The Lazarus Project (originally titled Extinction) is a British science fiction television series created by Joe Barton and starring Paapa Essiedu.[1] The series premiered on 16 June 2022. In August 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on 15 November 2023.[2][3] In March 2024, the series was cancelled after two seasons.[4][5]
The Lazarus Project | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Joe Barton |
Written by | Joe Barton |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Ben Lukas Boysen |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer | Adam Knopf |
Cinematography | Phillip Haberlandt |
Editors |
|
Running time | 52 minutes |
Production company | Urban Myth Films |
Original release | |
Network | Sky Max |
Release | 16 June 2022 15 November 2023 | –
George awakes on the morning of 1 July 2022, Six months later, he awakens and discovers that it is 1 July again, but neither his girlfriend Sarah nor anyone else seems to notice. Another six months later, it reverts to 1 July, and he is approached by Archie, a mysterious woman who invites him to the secret office of the Lazarus Project. George learns that he is one of only 0.000001% of the population with a mutant gene that grants the possibility of organically – after hundreds of time reverts – coming to remember that reverts are occurring.
He joins the project team, which works to prevent apocalyptic threats by observing their causes, then instigating a time reset (always back to the most recent 1 July, thus the calendar can move forward if no reset is needed) to address their causes. The team works on a scale starting with the minimum amount of adjustments, escalating through diplomacy, physical intervention, or even implementing a large scale (small, when compared to an apocalypse) amount of death and destruction.
In summer 2023, Sarah is killed in a vehicle accident, and with the following 1 July "too late to reset this year" point approaching, George breaks every rule of the Lazarus Project by instigating a nuclear war between Russia and America to save one person, rather than millions or billions. The project lead, Wes, triggers a reset and the team succeeds (mostly because George does not secretly countermand their work) in preventing the war. However, the team then has to deal with the unintended cascading consequences of George's original selfish action.
At the end of the first season, as 1 July 2024 approaches and with other repercussions still unfolding, the team is stunned to learn that the Chinese have attempted to build their own time reset mechanism, which conflicts with the original Lazarus mechanism and plunges the universe into a self-triggering, endless, three week time loop.
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
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1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Laura Scrivano | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Laura Scrivano | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Akaash Meeda | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Akaash Meeda | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 |
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Carl Tibbetts | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
10 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Carl Tibbetts | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
11 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Carl Tibbetts | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
12 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Carl Tibbetts | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
13 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Pier Wilkie | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
14 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Pier Wilkie | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
15 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Sean Spencer | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
16 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Sean Spencer | Joe Barton | 15 November 2023 |
Produced by Urban Myth Films, the series features Marco Kreuzpaintner, Akaash Meeda, and Laura Scrivano as directors. Filming took place in second quarter of 2021 in Cardiff, Bristol, Prague, and Postoloprty.[7][8][9]
In February 2023, Empire had first look images from the filming of the second season, with Colin Salmon, Royce Pierreson, Safia Oakley-Green, Lorne MacFayden, Zoe Telford, Sam Troughton and James Atherton having been added to the cast.[10] Filming locations on the second series in Bristol included Old Market, Easton, Bedminster, Fishponds, Henbury, Clifton and St Paul's.[11]
The first trailer was revealed in February 2022.[12] After being retitled, The Lazarus Project aired in the UK on Sky Max and Now from 16 June 2022.[13] In the United States, TNT airs the series; it premiered on 4 June 2023.[14][15]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Lazarus Project holds an approval rating of 100% based on 14 reviews.[16]
The series has received positive reviews for its storyline and performances. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian awarded it four stars out of five, praising the writing, tension created by the premise and cast.[17] Nicole Vassell, writing for The Independent, gave it three stars, writing "Though a little under-explained and occasionally simplistic, The Lazarus Project has a bright concept behind it with satisfying bursts of action."[18] The Daily Telegraph gave it three stars.[19]
The series won in the Best Special Effects category at the 2022 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards.[20] In March 2024, Essiedu was nominated in the Best Leading Actor category at the 2024 British Academy Television Awards.[21]