ANDREW'S
DOCTOR WHO REVIEWS 
This is a sort of middle-of-the-road Doctor Who story,
dominated by a great performance from Mark Gatiss but slightly hamstrung by a
predictable storyline and a surprisingly unconvincing monster, Nevertheless, it
remains largely enjoyable if unchallenging and the sequences at Southwark
Cathedral at the end are beautifully shot (even if they’re actually filmed at
Wells Cathedral in Somerset).
Professor Richard Lazarus, an elderly scientist and his
benefactor Lady Shaw (Thelma Barlow) go on television and announce they have
found a way to rejuvenate a human being – a discovery that will change the
world. The Doctor and Martha are intrigued by this and, helped by Martha’s
sister Trish (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who works for the Lazarus Foundation, they
manage to get invited to the launch. Lazarus steps into his machine and when he
comes out he is a young man again.
The Doctor investigates and discovers that not only has
Lazarus rejuvenated himself, but he has activated a gene in his DNA that is
trying to transform him into something not human at all. Lady Thaw suggests to
the young Lazarus that she will be next to be rejuvenated, but he refuses and
then turns into a monster and kills her.
Lazarus, as a multi-limbed monster, then attacks the Doctor
and Martha, but he is killed when he tries to use the machine again after the
Doctor has tinkered with it. However, as the ambulance holding his body drives
away it crashes. Lazarus is not dead and has sucked the life out of the
ambulance crew. He escapes to nearby Southwark Cathedral where Martha and Tish
lure him to the top of the tower, the Doctor then uses sound waves from the
Cathedral organ to cause Lazarus to fall to his death.
As the Doctor and Martha leave, someone whispers to Martha’s
mother, Francine (Adjoa Andoh), that Mr Saxon considers the Doctor to be
dangerous.
There is plenty of good stuff in The Lazarus Experiment.
Mark Gatiss is superb at playing these sort of sleazy yet reasonable sounding
people; the invisible people who turn out to be the most evil of them all and
he is very convincing as both the young and old Lazarus. It’s a shame that when
he is transformed into the monster version it is – for modern Doctor Who in
particular – not that well realised. But if you’re a Doctor Who fan you have
surely learned to see beyond dodgy monsters and the chase sequences through the
Lazarus Institute are very exciting.
Although the bits after the ambulance crash feel like they
are tacked on because the episode under-ran, they are also some of the best
parts of the story. The setting of Southwark Cathedral is very atmospheric and
some great pathos is added to the story knowing that Lazarus sheltered here
during the Blitz.
All in all, it’s an okay story without being anything
special. Enjoyable, but not one I’d revisit that often.
NEXT UP: 42
© Text copyright - Raving Loony
Productions and
Andrew J. Müller,
Roy Barton
and Shaun Runham
© Photos and Artwork - Andrew J. Müller
© Web Design and Layout - Andrew J. Müller
2022
