East Lancashire actor John Simm has hinted that another season of popular BBC show, Life on Mars, could be on the horizon.

Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine, the Nelson-born actor said there are “talks” of the show returning but kept tight-lipped about any finer details.

Speaking on the show, Lorraine Kelly said: “I hear that it sort of, might be back… what do you know?”

John said: “There has been talk of it coming back.

“Me and Phil [Glenister] talked to Matthew [Graham] and Ashley [Pharoah], the two co-creators, and they gave us this brilliant idea about how it could come back.

“I can’t obviously tell you what it is… it would be great… but fingers crossed.”

Lancashire Telegraph: John Simm (L) and Philip Glenister in Life on Mars. (Photo: Neil Jones/PA)John Simm (L) and Philip Glenister in Life on Mars. (Photo: Neil Jones/PA)

The time travel police show ran from 2006-2007 and Simm played a present day police officer from Greater Manchester who wakes up in the past after a crash.

The success of the the Bafta-winning British original series spawned a sequel, Ashes To Ashes, set in the 1980s.

On Lorraine, John also talked about his brand new ITV show, Grace, which continues this weekend.

In it, John returns as Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace alongside Richie Campbell who plays DS Glenn Branson.

From acclaimed screenwriter and Endeavour creator, Russell Lewis, Grace is an adaption of international, bestselling author Peter James’ award winning novels.

Co-starring Rakie Ayola as ACC Vosper, the first Grace film Dead Simple which aired on ITV last year achieved consolidated ratings of 8.8m viewers.

Lancashire Telegraph: John Simm (L) will return as DSRoy Grace and Richie Campbell will star as DS Glenn Branson (Image: ITV)John Simm (L) will return as DSRoy Grace and Richie Campbell will star as DS Glenn Branson (Image: ITV)

The second series of Grace will comprise four 120 minute films; Looking Good Dead, Not Dead Enough, Dead Man’s Footsteps and Dead Tomorrow.

In this series Zoe Tapper joins the cast as Cleo Morey alongside Craig Parkinson, DS Norman Potting, and guest actor Arthur Darvill.

Speaking to Lorraine about the new series, John said: “It’s quite daunting to [play Roy] but also really exciting.

"There’s such great source material, there’s so many books I can just disappear into and really get into Roy’s head.

“Me and Zoe, who plays Cleo, are always joking about how they are flirting over corpses which is a bit strange – but you’ve got to meet somehow and they are both very busy.

Grace continues this Saturday (1 May) on ITV at 8pm.