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Alex Drake (Ashes to Ashes)

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Alexandra Drake, née Price
Ashes to Ashes character
Keeley Hawes as Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes
First appearanceAshes to Ashes: Series 1, episode 1
Portrayed byKeeley Hawes (adult Alex Drake)
Lucy Cole (young Alex Price)
In-universe information
NicknameAlex (to most);
Boss (to subordinates);
Bollinger Knickers, Bolly Knickers, Bolly, Bolls, & Miss Marple (to DCI Gene Hunt)
TitleDetective Inspector (DI)
OccupationPolice officer (Metropolitan Police 1981-1982 & 199x?-2008)
SpouseDivorced from Peter Drake
ChildrenMolly Drake
RelativesCaroline Price (mother, deceased),
Tim Price (father, deceased),
Evan White (godfather, who becomes Alex's guardian),
Bryan Drake (ex father-in-law),
Marjorie Drake (ex mother-in-law)
NationalityBritish

Detective Inspector Alexandra "Alex" Drake (née Price) is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Ashes to Ashes. The character is portrayed by Keeley Hawes, and as a child by Lucy Cole.

Fictional life

The programme in which the character of Alex Drake appears is Ashes to Ashes, a spin-off of Life on Mars which told the similar story of Manchester detective Sam Tyler (John Simm) appearing in 1973 after a "hit and run" incident in 2006. Life on Mars's central mystery was the question of whether his 1973 life was real, or if he was in a coma after the accident and hallucinating vividly. A similar theme exists in Ashes to Ashes, when DI Alex Drake is shot in 2008, and wakes up in 1981.

Life in 2008

Alex Drake is shown to have risen through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police to Detective Inspector, specialising in the use of psychological profiling to understand suspects. She is referred to by Tyler in the final episode of Life on Mars as an unnamed colleague to whom Tyler sends his tape recorded notes when he hands the envelope to a nurse for posting in the mails.[2] Drake is seen to have spent a considerable amount of time studying Tyler's notes[3] and the the detailed reports on his 'prolonged deep coma'[4] and his subsequent suicide.[5] when he travelled back to present day and jumped from the roof of his police station in order to return to 1973.[6] Drake is writing a book on psychological case studies,[7] and another specifically addressing Tyler's case.[8]

As the first episode opens, Drake is seen to be called to a hostage situation on the embankment in front of the Tate Modern,[9] while driving her daughter to school[10] through Central London[11] on Molly's twelfth birthday.[12] The sergeant[13] on the scene informs her that the hostage-taker is one Arthur Layton who, despite being unknown to her, demands to speak with her by name.[14] When Alex manages to cause Layton to release his civilian hostage in favour of herself,[15] Molly defies Alex's instruction to remain in the car[16] and approaches through the crowd of observers.[17] Layton tells Drake, "I knew you when you were a little girl. You've got your mother's eyes, Alex," and proceeds to twice taunt her with the lyrics "I'm happy; hope you're happy too," from David Bowie's 1980 hit single "Ashes to Ashes" before cocking his revolver's hammer and saying, "Boom!"[18] This prompts a frightened Molly to rush past the barracade tape toward her mother,[19] whereupon Layton takes Molly hostage instead[20] and leads her down the steps toward the river's edge, threatening to kill her if followed.[21] Drake puts herself in between the police sharpshooters and Layton & Molly, whilst repeatedly screaming "Hold your fire!" to the former.[22] When Layton fires, Drake rushes down the steps,[23] to find Molly unharmed and Layton gone.[24]

After the incident, Alex admonishes Molly on nearby Millenium Bridge, "It's a hard, screwed-up world, you know; but if you trust me, I can try to help you get through it,"[25] and sends Molly home with their common godfather, Evan White so that Alex can complete "a stack of reports."[26] As Molly and White depart, Alex assures her that they will blow out her birthday candles together.[27] The time is approximately 10:00 a.m.[28]

Getting into her car, still parked on the south bank,[29] Alex fails to notice Layton sitting in the back seat.[30] With his revolver to her head, he directs her to drive to an old, apparently abandoned barge on the north bank, opposite the Millennium Dome.[31] Walking swiftly to the barge, he claims that she will be his "ticket out of this mess," before placing a call on his mobile phone and telling the other party, "You're gonna [sic] have to listen, 'cause I've got a piece of your past standing [sic] right here in front of me: Tim and Caroline Price's daughter; and I'm gonna [sic] tell her the truth why her parents died."[32] Once in the barge, Layton laments his lost success, telling Alex, "I had an empire back in the day. I had connections; I had dealers on every street corner."[33] Alex uses her psychological training and experience in an attempt to calm Layton and save her own life.[34] Her attempt fails, and Layton decides not to reveal the truth about her parents' death before shooting her[35] in the head.[36]

BBC News soon report Drake's disappearance and the police's suspicion of Layton's culpability.[37] She is discovered approximately one hour after being shot,[38] and is taken into the care of the London Ambulance Service[39] who call her by name.[40]

Flashbacks

In the instant Layton's bullet impacts her, Alex hears Molly's voice calling out to her, "Mummy, Mummy,"[41] and sees a series of disconnected images:[42]

  • Layton's bullet flying backward in slow-motion back into the muzzle of his revolver[43]
  • The whiz of consumer video tape being queued in fast forward.[44]
  • A young Alex Price walking next to a wrought iron fence and fallen leaves, in a red blazer and beret, toting a red balloon.[45]
  • The whiz of consumer video tape being queued in fast forward.[46]
  • A low-angled view up toward Tim Price and Caroline Price who closes the hatchback of a blue Ford Escort while inserting a small piece of luggage.[47]
  • The whiz of consumer video tape being queued in fast forward.[48]
  • A view down toward her own left hand being gently taken by the hand of a man in a black overcoat, causing her to release the balloon.[49]
  • A view up toward the red balloon ascending into the blue sky.[50]
  • A zoom in toward the Clown, backlit, opening his arms.[51]
  • The whiz of consumer video tape being queued in fast forward.[52]
  • A close-up of the Clown's face as calls to her in an unnaturally deep voice, "Alex."[53]
  • The whiz of consumer video tape being queued in fast forward.[54]
  • A view through a car window, of Layton as a young man walking beside the road as she rides past him.[55]
  • The whiz of consumer video tape being queued in fast forward.[56]
  • A close-up of Layton's face and revolver, from a moment before, as he prepares to shoot; the Clown, reflected in both lenses of Layton's mirrored sunglasses, yells to her in an unnaturally deep voice, "Alex!"[57]
  • The focus changes to the revolver's muzzle just as Layton fires; as the bullet flies forward, the Clown's face is superimposed on it, as he again shouts, "Alex!"[58]

The images from her childhood contrast with those of Layton and the Clown, appearing in low-resolution as if made on an early 1980s consumer video camera. The transitions between the childhood images are accompanied by the whirl sound of video tape being hastilly queued.[59]

Adult life in 1981-1982

She awakens on 20 July 1981 (similar to Sam Tyler's predicament in Life on Mars after being run over in 2006 and waking up in 1973), less than fourteen weeks before her parents Tim and Caroline Price are to be murdered on 10 October 1981.[60][61] She finds herself aboard a private boat, The Lady Di,[62] implied to be moored in the same spot as the barge, just as Tyler had woken up on the street in front of the construction site of the roadway and housing complex in use when he was hit.[63] In place of the gray pantsuit and straight, pulled-back hair she was wearing a moment before, she is in a short red dress and white fur coat, with teased hair, garrish make-up, and an over-abundance of costume jewelry.[64]

She patterns her view of 1981 on Tyler's reports, so much as to record her experiences on a dictaphone, with most of her comments directed to her daughter who is in the present day. Knowing that radios and telephones served as conduits between Tyler's 2006 hospital room reality and his 1973 experiences, she proceeds to pick up any ringing telephone in CID, when she is still believed to be a prostitute rather than the new Detective Inspector. She constantly tries to communicate with the health care providers or family she expects to be on the other end of the line, one of the things she does during her first day in 1981 is direct DC Chris Skelton to show her the "most powerful radio" in the police station.

Personality and relationships

Caroline Price, LL.B.

Alex felt distant from her mother, Caroline Price, whom she remembers as being aloof and more interested in her law practice than in her; she is overjoyed as an adult to learn that her mother loves her and plans to take a sabbatical to spend more time with her as a child.[65]. In Alex's initial adult dealings with Caroline, she finds her insufferable. Determining that Caroline is a personification of her id, Alex reacts by attempting to seduce a Thatcherite businessman, of whom she knows Caroline would not approve.[66]

Timothy Price, QC

Alex's memories of her father, Tim Price are happier, if more sporadic, owing to his frequent travels. He reads to her at night from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, providing different voices for the many characters; and they chase each other in a courtroom whilst she wears his court wig.[67] She draws him a picture of their family in crayon, which he keeps in the top of his wig case.[68] Despite his love for her, he attempts to kill her along with her mother and himself.[69] Unlike her frequent interaction with Caroline, Alex does not meet Tim as an adult until the day before his death.[70]

When Tim refuses her offer of police protection, Alex adopts Gene Hunt's violent pragmatism and Ray Carling's attitude toward the planting of evidence in her attempts to save their lives; she arrests them both for possession and intent to distribute the cocaine she plants in their home, and by destroys their friend's blue Ford Escort with a pink tank she steals at a gay pride rally.[71]

In the instant before the bomb explodes, Tim removes his glasses in front of adult Alex Drake and winks at her. Adult Alex suddenly realises that he is the Clown Angel of Death who had been stalking her since her arrival in 1981. Later, she watches his confession videotape in Hunt's office with Evan White. Since the explosion, she is no longer stalked by him. The Clown (or, arguably, David Bowie in the same Pierrot costume) appears in the lower left area of Luigi's celebrity mural at the close of Episode 1.8, at which time neither Alex nor Shaz is shown to take any notice when walking toward it;[72] it is gone again from the mural in the second series.

Evan White, LL.B.

After witnessing her parents' violent deaths in a car-bomb explosion, Alex Price is reared by her beloved godfather, Evan White, a London criminal solicitor who had been an associate of the Prices. She represses the memory of seeing her mother lovingly kissing Evan one night, and is unaware that the affair led to her parents' deaths. White assures DCI Gene Hunt and adult DI Alex Drake that he will tell her the truth about the bombing when she is old enough to understand; he never does.[73]

Alex remains close to White, naming him her daughter's godfather, and relying upon him as a father figure for both of them.[74]

Peter Drake

In the interim period not depicted in the series, Price meets Peter Drake who is roughly five years her senior.[75] Peter confides in her about his assault on Gaynor Mason only insofar as to tell her that he "did a bad thing" when he was a teenager.[76] Although he prefers to be called 'Peter',[77] Alex will tend to call him 'Pete'.[78] Alex gets to become familiar with the loud 'creek' of Peter's bed in his parents' house,[79] and he shows her that he keeps his marijuana stash inside of a square, blue satchel.[80] Despite having been admonished not to by Alex's older self years earlier, Peter condescendingly tells Alex that her bad mood is the result of premenstral tension.[81] He also blames her when they run out of gasoline while he is driving her across France and have to wait out a pouring rainstorm for hours, again despite her elder self's specific instruction not to blame her.[82] Alex single-handedly supports the family, while Peter lays around in bed, "working on the novel that only exists in his head".[83] Alex never realises during their relationship that his 'tell' when lieing is to put his hands in his pockets and look down.[84]

In 1996, Peter's marriage to Alex produces Molly Drake,[85] named for Peter's childhood cat.[86] Six months after Molly's birth, Peter abandons his family, leaving Alex as Molly's custodial parent, "never to be seen again."[87] He is travelling in Canada with a woman named Judy in 2008 at the time of Molly's twelfth birthday and Alex's shooting, and is not believed to have sent Molly a birthday present.[88]

Alex remains resentful of Peter's selfishness and irresponsibility,[89] charactering him as "an untrustworthy, two-timing, two-faced, spineless, selfish, little shit,"[90] and a "creep".[91]

Despite telling Peter's father that she has realised that she cannot change her timeline,[92] Adult Alex tries to instill some behavioural changes in her younger self's future husband. In exchange for not arresting him for assualting Gaynor Mason, Peter promises her that he will look after his parents and be especially nice to whatever girl he ends up with, "be it Suzie or a girl called Alex."[93] She further tells Peter to spoil the girl rotten with flowers, chocolates and Jimmy Choo shoes.[94] Her direction that he look after Molly is naturally lost on Peter who understands her to mean his cat which peeks her head out from under his bed and meows at that moment.[95]

Bryan and Marjorie Drake

Alex's anger toward Peter does not extend to his parents.

Bryan Drake paints a picture of his grand-daughter, Molly which Alex treasures.[96] After Bryan's son, Peter, abandons Alex and six month-old Molly, Bryan is the one person who makes Alex believe that it is not the end of her life and career.[97]

Marjorie Drake is confused by the familiarity and sympathy with which she is treated by adult Alex who is, unknown to her, her future ex-daughter-in-law;[98] DCI Gene Hunt explains that DI Drake "takes her community relations very seriously."[99]

1980s Colleagues

Drake, being a psychologist in 2008, puts her skills to use in 1981 by using modern psychological profiling techniques to help catch criminals. DCI Gene Hunt and the rest of the team often initially dismiss her ideas, but learn to trust and value her advice. Nevertheless, Hunt acknowledges, after the climax of the first episode, that she has a knack for getting inside of criminals' minds. She is displayed to have a calm disposition in a crisis, being able to both analyse criminals and maintain a degree of sympathy with them.

She is displayed to be confident, determined and able to "hold her own" in the male-dominated world of the 1980s. There is some sexual tension between her and Gene Hunt, but neither of them explicitly address it. DC Chris Skelton and WPC Sharon Granger, as younger members of the team, look up to her and attempt to learn from her modern techniques. However, away from her work place she is seen to be emotionally troubled with images of "The Clown", and images of her parents death.

Reality of 1980s

Alex is shown to be convinced that her experiences in the 1980s are fantasy, being played out in her mind during the final seconds of her life after she was shot. This belief is reinforced by DS Ray Carling telling her that Tyler returned to the gun fight to save his comrades' lives, serving with them for a further seven years. Alex occasionally addresses her colleagues as 'imaginary constructs' and pantomimes ersatz quotes when saying their names, with the practice happening less often as the series progressed, along with remarks on what twisted imagination she must have to be able to dream up the bizarre scenarios that happen in her 1980s life. Realising at the end of episode 1.8 that Gene Hunt, not Evan White, took care of her at the scene of her parents' deaths, she accepts her 1980s world as somehow real.[100] Months later in 1982 (roughly thirteen hours after being shot in 2008),[101] she finds that she has been discovered in 2008 and once again begins talking of getting back, much to the dismay of Gene Hunt who thought that business was all behind them.[102]

After looking to see that the nurses are out of earshot, Alex talks candidly to her future ex-father-in-law about the future, knowing that he cannot hear her.[103] She acknowledges that she has finally learned that she cannot change the events in her past.[104]

References

All episode numbers refer to Ashes to Ashes episodes unless otherwise stated.

  1. ^ Alex Price is portrayed by then-eight-year-old Lucy Cole in the 1981 sequences; She is described as a "female, mid-30s," by emergency medical personnel upon her discovery in Episode 2.1 at 23:17.
  2. ^ Life on Mars Episode 2.8.
  3. ^ Episode 1.1 at 1:20
  4. ^ Episode 1.1 at 02:16
  5. ^ Episode 1.1 at .
  6. ^ Life on Mars episode 2.8; Ashes to Ashes Episode 1.1 at 02:19.
  7. ^ Episode 1.1 at 01:53.
  8. ^ Episode 1.1 at 1:54.
  9. ^ Episode 1.1 at 02:03.
  10. ^ Episode 1.1 at 02:40
  11. ^ Episode 1.1 at 01:25.
  12. ^ Birthday first stated in Episode 1.1 at 01:30; Molly's age stated in Episode 2.1 at 00:41.
  13. ^ Episode 1.1 at 02:33
  14. ^ Episode 1.1 at 02:36.
  15. ^ Episode 1.1 at 03:28.
  16. ^ Episode 1.1 at 02:22.
  17. ^ Episode 1.1 at 02:40.
  18. ^ Episode 1.1 at 04:01-04:21.
  19. ^ Episode 1.1 at 04:21.
  20. ^ Episode 1.1 at 04:25.
  21. ^ Episode 1.1 at 04:30.
  22. ^ Episode 1.1 at 04:26.
  23. ^ Episode 1.1 at 04:44
  24. ^ Episode 1.1 at 04:54.
  25. ^ Episode 1.1 at 05:25.
  26. ^ Episode 1.1 at 05:08, 05:33.
  27. ^ Episode 1.1 at 05:54
  28. ^ Episode 2.1 at 00:04
  29. ^ Episode 2.1 at 00:09.
  30. ^ Episode 1.1 at 06:12.
  31. ^ Episode 1.1 at 06:29.
  32. ^ Episode 1.1 at 06:40-07:11
  33. ^ Episode 1.1 at 07:34.
  34. ^ Episode 1.1 at 07:43.
  35. ^ Episode 1.1 at 07:54
  36. ^ "Female, mid-30s with gunshot wound to the head. Oscar-Victor-Lima-One. Urgent medical attention is required," stated by emergency medical personnel upon her discovery in Episode 2.1 at 23:17.
  37. ^ Episode 2.1 at 00:00.
  38. ^ News report places her disappearance at "10:00 this morning" while the clock above the television shows 11:00. Episode 2.1 at 00:04.
  39. ^ Episode 2.1 at 43:13-43:31.
  40. ^ Episode 2.1 at 43:15.
  41. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:09
  42. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:10-08:43.
  43. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:10.
  44. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:18.
  45. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:19.
  46. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:22.
  47. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:23.
  48. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:27.
  49. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:28.
  50. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:31.
  51. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:33.
  52. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:34.
  53. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:34.
  54. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:37.
  55. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:37.
  56. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:40.
  57. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:41.
  58. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:42.
  59. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:10-08:43.
  60. ^ "Ashes To Ashes - swapping the Ford Cortina for an Audi Quattro, DCI [[Gene Hunt]] rolls up his sleeves and embraces the Eighties in sequel to Life On Mars". bbc.co.uk. 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help).
  61. ^ Arrival date of 20 July 1981 shown on Hunt's computer; both dates shown on Alex's wall calendar, first seen in episode 1.2, "The Happy Day."
  62. ^ Episode 1.1 at 09:01.
  63. ^ Life on Mars episode 1.1
  64. ^ Episode 1.1 at 08:48.
  65. ^ Episode 1.8
  66. ^ Episode 1.2
  67. ^ Episode 1.8 at 10:50.
  68. ^ Episode 1.8 at 12:10.
  69. ^ Confession tape in Episode 1.8 at 50:40.
  70. ^ Episode 1.8 at 10:05.
  71. ^ Episode 1.8
  72. ^ Closing shot of Episode 1.8, |shown here
  73. ^ Episode 1.8.
  74. ^ Episode 1.1
  75. ^ Peter Drake is said to be aged fourteen years in 1982, according to dialogue in Episode 2.5 at 07:39, and the synopsis of episode 2.5; Alex Price is portrayed by then-eight-year-old Lucy Cole in the 1981 sequences.
  76. ^ Episode 5.2, at 41:10
  77. ^ Episode 2.5, at 07:40
  78. ^ Episode 2.5, at 07:37
  79. ^ Episode 2.5, at 40:09
  80. ^ Episode 2.5, at 40:50
  81. ^ Episode 2.5, at 40:28
  82. ^ Episode 2.5, at 40:30
  83. ^ Episode 2.5, at 41:47
  84. ^ Episode 2.5, at 11:44
  85. ^ Molly's age of 12 years in 2008 is stated on the news report of Alex's disappearance in Episode 2.1 at 00:33.
  86. ^ Episode 2.5, 06:49
  87. ^ Episode 2.5 at 07:21
  88. ^ Exchange between Alex and Molly Drake in the opening scene of Episode 1.1, at 1:30-1:42: "What did Evan get you for your birthday, Molls?" "A BlackBerry." "Oh yah? I'll get you some more while you're at school, and you can make a birthday crumble. Did your dad manage to..." "No, he's in Canada with Judy."
  89. ^ Dialogue throughout Episode 2.5
  90. ^ Episode 2.5, at 41:51
  91. ^ Episode 2.5, at 50:36
  92. ^ Episode 2.5, at 12:55
  93. ^ Episode 2.5, at 49:25
  94. ^ Episode 2.5, at 49:33.
  95. ^ Episode 2.5, at 49:44
  96. ^ Episode 2.5, at 12:26
  97. ^ Episode 2.5, at 13:05
  98. ^ Episode 2.5, at 5:49
  99. ^ Episode 2.5, at 06:06
  100. ^ Episode 1.8
  101. ^ News report places her disappearance at "10:00 this morning" while the clock above the television shows 11:00. Episode 2.1 at 00:04.
  102. ^ Episode 2.1
  103. ^ Episode 2.5, at 12:46
  104. ^ Episode 2.5 at 12:54
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