Gene Hunt - Reception

Reception

Gene Hunt has been described as a "national hero" by The Independent newspaper and as a character "taken to the nation's hearts" by The Guardian. The character was voted the United Kingdom's favourite television hero in 2008, receiving over 25% of the popular vote, ahead of both 24's Jack Bauer and The Doctor. Nancy Banks-Smith stated that Hunt had been a "roaring success" in Life on Mars, with it also being said that it was because of Hunt that Life on Mars's spin-off, Ashes to Ashes was commissioned, quoting executive producer Jane Featherstone as saying: "When Life on Mars came to end through natural causes, I think we all thought: 'Hang on, this character, Gene Hunt, is a fairly extraordinary man and we're not quite done with him yet".

Glenda Cooper, from The Daily Telegraph, called it a "crime" that John Simm received a BAFTA nomination for his portrayal of Sam Tyler, but that Glenister did not receive similar recognition for his role as Hunt. Cooper goes on to write: As far as I - and millions of British women - were concerned, the only riddle was why the hell did anyone think this was Tyler's show when a brief psychological profile, cursory examination of the evidence and old-fashioned gut instinct showed that there was only one man in the frame and that was DCI Gene Hunt."

Ashes to Ashes reviews witnessed the character receive more negative press than those seen in Life on Mars. Caitlin Moran, reviewing the spin-off show for The Times, stated that: "We love Gene Hunt. That’s just a fact. Hunt become that rare thing, in these creatively timid and threadbare days for British drama: in 200 miles, eight years and one sequel – Gene has gone from being a complex antihero to a cartoon hero."

With regards to the character's performance in Ashes to Ashes, Andrew Billen states that "much is secondhand and when Hunt, played as gleefully as ever by Philip Glenister, shouts an insult as lame as “hoity-toity poofter” you wonder if the writers should have thought again."

Hunt has also been criticised for the prejudiced views he propagates. Writing for The Times, Tim Teeman expressed concern over an episode of Ashes to Ashes which focused on overt homophobia, writing: "No doubt the justification here is that it's Gene Hunt, everyone knows he's a bigot, that's what he'd say. And he and his mates were shown to be fools. But it was said with lip-smacking relish. Gene Hunt is on the brink of becoming a kind of icon of the sniggering, unreconstructed lad." Ashley Pharoah, co-creator of both Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, has also voiced concern on this issue, commenting: "There have been times I have wondered: have we created a pin-up boy for the Daily Mail? That wasn't our intention."

In the lead up to the 2010 General Election campaign in the UK, the ruling Labour Party produced an advert likening opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron to Hunt, claiming that Cameron would take Britain "back to the 1980s". However, the Conservative Party claimed that comparisons to Hunt were flattering to them, and produced their own advert linking Cameron with Hunt with the slogan "Fire up the Quattro, it's time for change."