Rate And Discuss 3.6: The Lazarus Experiment

[Pip Madeley]

Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be...



As usual, the thread will be open for broadcast soon after the conclusion - although give it a few minutes this week, cause there's meant to be something very special on right after...

[Alex]

Yay! After three week's of slightly dodgy episodes (for me), that was great. I thought it was superbly written, with great characters, and really fantastic performances! Mark Gatiss really surprised me, I didn't know he was that good an actor, I can see him carrying off the role of Lucifer Box in the adaptation of The Vesuvius Club now, whereas I never could before, and everyone else was really good too.

Martha's family all seem pretty interesting, apart from the Mother, but then we're never going to like a character who's suspicious of The Doctor, are we, and I suppose she has good reason to not trust him after what she's presumably be told about him. The finale in the Church was brilliant (I wish they could have used the Phantom of the Opera music, but I suppose that might've been a bit too silly), and the dialogue between Gatiss and the Doctor was really well done - as was the way the Doctor defeated him, for once I didn't feel cheated by the ending in any way. And the phone call at the end worked really well, with a nice foreboding tone to it.

I would ramble more, but basically it was just a great, really solid episode of Who, and I'm so pleased to see the standard raised again. Anyway, an 8/10 for me, and a very solid one at that.

But even better than the episode was the trailer at the end of it. I mean, it just looked absolutely fantastically ****ing amazing! It had me wide eyed and gawping and squealing at certain moments, I can't wait for the events seen in it to unfold!

[Darren]

Again, I enjoyed this episode. Series 3 continues to be better than the last. The lowest points were Martha's family. Her mother is incredibly annoying, and Leo's presence is virtually non- existant, hopefully that will change. The Mutant was maybe the scariest and graphic so far and well realised. That's what I had hoped to see with the Empress of the Racnos. The trailer was excellent, and seems to indicate the series is growing darker and more mature, which is all for the good. And Mr Saxon's story arc seems to have started. I think John Simm will be fantastic.

7 out of 10

[Si Hunt]

We enjoyed it, it was full of very watchable actors from Thelma Barlow (surely killed too early though) to Mark Gatiss and the bird from Casualty playing Martha's Mum. A bit unreasonably blase about CGI monsters now, but at the very least this one was a good one.

It was, as Alex said, a very traditional adventure. It was odd though, it seemed to finish 20 minutes from the end, then have another ending.

Best of all was "mysterious stranger" of course, and I was dissapointed we didn't get more at the end than simply learning his name.

Good all-rounder, then.

Si.

[Alex]

It was odd though, it seemed to finish 20 minutes from the end, then have another ending.

I thought that, I looked at the clock and noticed it still had a long time to go and wondered if they'd sneaked in a brief bit with John Simm or something. But then of course someone mentioned Lazarus' name, and I did a sort of Homer Simpson-esque "Doh", as I really should have guessed that he'd be coming back from the dead!

[WhiteCrow]

I felt it was all just about 1 part The Fly, 1 part Quatermass, and all in all didn't feel like anything more than "run around for 30 minutes being chased by a monster".

David Tennant should come up with an exercise video based on that concept. "Here comes the Daleks, now dodge the death ray ... dodge the death ray ... now run up the stairs!".

[Pip Madeley]

est of all was "mysterious stranger" of course, and I was dissapointed we didn't get more at the end than simply learning his name.

Did we learn that man's name? I only remember hearing Harold Saxon's name, and he wasn't present.

I thought it was a very enjoyable episode, the main plot was perfectly sound to my eyes and ears, and there was lots of nice little moments - the Doctor having a Tony Banks/Watcher Of The Skies moment, the "turn it up to 11" Spinal Tap homage, the slap (again!), the 'Reverse the polarity, must be out of practice' comment etc. Mark Gatiss was a worthy villain and he particularly impressed me as the older Lazarus, a very convincing performance. Thelma Barlow was (as expected) a quality guest star, but I was surprised at how quickly she was killed off. The actual killings by the impressive-looking CGI monster were quite scary, reminded me a bit of Species II. There'll be a lot of kids having nightmares tonight!

It gets 8 out of 10 from me - I'm glad the Doctor finally recognised Martha as more than a guest, she's earned her place aboard the TARDIS... and boy did that trailer look exciting! I thought Saxon was drumming the Who theme on the table at first... I wonder why he's got that breathing apparatus on? Some stuff to think about...

[Philipnet]

This time, I just didn't really get into the episode. I'm not sure why, maybe a dodgy experiement and a CGI monster just don't do it for me. Or I've just been feasting myself on Sci-Fi today and have already had my fill.

I liked the scenes with the family; Freema Agyeman does a wonderfull set of facial expressions that totally betrays what the character of Martha is thinking, yet The Doctor is totally oblivious to the subtext that's going on. Martha's family is not so oblivious and quickly catch on that she's fallen for the guy. Then with Mr Saxon reaching out to the mother and warning her of the dangers of The Doctor it sets up the perfect antagonistic mother/daughter relationship issue that is bound to boil over in the episodes to come.

Probably a 5/10; with the dodgy CGI monster made up for with the human relationships.

[Si Hunt]

I'm confused now. I thought the mysterious stranger was Mr Saxon. And if it wasn't him, where was the person drumming his hands on the table. Phil seems to think it was him too. Didn't her Mum at the end say his name, I assumed she meant the person that had whispered to her.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Nope, that was just a mysterious un-named bloke... Mister Saxon is a mysterious but named bloke - the bloke with the breathing apparatus drumming on the table right at the end of the 'Coming Up' preview...

[Si Hunt]

So who was the mysterious bloke then?

Incidentally, my gran rang me up the minute this had finished and told me she "loved every minute".

Si.

[Trudi G]

Get's a 9/10 from me - damn good episode! Plus you get to see Mark Gatiss' hairy chest.

[Martin Penny]

I gave it 8/10, enjoyed it!
Mark Gatiss was very good, and I thought the monster was pretty scary looking. It's something that would scare me if I faced it in real life, unlike say, Daleks or Cybermen. I thought Lady Thaw was a bit underused, didn't expect her to die quite so quickly.

I also think the whole Mr. Saxon thing has been handled much better than Torchwood last year, we're still in the dark as to what exactly is going on, and it seems to have a deeper connection to the story.

Next time trailer was great too!

[Larry]

first of all the trailer for episode 7 and yipeeeee Jack's back other then that going to save my vote untill tomorrow untill i've seen it again as I was not paying to much attention to it tonight.

[Milky Tears]

The Doctor fingering Martha's pants. Squee!
Martha trying to be brave. Squee!
Nibbles! Squee!
Tish should be in the TARDIS. Squee!
Outofpracticewithreversingthepolarity. Pantwettin Squee!
Martha slides over the reception desk. Squee!
The Doctor going down on Martha with the Sonic!! MegaSquee!
YoualmostgottoseetheGatissdinkle. Squee!
Only my next door neighbour's dog can hear Martha's high pitched whine. Squee!
Coming Up trailer at the end! UBER SQUEE!!

Sorry, wrong forum!

1.38/10

[Dirk Gently]

The premise of this episode was superb! I loved it! Humanity doing what it does best & trying to improve itself, only to mess it up.
Tennant looked great in his Tux, as said in the episode very James Bond.
The look of the creature was a disappointment in all honesty it looked too dry & flat, it should have been wetter looking to get some depth but moved well & was well realised other than the look.
Aside from that it was a great episode.

It borrowed from a lot from films I thought, the first that sprang to mind was Life Force with the energy draining & Predator/Blade with the monsters mouth opening up. But it all worked really well.

Martha was better in this episode & her family were OK but the mother was slightly annoying (possibly intentionally) hr brother was wasted but her sister (I cant remember names) was the star of the show.
Mark Gatiss was excellent as was Thelma Barlow (while she was there) but the extra who said about choking on an Olive was poor, just standing there whilst a monster stalks up to her.

In all an excellent episode & much more of what I want this season, a much more traditional story. Gets a 9/10 from me.

[Si Hunt]

People seemed to have taken the trailer at the end as a "next time" teaser (as did my Dad). It wasn't - it was a trail for the rest of the season in general I think, what was described mid-week as our "special treat" to make up for the episode postponed for Eurovision. So no Jack in the next episode, I'm afraid!

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

I thought Saxon was drumming the Who theme on the table at first

I thought so too!! Now that was a superb trailer, and has really got me excited for the uncharted territory of the second half of the season - we've only watched it once, so my recollection is a blur of exciting shots ending with that tremendously weird John Simms scene. Claudia reckons somebody says "We made a timelord" during that sequence - is she right? She was very intrigued by "Mysterious Stranger" tonight, and reckons he may be something to do with (or may be) a Timelord. I'm delighted to say I have no more idea than she does, so we both enjoyed that intriguing strand.

As for tonight's episode, I really enjoyed it. It's one of those episodes that may get slightly overlooked once season 3 has finished, and we can look back on bigger 'event' episodes, but it's a solid, enjoyable piece of Who that really engaged me. Being a bit of an anorak (no, honestly, it's true) I have to say that Mark Gatiss as the younger Lazarus kept reminding me of Peter Davison as the fifth Doctor, but that just added to the fun.

Good to see that, after some pre-season worries, it doesn't look like Martha's family is going to be used in the same way as Rose's. I can't see them ever all being pally with the Doctor, and possibly they may be more integral to the series' climax (just speculating)?

I'm really enjoyed Tennant this year - I love the way he climbs over things, such as lab benches tonight and cinema seats last week. Recalling that as a child I always used to walk over the settee, rather than around it, to get to the TV, I suspect the Doctor's irreverance of furniture may be aimed at the kids, and works very well.

Great episode, leaving me hungry for the rest of the season - what a superb trailer, or did I say that already?

[Pip Madeley]

So who was the mysterious bloke then?

I'm guessing he's an aide to the PM

[Darren]

Claudia reckons somebody says "We made a timelord" during that sequence - is she right?

Almost. They said "We need a timelord".

[WhiteCrow]

People seemed to have taken the trailer at the end as a "next time" teaser (as did my Dad).

Looks like this Seasons' Bad Wolf is going to be an evil version of Tony Blair. Which will take some doing (isn't the original bad enough).

I'm betting Mr Saxon makes lots of people Time Lords because they loan him large amounts of money.

[Paul Monk]

I feel very bad. After 5 fantastic episodes I felt this was very very poor. It barely had enough story to fill 20 minutes let alone 45!

There were loads of little things I liked about it but the story was just so poor.
Sorry. Will elaborate later. 5/10

[Larry]

People seemed to have taken the trailer at the end as a "next time" teaser (as did my Dad). It wasn't - it was a trail for the rest of the season in general I think, what was described mid-week as our "special treat" to make up for the episode postponed for Eurovision. So no Jack in the next episode, I'm afraid!

Si.

oh how I hate the BBC for doing that .

[P-Bal]

I really enjoyed tonight's episode. Martha is a real treat, as is her family. Do we suspect Trish will end up involved with "Mr Saxon"?

I loved the reverse the polarity line, which actually made my wisened old face arch into a smile.

[Paul Hayes]

Good fun, and a nice performance from Gatiss. Great trailer too!

7 out of 10.