The Annotated Afterlife

24. Her Sacred Oath

Quote
From the 1971 David Bowie song, "Life on Mars?". The lines are about a "law man" punishing "the wrong guy", as a hint as to what is coming in the chapter. I removed the last two words of the line, so that the question simply asks, "Is there life ...?"

"Life on Mars?" features in the 2006-2007 television series of the same name. It is the song playing on an iPod in the protagonist's car when he is run over, and on an 8-track in the car when he wakes up in 1973. I can't say much more without giving away spoilers for both sources, but Life on Mars is a bit of an inspiration for Between Life and Death.

The song "Life on Mars?" is a parody of "My Way", made popular by Frank Sinatra in 1969, which is often chosen as a funeral song.

The Wrong Guy
When Chief Justice Dharmayama launches an immediate investigation into how Julian, a living person could have been brought to the Waystation, it turns out to be due to a case of mistaken identity. Julian Barratt Pettifer's records were mixed up with those of someone with a similar name, Julian Peter Barratt.

As well as being born in places with the same name, and residing in the same city, the two Julians had birth dates that could be confused – Julian Barratt Pettifer was born on 4/5/1968, while Julian Peter Barratt was born on 5/4/1968. Because Marcus' assistant Eleanor was an American before she died, she immediately spots that the second Julian's birth date could be understood, using the US system, as May 4th 1968, rather than the actual date of 5th April 1968.

Furthermore, the two Julians were both brought to the same hospital on the same night after a drowning – The Other Julian slipped in the bath and hit his head, falling under the water. You might remember that Our Julian falls into an almost dreamlike state when having a long, deep bath with Noel.

This (possibly outrageous?) plot line is inspired by the "Bollo" episode of The Mighty Boosh TV show, where Howard/Julian is taken by a Grim Reaper who confuses him for the gorilla Bollo, who is on his death bed. Zookeeper Howard/Julian has been forced to fill in for the terminally ill Bollo by dressing up in a gorilla costume, and even dedicates himself to method acting so thoroughly that he throws his own excrement on a zoo visitor!

When Phil Denn, our resident taxi driver and Reaper, is sent to pick up a man named Julian Barratt who is in a coma after a drowning at a certain hospital, he takes Our Julian to the Waystation instead. When Phil explains what happened to the assessment room, he says of his mistake, "I feel like a right flapjack". This is straight from the TV show, when Phil the Reaper says it after realising he actually picked up a man in a gorilla suit, rather than a gorilla.

Leeds in Kent
In real life, Julian Barratt Pettifer ("Our Julian") was born and grew up in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire. Julian Peter Barratt ("The Other Julian") was born in Leeds, Kent. Leeds in Kent is a village of about a thousand people, five miles from Maidstone, the county town.