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 [of
Life on Mars] 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: [However] 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."
Sex symbol status
According to India Knight, of
The Sunday Times, the character has attained the status of an unlikely British sex symbol. Knight, writing: "the combination of power and, shall we say, lack of political correctness can be a potent one - which is why everyone in Britain fell in love with Gene Hunt, the hulking great throwback in the BBC series
Life on Mars and that men wanted to be Hunt; women wanted to be with him."
"On paper, it should never have happened. Hunt is Seventies man writ large and we should be grateful that species is extinct. He wears a vest and his hair looks like it was styled during a power cut. He runs along towpaths in skimpy orange swimming trunks and has a torso that's closer to a Party Seven than six pack. He has no concept of innocent until proved guilty and thinks it's acceptable to turn up to a swingers' evening with a prostitute he's just busted. He's racist, disablist and homophobic, and he calls his only female detective Flash Knickers. (And he means it as a compliment.) In fact when you see Hunt's qualities spelled out like that, it looks appalling. [However] the fact remains: Gene Hunt is my guilty secret, and I know scores of other women feel the same."
Cooper asserts that: "women like Hunt because he isn't a bastard - or at least not to his team. In a world of short-term contracts, job insecurity and portfolio careers, Hunt's undying loyalty to his squad (even while rabidly insulting them) make us wistful for a time gone by when you had a job (and colleagues) for life."