Factual error: One of the songs played on the boat party is too early for july 1981. "Ay Ay Ay Ay Mosey" by Modern Romance was a Christmas time hit that year.
Factual error: Series 2, episode 8: As the security van is leaving the depot it drives past an N-registration Rover 600. N registration is 1995/96 and the Rover 600 didn't go into production until 1993. (00:43:00)
Factual error: Series 2, episode 3: "Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran wasn't released until 1983.
Factual error: When the police arrive at the prison during the riot, the transit van they jump out of is a post-1984 model fitted with a 1980/81 w registration number.
Factual error: Series two is set in 1982. TV A.M. didn't come around till 1983 with Roland Rat on it.
Episode #1.1 - S1-E1
Factual error: Souvenir by OMD was not released until 04/08/81. But the date for this episode was July 1981.
Episode #1.4 - S1-E4
Factual error: A man in glasses is sitting in the rear seat of a car with "Lexus" on the window. The first Lexus was 1989.
Factual error: An Austin Maestro van is used in this episode, and although the hatchback Maestro started production in 1983, vans were not added to the range until 1984.
Factual error: "Walking on Sunshine" wasn't a hit until 1985. "Two Tribes" by Frankie-goes-to-Hollywood wasn't out till June 84, not 83. As for "Uptown Girl," it wasn't out till the Autumn.
Factual error: Series 3 episode 2: at the end of this episode Cyndi Lauper's record "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" is being played. Unfortunately this song wasn't issued until 1984 - the year after the show was set.
Factual error: Series 2, episode 6: A white Austin Maestro van can be seen. These didn't start production until 1984.
Episode #2.2 - S2-E2
Factual error: When Alex leaves the police station at the start of the episode, there is a police liveried Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 with a cross hatched front grille. The episode is set in 1982, and this type of grille didn't appear until the Cavalier was facelifted in 1986.
Factual error: Series 2, episode 1: Two songs heard in this episode, "Rio" by Duran Duran and "Mirror Man" by the Human League, were Christmas time hits in 1982. This episode is set during the Falklands war (April-June, 1982), so these two songs would not have been released yet.
Episode #2.4 - S2-E4
Factual error: There are several errors relating the photo of Mac and Jarvis at Hendon in 1962. 1) Gene Hunt says that he was at Hendon several years behind Mac. First, he began his career with Manchester Police (he says in the first series that he only transferred to the Met in the last year or two); and only the Metropolitan Police train at Hendon. Second, he was already a DCI by 1973 (as we know from the prequel 'Life on Mars', which is referenced in 'Ashes to Ashes'). There's no way he could have reached DCI in such a short time if he didn't join the police until at least the mid-1960s. 2) Hendon didn't actually open until 1974 anyway; before then, the Met training school was at Peel House in Westminster. 3) Apparently Jarvis left Hendon "in his last year." The Met training course actually only lasted for 17 weeks.
Factual error: Series 1 episode 2: Steve Strange announces that the song his band Visage have just performed, "Fade to Grey," is their new single. "Fade to Grey" was a hit in the Autumn of 1980. Visage had issued two more singles after "Fade to Grey," both of which were hits in 1981: "Mind of a Toy" and the self-titled "Visage," which would have been their most recent release when this episode was set.
Factual error: The Ford Granada driven by Ray in the final episode of series two is a Facelift Mark 2 model first made Autumn 1982. But it has a V registration, meaning it was first registered between August 1979 and July 1980.
Episode #2.6 - S2-E6
Factual error: The intro to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is heard, which wasn't released until 30th November 1982, after the setting of this episode.
Factual error: Series 2, episode 2: The song "Wishing I Had a Photograph of You" by A Flock of Seagulls can be heard, but it wasn't released until the autumn of 1982.
Answer: Have you finished watching the entire series? I don't think it's fair to answer this for someone who hasn't.
Bishop73