Tony Crane


Tony Crane
Series:	Life on Mars (UK)
Significant others:	Eve Olawi
Actor:	Marc Warren
US equivalent:	Tony Crane (Chris Bowers)

Tony Crane was a former casino owner who murdered his wife Eve Olawi. In 2006, he was arrested by DCI Sam Tyler and his business empire was brought down. While Tyler was in his coma, Crane (as a fellow patient) threatened to torture Sam, a message which Sam experienced in 1973. However, Tyler successfully prevented the death of Eve and himself when he manipulated the younger Crane into statements of seeming insanity.

Biography[]

Original Timeline[]

1973 onwards[]

Crane2 — Tony Crane torments Tyler in his comatose state. (LOM Series 2: Episode 1)

In 1971, Crane was accused of blackmail but the charges were dropped because he forced the claimant to withdraw the accusation. In 1973, Crane was the owner of the Wild Card Club casino, and was in a relationship with casino worker Eve Olawi. Eventually, he proposed marriage to her and made her a business partner. However, in the years leading up to 2006, he "destroyed" her life by ill-treating her.

2006[]

In 2006, Eve was willing to testify against her husband and to be protected by DCI Sam Tyler of the GMP, but she was raped and brutally beaten to death by Tony Crane before the case came to trial. Tyler arrested Crane for Eve's murder and believed a conviction was certain because he had other witnesses to testify. When Sam became aware in 1973 that Crane was torturing him in 2006 in his coma,Tyler surmised that the murder case was dismissed (possibly due to his being unavailable) and Crane was released, and then sought revenge by torturing the vulnerable officer. Before Crane had the opportunity to kill Tyler, however, Crane was discovered and returned to custody.

Altered Timeline[]

1973[]

Tony Crane in 1973. (LOM *Series 2: Episode 1*)

In 1973, Tyler suspected Crane of being involved in the murder of George Rills who had caught a bus outside the Wild Card Club casino and was subsequently killed with a hammer. When Crane was asked about a crown casino chip found at the murder scene, he claimed his casino used only star chips. After Tyler discovered that Crane had lied about the chips,Crane was arrested but released due to lack of evidence.

After attempting to kill Tyler and DCI Hunt by having them tossed off a roof, Crane escaped his casino in his Triumph GT6. When Tyler was struck by sudden pain from 2006 and unable to move, Crane prepared to run him over with his car, but was stopped by a stinger—which Sam had "invented" earlier that day. While in police custody, with no evidence for his arrest, Tony told the detectives that DI Tyler was crazy because he thought he was from the future. This tactic backfired when Sam denied it all and said Crane must be crazy to believe such a thing.

After 1973[]

Crane was placed in clinical detention and sent to a high security mental hospital for 33 years; thus preventing the murder of Eve Olawi. In 2006 he sought revenge on Sam but was stopped by nurses. (LOM Series 2: Episode 1)

Behind the Scenes[]

Tony Crane is a fictional character of BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars. The character is portrayed by Marc Warren, a friend of John Simm.