The Lazarus Project

In Joe Barton's gripping timebending saga, an app developer gets drawn into a secret society that keeps saving the world from imminent demise … until the ...

They are led by kindly yet steely Wes (an unexpectedly and brilliantly cast Caroline Quentin) who – uh – harnesses the power of a singularity in space to reset the world whenever its annihilation is imminent. But it is stuffed with good performances, knotty problems and is compelling enough to keep even those of us who, much as we may wish otherwise, don’t quite understand what’s going on coming back for more. She (Archie, played by Anjli Mohindra) is part of the Lazarus Project, a secret organisation made up of people who can travel through time and remember they have done so. He reawakens on 1 July. Panicked and disoriented, he blows the meeting and instead of an app and a baby, spends the next six months researching hazmat suits and developing what looks like paranoia about an impending virus sweeping the country. It is in this spirit that I embrace The Lazarus Project (Sky Max), the new offering from Giri/Haji’s creator Joe Barton, and beg forgiveness from him and you, readers, for any misunderstandings, misinterpretations and mistakes in what follows. Although the mechanics will forever elude me, I have learned you don’t have to understand them to enjoy the slaloming freedom that the disapplication of all known laws provides.

Paapa Essiedu capably leads the cast of a sci-fi action series that grounds big ideas and action set-pieces in ordinary lives.

In short, this ambitious Sky thriller is the complete blockbuster package. George’s understated confusion faced with the intensity and solemnity of Lazarus agents is funny and relatable. The Lazarus Project is a big, robust sci-fi thriller with proper action scenes. Alongside the intrigue, humour, action and enjoyable characters are big questions, such as those posed in similarly cool, ambitious British drama Utopia by similarly cool, ambitious British writer Dennis Kelly almost a decade ago: what’s the value of a life? Something Else is going on and the Lazarus Project is behind it. The first thing (of many) that The Lazarus Project does right is casting Paapa Essiedu as its lead.

Hands up if you don't want to see another pandemic-related storyline ever again. If your hand's raised, fair warning: you'll be in for a pang of horror in ...

We’re well used to those in the real world by now. And there are some gruesome surprises along the way. Now, they’re taking on Mers, and they invite George to help. Despite the world recovering from Covid not long before, people are coughing again and the news is back to playing constant updates about the many lives lost. Causes for celebration just keep on coming: first comes a business loan approval, then comes a pregnancy announcement, and then a wintery wedding with all their friends and family in tow. Stick with it, though, and you may find yourself drawn into a world of perfectly enjoyable, time-shifting intrigue.

At the beginning of the series, the group recruits new member George (Paapa Essiedu), a software developer who, due to a rare genetic mutation, has the ability ...

Our directors knew, and our design team had to be really on it, because we're allowed to kind of find our way in the morning, but you can't have the wrong sequence of footage coming up on your computer! I really can't wait for an audience to join us on that journey, and hear what they think. It's very clear that there are masses of rungs above her, but she has the power to press the button to turn the clock back. It was a glorious experience, really, to walk up to your fellow cast members in the morning and go, 'where are we today? "Wes is the boss of the group — she's the highest rank of the organisation that we meet on screen. While he's initially excited by his new mission, he soon realises that playing with time has serious consequences when he's struck by a personal tragedy — and the rules of The Lazarus Project don't allow him to go back and change it.