The Lazarus Project (originally titled Extinction) is a Sky television action drama time loop series from screenwriter Joe Barton and starring Paapa Essiedu.[1] On 4 August 2022, it was announced that the series had been picked up for a second season.[2]
| The Lazarus Project | |
|---|---|
| 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 episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Adam Knopf |
| Cinematography | Phillip Haberlandt |
| Editors |
|
| Production company | Urban Myth Films |
| Release | |
| Original network | Sky Max |
| Original release | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) – present |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| George is a software developer who keeps experiencing apocalyptic events only to wake up the previous July 1st with his memories intact. The Lazarus Project, a secret organisation formed to save the world from ending, recruits him as their new agent. | |||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| A failed mission to stop ex-Lazarus agent turned terrorist Rebrov brings the Project back to July 1st again. When his girlfriend Sarah is killed in a traffic accident, Archie recounts her own experience of grief to explain to George why he can't just turn back time to save her. | |||||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| Stricken with grief, George confides in Rebrov, who reveals his turn from Lazarus came about after multiple failed missions in the past resulted in his partner Janet being forced to relive the trauma of childbirth dozens of times. George resolves to bring Sarah back at any cost. | |||||
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| George sets his plan in motion to bring about the end of the world, so the timeline can reset and he can save Sarah. Shiv, who feels personally responsible for what happened to Rebrov and Janet, chases him to Romania to prevent him from obtaining a stolen nuclear warhead. | |||||
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Laura Scrivano | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| With Shiv dead and framed as a mole, George sets off to obtain the warhead from Lost Glory, a neo-fascist terrorist group. Flashbacks also reveal Archie's past as an MI5 agent recruited by Shiv. | |||||
| 6 | "Episode 6" | Laura Scrivano | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| George detonates the nuclear bomb in Eastern Europe. But when Russia refuses to escalate into a full-blown war, he kills the Russian ambassador to force another time-loop to occur. | |||||
| 7 | "Episode 7" | Akaash Meeda | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| With the time-loop complete, George and Sarah experience several months of domestic bliss, before George's protectiveness clashes with Sarah's sense of adventure and their relationship ends. Shiv, now burned from the Project, tries to find Janet, who has been kidnapped by mercenaries. | |||||
| 8 | "Episode 8" | Akaash Meeda | Joe Barton | 16 June 2022 (2022-06-16) | |
| The merging of two black hole singularities causes the Project's agents to live the same three weeks on repeat. George must save Shiv from being shot to death just after midnight on July 1st, and Archie must save Janet from the clutches of a Chinese government experiment gone disastrously wrong. | |||||
Produced by Urban Myth Films, the series features Marco Kreuzpaintner, Akaash Meeda, and Laura Scrivano as directors. Filming has been taking place in the spring of 2021 in Cardiff, Bristol, Prague, and Postoloprty.[3][4][5]
The first trailer was revealed in February 2022.[6] After being retitled, The Lazarus Project aired in the UK on Sky Max and Now from 16 June 2022.[7] In the United States, TNT picked up the series and it will premiere in early 2023.[8][9]
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.[10] 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'.[11] The Telegraph gave it three stars.[12]