Doctor Who, Episode 6: "The Lazarus Experiment"

[Ian O'Rourke]

It strikes me that this season is about death. In the first episode

Spoiler

the Doctor 'died' by exsanguination

. In the second,

Spoiler

he 'died' by having a heart stop

. In the third,

Spoiler

the Face of Boe died

. In the fourth/fifth,

Spoiler

the Doctor dies by being struck by lightning

. And this week

Spoiler

the crux of the episode deals with a man's attempt to cheat death

.

I actually think the series is more about the survival and/or death of species and civilizations. You get the continual issue of the Time Lords all being dead (but are they?), you get the continual stuff of humanity always surviving and as the Dalek says there is a New York throughout history for millenia, etc. The death of the Daleks and what they are willing to do to survive...and so on.

 

[delericho]

Yes, he was in the trailer, I agree. It seemed people were suggesting he was in the actual episode.

Yeah, that would be me. I assumed the guy who spoke to Martha's mother was Mr Saxon, based on his apparent personal knowledge of the Doctor. Also, didn't she say at the end that her warning came directly from Mr Saxon?

So, that would be two counts I was wrong about - I also assumed the trailer was for episode 7, rather than for the whole of the rest of the season.

 

[StevenAC]

Yeah, that would be me. I assumed the guy who spoke to Martha's mother was Mr Saxon, based on his apparent personal knowledge of the Doctor.

No, the guy who spoke to Francine was some agent of Saxon's, and is listed in the credits simply as "Mysterious Man". According to the writer of the episode (Stephen Greenhorn), he was asked by Russell T Davies to insert the particular lines spoken by this character into his script (without knowing their exact meaning) as preparation for later events:

And after I'd been down to visit the set, [the script editor] phoned me up the next day and said, 'Did that actor grab you at any point?' Apparently the actor who'd been cast in that role had been wandering about the set the previous day, saying 'What's my motivation?' Don't ask! We don't know! The clue's in the name, mate, you're 'the mysterious man' -- just concentrate on being mysterious! You might just get to come back...

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Was that a white Tardis in those extended credits?

 

[Volaran]

Was that a white Tardis in those extended credits?

It showed the inner doors of the Tardis towards the end, which are white.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

It showed the inner doors of the Tardis towards the end, which are white.

Oh, gotcha. It went by so quick I couldn't tell for sure- I thought it might be an evil TARDIS or something.

 

[sniffles]

The BBC is evil. No Doctor Who for two weeks, and then they show us a trailer for the entire rest of the season, as if I weren't already salivating for more!!

I particularly enjoyed seeing Mark Gatiss in this episode. He did a great job as Lazarus. I liked the exchange between Lazarus and the Doctor in the church. The writers always manage to insert such great character moments even in an episode with an awful lot of hugger-mugger like this one.

I saw an interview with the actor who plays Martha's brother in which he referred to the episode as being written by Mark Gatiss, too, which left me wondering if he was just mistaken or if Mark had to use a pseudonym for some reason.

 

[WizarDru]

Anyone catch Sir Derek Jacobi in the beginning of the previews? I forget, which episode will he be in and what will he be playing?

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Pretty entertaining. The bad guy in his less human form looked like something from Doom3.

 

[StevenAC]

Anyone catch Sir Derek Jacobi in the beginning of the previews? I forget, which episode will he be in and what will he be playing?

Derek Jacobi will be in episode 11 (Utopia), playing "the Professor".