Originally Posted by
Athiri
Lets just be thankful it didn't end like the US version of Life on Mars, where they were all astronauts in the year 2035.
.... Yeaahhhh.
Well they had to rush the ending of that show because the series wasn't a big hit and was cancelled. They cobbled together an ending just to answer the questions of what few fans they had.
But as for the Ashes to Ashes ending it's simple:
They're all dead and in limbo. Unable to move on because of all the regrets they have in their lives.
Gene has been there the longest, Chris and Ray somewhere in the same decade.
Shaz had been there since the 90's.
Keats was either the devil or a demon trying to tease them into hell with promises that all their dreams would come true.
But in Life on Mars this same being turned up and tempted Sam with that promise and it worked, briefly, until Sam realised how detached he was from the real world. And the price of accepting that promise was to feel like the real word is a dream; an ironic twist on how that dream world felt so real. and went back.
But in the end Gene helped the lot of them move on, having helped them through their regrets. But he didn't move on himself because he still has his regrets.
I'll wager it makes more sense than the ending of Lost.