THE LAZARUS PROJECT
KEPT IN THE LOOP
PREPARE TO BE BAMBOOZLED BY THE LAZARIJS PROJECT SERIES TWO, WHICH SPLICES THE SHOW’S TEMPORAL RESET PREMISE WITH PROPER TIME TRAVEL
WORDS: IAN BERRIMAN
EVER FOUND A PLACE terribly familiar, but can’t put your finger on why? It’s a feeling that haunts your SFX hack all day as we visit the Newport studio that’s home to The Lazarus Project. Eventually the penny drops: last time we were here, we saw David Tennant and Billie Piper menaced by Ood, as they filmed “The Impossible Planet” – and stepped onto the Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS. The memory feels apt given what we discover today: that the Sky drama will henceforth be conducting more “traditional” time travel.
Series one introduced the titular organisation, capable (thanks to a singularity on Earth’s doorstep) of undoing disastrous events by resetting the clock to a “checkpoint” of last 1 July. Our POV figure: hapless Lazarus newbie George (Paapa Essiedu), who has a natural ability to recall unpicked timelines. After his girlfriend Sarah (Charly Clive) was killed by a truck, he engineered the detonation of a stolen nuke to prompt his colleagues to turn back time. Naughty George.
READY SET GO
Series two introduces a rival group. Being on set gives us the chance to explore their subterranean facility, starting with a slick Swiss laboratory – all glass-topped desks and microscopes. Other new sets we stroll through include an Alpine cottage (so expect to see a stunt sequence set in the Alps), and George’s parents’ home.
The most impressive build, however, is a huge chamber which feels like an homage to Ken Adam’s designs for the Bond movies. Although the walls are mostly greenscreen, there’s an intriguing physical component: a raised platform with a track running down the middle, on which sits a small metallic capsule resembling the offspring of a bobsled and a ’50s sci-fi B-movie rocket. There are two seats inside for those about to shoot off at high velocity (with, health and safety officers will be pleased to hear, seatbelts). Referred to as “the cylinder”, this is a time machine – the sort which can transport you to any period.
It became clear such tech must exist in series one’s finale, which saw the Lazarus team trapped in Groundhog Day hell, repeating a seemingly inescapable three-week time loop caused by the creation of a second singularity (possibly by the Chinese government), and revealed that former colleague Janet has been transported to 2012. Series two’s overarching mission: rescue Janet, escape the time loop, and save the world. Piece of cake.