Gene Hunt and Sam Tyler in Hunt's office. (LoM Series 1: Episode 1)
While not fighting crime on the streets of Manchester in 1973, DCI Gene Hunt was usually found in his office at the police station (although Stopford House stood in for the station, it is not identified by that name in the series). The office has thin walls, the upper part of which are translucent glass. The walls do not reach the ceiling.
Gene's desk is large and cluttered with papers, files, and various bric-a-brac. On top of a filing cabinet are several silver trophies, although whether they were won or confiscated is never clarified. Above the filing cabinet is a dart board.
Gene sees himself as the "sheriff" in the wild west of Manchester. His interest in American westerns is shown by the movie posters on the wall. These include High Noon and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. High Noon (1952) is a classic western starring Gary Cooper wherein Cooper's character must stand alone against a deadly enemy after having been refused help by the townspeople, a plot that had some meaning for Gene. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a much later (1966) Italian (or "spaghetti") western starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone. The movie is extremely violent and features characters who distrust each other but are forced to co-operate in order to reach their goal (and even survive), a theme used throughout Life on Mars.