Simm attacks Mars scheduling

Last week, the final ever instalment of Life of Mars was broadcast. It's a measure of [actor, John] Simm's importance to television drama that, at 36, he feels emboldened to speak exactly as he finds about the episode's scheduling opposite Champions League football on ITV.

"The mind boggles," he says. "It's one of the best hours of TV I've ever done. They've just p***ed a surefire ratings winner right up against the wall."

The grumbles of a leading actor are rarely edifying, but we should make an exception for Simm. After the first series of Life on Mars was delivered on time and on budget, BBC Drama tightened the purse-strings for the second.

More from Jasper Rees in The Telegraph.