Line #65 Recap/DoctorWhoS29E6TheLazarusExperiment


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'' [[Recap/DoctorWho recap index]]\
2	'''Tenth Doctor Era'''\
3	'''Series 3:''' [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride CS]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E1SmithAndJones 1]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode 2]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E3Gridlock 3]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan 4]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks 5]] \| '''6''' \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 7]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature 8]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood 9]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink 10]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia 11]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums 12]] \| [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords 13]]\
4	'''[[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion <<< Series 2]]''' \| '''[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Series 4 >>>]]''']]-]]]
5	!The Lazarus Experiment
6	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctorscorpio_5182.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:280:[[NightmareFuel This is what your nightmares look like on ecstasy.]]]]
8	->Written by Stephen Greenhorn\
9	Directed by Richard Clark\
10	'''Production code:''' 3.6\
11	'''Air date:''' 5 May 2007
12
13	->'''Martha:''' What'd he do?\
14	'''The Doctor:''' Changed what it means to be human.
15
16	JustForFun/{{The one w\|ith}}here the Doctor gets called a geek. And Film/JamesBond.
17	----
18
19	The Doctor, wary of getting too attached to another human, or perhaps of getting another human killed, drops Martha off back home. Her time in the TARDIS is over. However, from the news on her TV he realises that Martha's time period is in danger, and returns only seconds after he left for — ostensibly — ''one'' more adventure with Martha.
20
21	The activity in question is that of Dr. Richard Lazarus (Creator/MarkGatiss), a brilliant elderly scientist who has devised a way to reverse the aging process. The scientist tests his equipment on himself at a black tie affair, which Martha and the Doctor attend as her sister is Lazarus's Public Relations director. WhenThingsSpinScienceHappens, and Lazarus successfully turns himself into a young, healthy, 41-year-old. Martha's sister is happy to see her boss now looking very young and handsome and snoggable indeed.
22
23	Meanwhile, Martha's mother is approached by a suit-wearing guy, who hints that the Doctor is dangerous. He's 100% right about that (heck, he could even have added that the Doctor has a history of absconding with young women, sometimes kidnapping them(!), and that they don't always come home, ''oh and'' the Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday killed Martha's cousin Adeola]]). This involves the Doctor getting slapped by his companion's mother (again).
24
25	Then Lazarus surprises everyone by turning into a massive [[ScaledUp scorpion/lizard monster]]?! Martha's sister laments that she was about to snog him and then runs for her life with the rest...
26
27	The Doctor kills the scientist with the polarity-reversed age-reversal machine. However, the scary scorpion beast turns out not to be dead after all and flees to a cathedral, where the Doctor kills it again with a church organ.
28
29	With the day saved, the Doctor offers Martha yet another "one more trip". Martha says no to the "one trip" thing and the Doctor says "OK!" while jerking his head towards the blue box.
30
31	But as the TARDIS takes off, Martha's mum leaves a message on the answering machine not to be with the Doctor, saying the notice came from [[ArcWords Harold Saxon]]...
32
33	----
34	!!Tropes:
35
36	* AbhorrentAdmirer: When the elderly Lazarus hits on Letitia early on, she's repulsed by it. She's understandably less repulsed when he ages himself down from 75 to 35.
37	* ActorAllusion: Lazarus says he once lived above a butcher's shop as a child. In ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'', Mark Gatiss played butcher Hilary Briss.
38	* ArbitraryScepticism: During their final confrontation, Lazarus tells the Doctor about the Blitz. The Doctor mentions in reply that [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild he'd seen it firsthand]]. Lazarus dismisses this, pointing out that the Doctor looks far too young to have been there, and the Doctor parries by pointing out that Lazarus looks too young himself. At this, Lazarus [[{{Touche}} chuckles]].
39	* ArcWords: Lazarus' experiment has some involvement with Mr. Saxon, and the man who warns Martha's mother about the Doctor is revealed to be working for him as well.
40	* BadassInANiceSuit: The Doctor is up to his usual exploits running around trying to save people while wearing a "bad luck tuxedo".
41	* BiblicalMotifs: In the Bible, Lazarus was a man who was brought back to life by Jesus Christ. In the episode, Professor Lazarus wants to benefit humanity by finding a way to defy death.
42	* BigBad: Professor Richard Lazarus.
43	* BigRedButton: The one on the aging reverser is pressed with an unusual lack of ceremony.
44	* BodyHorror: Lazarus' transformation into an "evolutionary reject".
45	* CallBack: The Doctor's reference to the Lazarus monster as an "evolutionary reject" is notably similar to the way the Fourth Doctor described the life-eating Fendahl in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E3ImageOfTheFendahl Image of the Fendahl]]", creating very dark implications for old-school fans about the way things might have developed if it hadn't been killed quickly.
46	* ChekhovsGun: During the conversation on the roof, Lazarus talks about how, during the Blitz, he and his family took refuge in Southwark Cathedral. The final confrontation is right there.
47	* ComplimentBackfire:
48	** Martha, when she sees the Doctor in his tuxedo, says he looks like Film/JamesBond. The Doctor disgustedly replies, "James Bond?!", then thinks for a moment and says, somewhat less disgustedly, "Really?"
49	** Tish calls the Doctor a "science geek". Once he understands what this means, the Doctor's quite pleased.
50	* ContinuityNod:
51	** The Doctor complaining that something bad always happens when he wears a tux.
52	** The Doctor saying "Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity. I must be a bit out of practice." Reversing the polarity was something the Third Doctor did quite often.
53	** The Doctor muttering to himself over [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon being slapped by his companion's mother]].
54	** The Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild saw the Blitz]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E10TheDoctorDances firsthand]].
55	* DeathByIrony: The Doctor weaponizes the device Lazarus built to achieve eternal youth. It doesn't take, and Lazarus is instead killed by the organ in the church where he sought shelter from the Blitz.
56	* DeathByMocking: The woman who rebuffs the Doctor's warning by stating that the greatest danger at the party is choking on an olive is one of the first people Lazarus kills just moments later.
57	* DelayedReaction: The Doctor sees Lazarus' press conference without commenting, leaves in the TARDIS, and then comes back to double-check what he just heard with Martha.
58	* DiggingYourselfDeeper: The Doctor puts his foot in it talking to Martha's mother and gives her the impression that he's this secret boyfriend distracting her from her studies.
59	* DirtyOldMan: Pre-transformation Lazarus is implied to be this, what with his reaching for Tish's hand and asking her about the perfume she's wearing (it's called "soap"). Just make sure to keep that in mind post-transformation.
60	* DoubleTake: A ''very'' delayed version on the Doctor's part: after dropping off Martha at her apartment, he catches a bit of Lazarus' press conference on her TV. After saying goodbye to Martha, he leaves in the TARDIS... only for the TARDIS to then ''return'' almost a minute later:
61	-->'''The Doctor''': (pops out of the TARDIS) No, I'm sorry, did he just say he was going to "change what it means to be human"?
62	* DyingAsYourself: Averted, as Lazarus was always himself, even while transformed. That said, after he dies, he reverts back to his old man form.
63	* FollowTheChaos: Martha finds the Doctor by running towards the sound of the explosions.
64	* FountainOfYouth: Lazarus' machine is for rejuvenation.
65	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
66	** Lazarus talks about hiding in the church during the Blitz, "The living, cowering among the dead". Not only does he die there, but he has inverted that with himself, he is now the dead hiding within the living.
67	** The mysterious Mr. Saxon is a backer of Lazarus Labs, and a man who works for him gives Francine Jones information about the Doctor that makes her apprehensive of him...
68	* FullFrontalAssault: Lazarus' mutated form is fully nude and whenever he changes back to his human form, he's naked.
69	* GameFace: Early on in Lazarus' mutation, his face changes to match his new form.
70	* GoneHorriblyWrong: Lazarus' machine works by reprogramming DNA and commanding it to rejuvenate. The problem is that he accidentally released a bunch of "junk" DNA that had been inactive until then.
71	* HandsomeLech: Post-transformation Lazarus appears to be this, such as his attempts to charm Martha's sister, although he might just be trying to lure in easy prey.
72	* IKissYourHand: Martha lets Lazarus do this for the sake of a DNA sample.
73	* ImmortalityImmorality: Lazarus can use his machine to [[FountainOfYouth make himself younger]], but this also causes him to occasionally mutate into a form that must drain the life energy of others in order to survive. He doesn't have much of a problem with this, viewing the lives he has to sacrifice as insignificant compared to the unbelievable progress of extending his own life. The Doctor, meanwhile, constantly tries (and fails) to convince him of how dangerous and unethical his attempts at living forever really are.
74	* ImmortalitySeeker: Having barely survived the Blitz as a child, Lazarus has been obsessed with conquering death all his life. [[LivingForeverIsAwesome He's looking forward to what he can accomplish in two, three or maybe four lifetimes.]]
75	* InsultBackfire:
76	-->'''The Doctor:''' "Science geek"? What's that mean?\
77	'''Martha:''' It means you're obsessively enthusiastic about it.\
78	'''The Doctor:''' ''[happily]'' Oh, okay!
79	* InnocentInnuendo: The Doctor causes a few awkward moments talking to Martha's mother by saying he and Martha haven't had much time to talk as they've been "busy". Fortunately, their conversation is interrupted before he can dig himself deeper.
80	-->'''Francine:''' Busy? Doing what, exactly?\
81	'''The Doctor:''' Oh... you know... stuff.
82	* InstantlyProvenWrong: When the Doctor warns the party's guests that they're in danger, one replies that the only danger here is "choking on an olive." Immediately afterwards, Lazarus in his monster form crashes in and kills that woman.
83	* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: Lazarus constantly shifts between that... ''thing'' and his youthful human form due to an UnstableGeneticCode.
84	* {{Irony}}: The Doctor condemns Lazarus for doing whatever he can to avoid death. [[ContrivedCoincidence He'll go on to do pretty much the same thing]] (though admittedly without turning into a hideous monster and feeding on people). Lazarus' device also effectively amounts to regeneration, and the way the Doctor talks about it seems to imply that it's based on the same principles as his own go-to method for extending his life, albeit one that still has some bugs in it.
85	* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Martha Jones dresses up in a cocktail dress for the black-tie event, and once she's seen Lazarus's GameFace, she doesn't have time or spare clothes nearby to change out of it. She spends the rest of the episode running around, assisting the Doctor, checking her injured brother for a concussion, and volunteering herself as TheBait to lure Lazarus into position to get hit with weaponized music.
86	* LegoGenetics: Lazarus is apparently the one human descended from scorpions, if the recessive traits his monster form has are any indication.
87	* LiquidAssets: Mutant Lazarus feeds on LifeEnergy, which leaves a desiccated husk of his victim behind.
88	* LivingForeverIsAwesome: Lazarus thinks so. The Doctor disagrees.
89	* LoudOfWar: Sonic screwdriver plugged into cathedral pipe organ = weaponized music.
90	* MadScientist: The classic story of a deluded scientist who ends up turning himself into a monster.
91	* MeaningfulName: In Literature/TheFourGospels, Lazarus was the man raised from the dead by UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}. Which the Doctor neatly [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] when the seemingly dead Lazarus suddenly wakes up in the ambulance and kills the paramedics.
92	-->'''The Doctor:''' Lazarus, back from the dead. Should've known, really.
93	* MissedHimByThatMuch: The Doctor and Martha leave Lazarus' office via the lift intending to go back down to the reception to seek out Lazarus. Merely a second after their lift leaves, Lazarus and Tish arrive on that floor on the other lift.
94	* NeverBeHurtAgain: Lazarus wants to avoid death because of his experiences during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Waiting helplessly in Southwark Cathedral for bombs to blow him up, he vowed to never be so helpless again.
95	* NoImmortalInertia: Lazarus inexplicably turns back into an old man immediately after his death.
96	* NoodleIncident:
97	** The Doctor says that whenever he wears his tuxedo, something bad always happens. This episode is the second of only three onscreen occasions where the Tenth Doctor is seen wearing a tuxedo, so what caused him to develop this opinion is a mystery.
98	** The Doctor says he's seen something like Lazarus' tech before. His wording strongly suggests what Lazarus did isn't too far removed from Time Lord regeneration.
99	* NoTranshumanismAllowed: Averted. The Doctor isn't against Lazarus' work ''per se'', but saying that he doesn't understand what he's dealing with, and is definitely against the killing people thing. The immortality-is-bad thing is separate, applying to non-transhumans, such as himself.
100	* OffscreenCrash: The ambulance carrying the apparently deceased Lazarus drives away from the reception gallery. Just after Francine slaps the Doctor, and the conversation that results, we suddenly hear a loud crash. The Doctor, Martha and Tish rush off to investigate the noise and find the ambulance has gone off the road and crashed. They open up the back doors and find that Lazarus has killed the paramedics by draining them of their life energy and escaped.
101	* OneWingedAngel: Lazarus transforms into a giant scorpion for battle scenes. There is no battle when he's human.
102	* PainfulTransformation: Lazarus' transformations sound rather uncomfortable, with him groaning in pain as his bones crackle and snap, contorting in unusual ways.
103	* ProfessorGuineaPig: Lazarus' first success is himself. It's justified in that he's 76 years old and might not live long enough for clinical trials.
104	* ReversePolarity: Mentioned by name when weaponizing Lazarus' device. The Doctor says "Really shouldn't have taken so long just to reverse the polarity. [[ContinuityNod I must be a bit out of practice.]]"
105	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Doctor uses this to provoke Lazarus into chasing him, drawing him away from the Jones family:
106	-->'''The Doctor:''' You can't control it, the mutation's too strong. Killing those people won't help you. You're a fool. A vain old man who thought he could defy nature, only nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!
107	* SeekingSanctuary: As a child, Lazarus hid from bombs in Southwark Cathedral. When he's losing control of his mutation, he retreats there a second time. The Doctor lampshades this.
108	* ShakyPOVCam: We see Lazarus attacking from his perspective several times, most notably when he's chasing the Doctor down a hallway.
109	* ShapeshifterBaggage: Averted. It's explicitly stated that even though Lazarus' ''size'' has changed, he's still the same ''mass'', so "he's spreading himself a bit thin!"
110	* ShapeshiftingSound: Lazarus tends to make a loud bone-crunching noise whenever he shifts from human to his monstrous form.
111	* ShoutOut: The climax in the cathedral is an acknowledged shout-out to the climax of ''Series/TheQuatermassExperiment''.
112	* SmashCut: "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive!" Cue the monstrous Lazarus, who of course drains that very woman.
113	* SpeculativeBiology: The Doctor describes Lazarus' monstrous form as a creature of evolutionary potential — something that evolution ''could'' have turned humanity into if it hadn't gone for the "two arms and legs" approach — lying dormant in Lazarus' genes and awakened by the experiment.
114	* TalentDouble: In the final scene inside the church, the actual organ playing was done by someone else.
115	* ThisWasHisTrueForm: After dying (both times), Lazarus returns to human form. The final time he dies, he goes back to his original age.
116	* UnstableGeneticCode: Lazarus has one due to his experiment and it causes his mutation. Yes, Martha the medical student [[LampshadeHanging points out]] the [[ArtisticLicenseBiology sheer impossibility of this trope]].
117	* VillainHasAPoint: Lazarus rejects the Doctor's claim and insists the opposite, "rejecting death is part of being human". As inevitable as death may be, human beings are hardwired to avoid death; that's why adrenaline kicks in to aid in overcoming danger. Every advance in medicine is to stave off disease, increasing crop yields to prevent famine etc.
118	-->'''The Doctor:''' Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that.\
119	'''Lazarus:''' No, Doctor. ''Avoiding'' death, that's being human! It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fibre of being! I'm only doing what everyone else before me has tried to do. I've simply been more ''successful'' at it.
120	* WhenThingsSpinScienceHappens: Lazarus' machine works by spinning really fast to create "hypersonic resonance".
121	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The Doctor informs him that being immortal in a world of mortal things is not fun at all. All you do is watch things waste away.
122	-->'''The Doctor:''' I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired; tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you, tired of watching everything you love turn to dust. If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone.
123	* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Lazarus is carted away in an ambulance... and there's almost 15 minutes left of the episode; just enough time for another climactic showdown...
124	----

Context Recap / DoctorWhoS29E6TheLazarusExperiment