseph	03:49
2.	"AGNES" (Inst.)		Nam Hye-seung Kim Hee-jin		03:49
Total length:					7:38

Part 2

Released on July 14, 2018 (2018-07-14)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Wherever You Are" (너는 어디쯤)	Shin Hae-kyung	Shin Hae-kyung	Shin Hae-kyung	04:21
2.	"Wherever You Are" (Inst.)		Shin Hae-kyung		04:21
Total length:					08:42

Part 3

Released on July 14, 2018 (2018-07-14)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Always Within Me"	Josef Melin, Park Geun-chul	RUNY, Kwon Deok-geun, IVeR	RUNY	03:25
2.	"Always Within Me" (Inst.)		RUNY, Kwon Deok-geun, IVeR		03:25
Total length:					06:50

Ratings

Life on Mars : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Season		Episode number																Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	0.584	0.907	1.017	1.214	0.877	1.080	1.126	1.298	1.180	1.183	1.092	1.425	1.136	1.295	1.334	1.730	1.155

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research.^[15]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share<^[16]
		AGB Nielsen^[17]		TNmS^[18]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	June 9, 2018	2.081%	1.911%	2.2%
2	June 10, 2018	3.122%	3.303%	—
3	June 16, 2018	3.268%	3.432%
4	June 17, 2018	3.762%	3.968%
5	June 23, 2018	3.098%	3.001%	3.5%
6	June 24, 2018	3.969%	3.983%	4.9%
7	June 30, 2018	3.817%	3.794%	—
8	July 1, 2018	4.681%	4.933%	5.1%
9	July 14, 2018	3.980%	4.525%	4.2%
10	July 15, 2018	4.170%	4.590%	5.2%
11	July 21, 2018	3.893%	4.353%	4.9%
12	July 22, 2018	4.834%	5.544%	5.7%
13	July 28, 2018	3.933%	4.388%	—
14	July 29, 2018	4.695%	5.036%
15	August 4, 2018	4.657%	4.787%	4.7%
16	August 5, 2018	5.851%	6.377%	6.0%
Average		3.988%	4.245%	4.6%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes that the rating is not known. This drama aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS). Episodes 9 and 10 did not air on July 7 and 8, 2018 as originally planned. To allow more time for filming, they were postponed by a week.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2018	6th APAN Star Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Jung Kyung-ho	Nominated	^[19]^[20]
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Go Ah-sung	Won
	2nd The Seoul Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	^[21]
	Asian Academy Creative Awards	Best Adaptation of an Existing Format	Life on Mars	Won	^[22]^[23]

International broadcast

The drama was broadcast on tvN Asia with subtitles in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka where it premiered on October, 2019.

References

1. Khomami, Nadia (February 20, 2018). "Acclaimed BBC dramas to be remade in South Korea". The Guardian.
2. "[공식] 정경호X박성웅X고아성, '라이프 온 마스' 캐스팅 확정". Seoul Economic Daily (in Korean). March 22, 2018.
3. "Korean version of 'Life on Mars' depicts dazed cop's quest for identity". Yonhap News Agency. June 5, 2018.
4. "Time-traveling detective to search for identity". Kpop Herald. June 6, 2018.
5. "Korean adaptation of British hit series 'Life On Mars' gains traction with viewers". Yonhap News Agency. 18 July 2018.
6. "[SBS Star] Chung Kyung-ho Takes the Lead Role in 'Life on Mars' Remake". SBS News. March 22, 2018.
7. "[공식입장] 오대환, OCN '라이프 온 마스' 주연 합류…정경호와 호흡". News1 (in Korean). April 10, 2018.
8. [단독] 서지훈, '라이프 온 마스' 하차→노종현 출연. Naver (in Korean). My Daily. March 15, 2018.
9. 김재경, '라이프 온 마스' 출연…츤데레 걸크러시 변신. TenAsia (in Korean). April 27, 2018.
10. "[Orion's Daily Ramblings] Kim Young-pil Joins Drama "Life on Mars"". Hancinema. April 6, 2018.
11. '라이프 온 마스' 오대환부터 김기천까지, 연기 고수들이 온다. Star News (in Korean). June 1, 2018.
12. '라이프 온 마스' 대본리딩 포착, 정경호-박성웅 호흡 어땠나. Newsen (in Korean). April 26, 2018.
13. "Im Chang-jung Will Not Join "Life On Mars"". Hancinema. News1. February 8, 2018.
14. "[공식입장]서지훈 측 "'라이프 온 마스' 주연 확정" 대세ing". News1 (in Korean). February 28, 2018.
15. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved August 26, 2020.
16. "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved August 25, 2020.
17. . AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
18. . TNmS (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
19. "이병헌·손예진·아이유 APAN스타어워즈 노미네이트". Star News (in Korean). September 27, 2018.
20. Park, Pan-seok (October 13, 2018). 이병헌, '미스터 션샤인' 대상 수상..정해인 2관왕(종합)[2018 APAN] [Lee Byung-hun, 'Mr. Sunshine' Grand Prize .. Hae-in Jeong, 2nd Crown (General) [2018 APAN]]. Osen (in Korean) – via Naver.
21. '제2회 더 서울어워즈' 10월27일 개최, 드라마-영화 각 부문별 후보공개. iMBC (in Korean). September 28, 2018.
22. "List of National/Regional Winners 2018". asianacademycreativeawards.com. 10 December 2018.
23. "ASIAN ACADEMY CREATIVE AWARDS WINNER'S HONOUR ROLL 2018". asianacademycreativeawards.com. December 7, 2018.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)
• Life on Mars at Studio Dragon (in Korean)
• Life on Mars at IMDb
• Life on Mars at HanCinema