Обратная сторона Луны (literally "The Reverse Side of the Moon", a reference to Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon" rather than a David Bowie song) is a 32 episode Russian science fiction and police procedural television series that first aired on Channel One Russia in 2012. It is the third remake of the British television series Life on Mars, following the US remake by ABC and La chica de ayer by Antena 3.
Season 1 synopsis
Обратная Сторона Луны - Russian 'Life On Mars' Trailer (2012)
For three years, captain Mikhail Soloviev Jr. has been chasing after a serial killer (nicknamed Ginger for his red hair) who has been terrorizing Moscow with the murders of young women. In an attempt to apprehend the serial killer, Soloviev is hit by a car driven by him and wakes up in a hospital in 1979 in the body of his father Mikhail Soloviev Sr.
Mikhail is not sure whether he is dreaming while in a coma, if he has gone insane, or if he has really gone back in time. He must cope with the alien-to-him environment of Soviet Russia, and catch criminals including the serial killer who was transported back in time with him.
At the same time Mikhail falls in love with a nurse named Katya who has been helping him cope with the foreign environment but by spending a lot of time with her has made her a target of the maniac who travelled back in time with him.
Season 2 synopsis
Mikhail wakes from his coma and sees that he has changed the future creating a reality in which the Soviet Union won the Cold War.
How does the Russian version differ from the original?
The most obvious difference is the name change from a David Bowie song to a Pink Floyd album. David Bowie was relatively unknown at the time in the Soviet Union[1]. Other differences include the Moskvitch car instead of the Audi Quattro, and the Soviet police being more orderly in comparison to the modern Russian police unlike in the Life of Mars version where the future version of the police is more disciplined.
Actors/Characters
- Pavel Derevianko as Mikhail Soloviev Jr. in 2011 and Mikhail Soloviev Sr. in 1979
- Svetlana-Smirnova Marcinkiewicz as Katya in 1979 and Ekaterina G. Fadeeva in 2011
- Irina Martsinkevich as Ekaterina Ivanovna Fadeeva in 2011
- Ivan Shibanov as Nikolay Pavlov, Ginger or Maniac (Serial killer)
- Karina Razumovskaya as Lyuda Solovieva in 1979
- Oleg Almazov as Major Grigoriy Ivanovich Kotov
- Evgeniy Bogomolov as young Mikhail Soloviev Jr
Episodes
Episodes vary in length from 70 to 80 minutes, there are no on-screen episode titles.
There are a total of 32 episodes with 16 episodes in season 1 and 16 episodes and season 2.