DCI Gene Hunt has been demoted to Detective Inspector as he wakes up near the Mondeo's 1973 ancestor, a Ford Granada MkI GXL which would be his car, since Carling already has the bronze Cortina MkIII. There was piles of rubble from old deserted factories, recently demolished to make way for Manchester's "Skyway of the Future."
We don't have to put up with the narrow-minded attitudes and blatant sexism; but does poor DCI Gene Hunt have a choice in this strange world? His car was still an executive Ford saloon of the same colour, but which morphed from a Ford Mondeo Titanium X business edition.
Gene is sat in his dark blue Ford Granada MkI GXL still dazed from his knock out, a police constable walks to the driver's window asking "Is this your vehicle sir?" as he sees a red eight track cassette of David Bowie playing on the official Ford pushbutton cassette radio "Yes, I'm meant to be a DCI; where is my gold I-Phone, my Starbucks slushy drink and all of my compact discs on my favourite rock bands from Black Eyed Peas up to David Bowie?!" the uniformed plod looked at him as if Gene came from the future talking rubbish.
"Compact, mobile and slushy what?" said PC Davidson "Yes it is my vehicle. Where's your Police Community Support Officers? Aren't you supposed to be wearing yellow high visibility vests, have you lost your fingerprint machine? Oh, you'll have to write a claim on the insurance sheets, when you return to base, Sir." said a puzzled DCI Gene Hunt who thought the beat officer was missing several pieces of equipment, not realising clunky technology was the thing in the Seventies.
"Oh you mean the plonks, they're placed downstairs of Salford and Manchester Police." the circa 1973 uniformed plod replied. "You've been transferred to Salford and Manchester Police as a Detective Inspector, here's your warrant card." handing Gene an old fashioned looking warrant card with black typewriter font.
He walked into exactly the same station he first graduated in during 1982, but 30 or 40 odd years earlier staring wide eyed at the sight of 'A' Division smoking and making crude remarks at their aisle desks "Don't sweat it, if you had too much to drink." said DC Collin Skelton who is in his late teens or early twenties.
"This is my and Sammy Tyler's department, where's my slim line desktop PC, Apple I-Pad and fax machine?" asked a bewildered future DCI Gene Hunt "What year is it supposed to be?"
The 1970s Detective Chief Inspector woke up coughing from his cigarettes in a dark large partition office with Western movie posters of Gary Cooper and Clint Eastwood. It had sellotape marks on the glass.
"Shhh, too late." whispered Chris Skelton's future father.
"Word in your shell like, pal!" sneered DCI Ray Carling cigarette in his mouth.
But the moment DCI Ray Carling grabbed Hunt who innocently walked in, and slammed Hunt against a filing cabinet shouting "I'm Ray Carling. Your DCI. It's 1973. Nearly dinner time. And I'm having 'hoops' ", he was lost.
DCI Ray Carling is yelling at WPC Anna Cartwright to go and ''detect me'' a garibaldi, and to stop complaining that your gun doesn't go with your dress.
There was something strangely de ja vu about this scene " They reckon you got concussion, I don't give a tart's furry cap; if half your brains are falling out! You dare step into my kingdom acting king of the jungle!"
The WPC was giving Gene a medical examination, it looked familiar as DCI Carling said "Good girl Cartwright, all prostate and no jelly!" The DCI Carling was off to the Railway Arms pub mentioning half cut sober police officers.