BOLTON took a step back in time yesterday as it became the backdrop for the cult BBC TV series Life on Mars.

Camera crews moved in to shoot an explosive scene for the second series of the hit drama about a policeman who is knocked unconscious when he is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973.

The stars of the critically acclaimed show were in streets around Great Lever Park yesterday.

John Simm, Philip Glenister, Liz White and Marshall Lancaster, who play Sam Tyler, Gene Hunt, Annie Cartwright and Chris Skelton respectively, were in the scene along with extras from the Manchester area.

The film crew were also working in the area around Bury's Central Library at the weekend.

Viewers will be able to see the results when the new series hits TV screens in 2007.

Life on Mars became a cult series earlier this year with its fashion, music and cars from the Seventies.

Yesterday, actors playing police officers and Army bomb disposal experts from the era took part in scenes which were filmed on a road which was sealed off.

And producers are keeping tight-lipped about the story line and how the explosion will fit into the plot.

Producer Jane Featherstone said: "We are delighted to be returning to 1973 where we can join Sam and Gene in putting on our flares and revving up the Ford Cortina.

"Audiences seem to have really taken to the two detectives and their chalk and cheese approach to policing."

It is the latest of a series of productions to use locations in the borough for backdrops, including Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, Coronation Street and Cops, which was shot entirely on location in Bolton.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: "We're delighted another film production company is using Bolton for location shooting.

"The borough welcomes film-makers and actively markets the town through North-west Vision which is a first stop for film companies seeking locations in the region.

"We are very film friendly in Bolton and always help to facilitate any film requests which come to us. Filming puts the borough on the map and is interesting for local people and of course there are economic benefits too. We feel we have a very good relationship with film-makers, some of whom return to Bolton again and again."

The film crews will return to Great Lever today. Tomorrow, they will be filming at a school in Farnworth.