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Jim Keats is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Life on Mars franchise.
He is supposedly a new DCI sent in by the Scotland Yard Discipline and Complaints department to investigate the bothersome goings on of the Metropolitan Police Force after Gene Hunt and Alex Drake's return to action. In actuality however he is the devil who really sought out to corrupt every single core member of Gene Hunt's CID in order to bring more trapped souls down to hell. He is the archenemy of Gene Hunt.
He was portrayed by Daniel Mays who also played Allan in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
Biography[]
Alex Drake formally met Keats in February 1983 shortly after waking up from her coma. He revealed that he would be assessing her and her colleagues at Fenchurch East police station.
Keats took control and banned Gene Hunt from being in command or from using firearms. While Gene was in his office during a celebration for finding a kidnap victim, Keats intimidated hunt by revealing his contempt for him and knowledge of the death of Detective Inspector Sam Tyler, who died under mysterious circumstances back in 1980.
Keats began planning to bring down Hunt's "kingdom" and interviewed members of the CID individually. He began playing on the mind of WPC Sharon Granger, who had felt unwelcome to the team and encouraged her to quit the force. She agreed to this, having been manipulated. But she later changed her mind following her partaking in a successful undercover operation. During the celebration, Keats began to hint towards Drake that Hunt was involved in the death of Sam Tyler.
Keats attempts to bring down the team. He provides them with video tapes of their deaths, revealing that they are in limbo. He attempts to bring Shaz, Chris and Ray to Hell, hoping to finally destroy Gene and his world. He tries to lure them into an elevator to Hell, but they turn against him and return to Gene and Alex in order to prevent a robbery. Following this he takes them to "the pub" in order to pass on peacefully into the afterlife, with Shaz, Chris and Ray going to heaven. Keats arrives and attempts one last time to tempt Alex over to his side and reveals she is in fact dead and can't return back to the real world. She turns against Keats although she wants to remain in Gene Hunt's world so he wouldn't be alone, but he convinces her to join the others in the pub and go to heaven, which she accepts. Gene then sends Keats packing, although Keats laughs and mocks Gene that they will meet again.
Personality[]
Jim at first glance appears to be a very reasonable yet stern and uptight authority figure but still one who has the ability to loosen up every now and again. He appears to have the best interest of his colleagues at heart however he is merely using his charisma to deceive them and twist the truth into his own narrow interpretation to make them believe in his way of thinking and acting. From the moment he appeared on screen he had a dislike for Gene Hunt that was very evident however the true nature behind this wasn't revealed until the very end.
After exposing the truth behind Gene Hunt, his world and the nature of the CID's being Jim's true personality came through and he became a raving lunatic, continuously throwing violent tantrums like a child and laughing maniacally at the slightest of things. Overall his emotional stability seemingly shattered when he revealed his true colours, as though his excitement over finally gaining the upper hand over Gene had been too much for him. He also had a ferocious temper which resurfaced when his plans started to fall apart, going as far as to snarl and growl at Gene shortly before being ultimately defeated.
He reminded ever-cocky and overconfident to the end however, even after Gene had all of his memories restored of his real purpose in life and Jim's part in it, mockingly singing "We'll meet again" to him before departing.
Appearance[]
It's unknown what Jim's physical form actually looks like however in Gene's world he is depicted as a stern man somewhere in his thirties of average height and a slim build with pale skin, tousled & thick black hair and brown eyes. He is always seen wearing a sharp suit and thick rimmed black & transparent glasses and also commonly wears a grey trench coat.
Trivia[]
- Unlike most common depictions of Satan in pop culture this incarnation appears to be very physically weak and with much less power than he's usually depicted as having, only being capable of mild reality warping and the ability to kill people by tapping into their brains. He's also taken out by Gene Hunt a supposed lesser being rather quickly suggesting that his only real power comes from when he's actually in his own domain.
- There are several hints placed throughout the series that indicate Jim's true identity; for example he tells Alex his upbringing was heavily biblical, he makes multiple references towards bringing "down" Gene Hunt which taken in a literal sense could mean bringing him down to hell and finally he is usually seen still wearing his coat while indoors and when outside is almost always seen tightly coiling his shoulders and practically hugging himself while wearing it suggesting he's very sensitive to climates that aren't egregiously warm.
- Jim Keats is one of two big bads in Life On Mars/Ashes to Ashes to not face any punishment for his crimes save for being beaten up by Gene aside from Vic Tyler from season one of Life On Mars, this could possibly be an intentional call-back as Jim was the final big bad to appear.