Ray Carling

Raymond Milton Carling
Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes character
Dean Andrews as Ray Carling in Ashes to Ashes
First appearance	Life on Mars: Episode 1, series 1
Portrayed by	Dean Andrews (UK version) Michael Imperioli (US version)
Books	The Wit and Wisdom of Gene Hunt
Information
Nickname(s)	Ray, Raymondo
Occupation	Police Officer Manchester and Salford Police (1973) Metropolitan Police (1980-3)
Title	Detective Sergeant (DS) Detective Constable (DC) (temporary demotion in 1973) Detective Inspector (DI)
Nationality	British

DC/DS/DI Raymond Milton "Ray" Carling is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes.

Ray Carling is shown to be similar in character to his boss, DCI Gene Hunt. During Life on Mars, Carling often prefers Hunt's brutality and corruption over DI Sam Tyler's ideas. Carling has also been described by the BBC's website as Hunt's "right-hand man when it comes to fighting, shooting, gambling and the ladies".

Throughout the series, Carling frequently clashes with Sam Tyler regarding his policing methods. It is revealed that Carling had applied for promotion to DI (Detective Inspector), but was passed over for the apparently transferred Sam Tyler, fuelling his grudge against Tyler.

During episode 7 of the first series, Billy Kemble is arrested on drug-related charges. In an attempt to make him reveal his supplier, Carling and Chris Skelton force-feed Kemble cocaine, but Kemble has a heart attack and dies in police custody. After an extensive cover-up operation, Hunt angrily demotes Carling to DC (Detective Constable).

After a period of time as a DC, Hunt re-promotes Carling to DS in series 2, episode 2, which he remains at for the next decade until 1983 in Ashes to Ashes.

During episode 3 of the second series, Carling is blown up by a car bomb and hospitalized. A short time before the explosion, Sam Tyler claims it is a hoax and not the IRA as he knows from 2006 that they never used dynamite. Carling believes Tyler and investigates, only to be caught in the explosion. He suffers severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after his release from hospital and unwittingly compromises Tyler's investigations. He is however hailed a hero by the rest of CID.