Cold Lazarus

This article is about the Dennis Potter TV serial. For the Stargate SG-1 episode of the same name, see "Cold Lazarus" (Stargate SG-1). For other uses of the name Lazarus, see Lazarus (name).

Cold Lazarus
Created by	Dennis Potter
Directed by	Renny Rye
Starring	Albert Finney
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	4
Production
Producer	Kenith Trodd
Editor	Clare Douglas
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	Channel 4 BBC One
Release	26 May 1996 (26 May 1996)

Cold Lazarus is a four-part British television drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying of pancreatic cancer.

It forms the second half of a pair with the television serial Karaoke. The two serials were filmed as a single production by the same team; both were directed by Renny Rye and feature Albert Finney as the writer Daniel Feeld. The plays were unique in being co-productions between the BBC and Channel 4, something Potter had expressly requested before his death. The show was first aired on Channel 4 in 1996 on Sunday evenings, with a repeat on BBC1 the following day.

Parts of Karaoke and Cold Lazarus were filmed in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, which is where Dennis Potter was born and raised, and children from local schools including St Briavels Parochial Primary School appeared in the film as extras in flashbacks.

Both series are available to watch online via the Channel 4 website. Both Karaoke and Cold Lazarus were released on DVD from Acorn Media in September 2010.

Plot

Cold Lazarus is set in the 24th century, in a dystopian Britain where the ruined streets are unsafe, and where society is run by American oligarchs in charge of powerful commercial corporations. Experiences are almost all virtual, and anything deemed authentic (such as coffee and cigarettes) has either been banned or replaced by synthetic substitutes.

At a cryonics research institute in London, funded by the pharmaceuticals tycoon Martina Masdon (played by Diane Ladd), a group of scientists led by Dr. Emma Porlock (Frances de la Tour) is working on reviving the mind of the 20th-century writer Daniel Feeld (Albert Finney), whose head was frozen after Feeld's death shortly after the events of Karaoke. Unable to see any profit in the project, Masdon considers discontinuing it, but the media mogul David Siltz (Henry Goodman), who has been spying on Masdon, envisages making a fortune from broadcasting Feeld's memories on TV, and proposes to Porlock that her team work for him.

Porlock is unaware that a member of her team, Fyodor Glazunov (Ciarán Hinds) is a member of the resistance group RON (‘Reality Or Nothing’), which attempts to undermine the reliance of society upon advanced technology by carrying out violent attacks. Glazunov identifies Kaya, another of Porlock's team, as a potential recruit to his superior Andrew Milton (David Foxxe), but Milton kills Kaya, believing her unsuitable. Angered by Kaya's murder, Glazunov kills Milton. Porlock then discovers the truth about Glazunov but, to distract him from the possibility of killing her, consults with him about the Siltz deal. Glazunov approves of the broadcast of Feeld's memories, which he believes might provoke a revolt against the 'inauthentic' life propagated by the authorities. It is shortly after this that Porlock accepts Siltz's offer, just as Masdon realises the potential of the Lazarus project.

As more of Feeld's thoughts and memories are unearthed, it becomes evident not only that Feeld's mind is conscious of its predicament, but also that Feeld is attempting to communicate with the scientists, and is pleading to be allowed to die. At this point Glazunov, Porlock and Luanda Partington (another long standing member of the team) begin to doubt the morality of their project. Another of their team, Watson, having been coerced into informing on his colleagues, unwittingly denounces Glazunov as a RON member and saboteur. Having been warned, Glazunov heads for the laboratory to put Feeld out of his misery. In the confrontation that ensues, Glazunov is able to kill Siltz, and, after a final communication with Feeld (in which they make eye contact), he destroys the laboratory, Feeld's head, and himself, in the process.

Cast

• Albert Finney as Daniel Feeld
• Frances de la Tour as Emma Porlock
• Ciarán Hinds as Fyodor Glazunov
• Ganiat Kasumu as Luanda Partington
• Grant Masters as Tony Watson
• Carmen Ejogo as Blinda
• Diane Ladd as Martina Masdon
• Henry Goodman as David Siltz
• Claudia Malkovich as Kaya
• David Foxxe as Andrew Milton
• Donald Sumpter as Doctor Rawl
• Rob Brydon as Karl

The series also featured an early TV appearance by Rupert Penry-Jones as a militiaman.

Additionally, some of the cast of Karaoke appear in Feeld's flashbacks.

Episodes

• Episode 1: 26 May 1996. This episode had an audience of 3.8 million people. Running time: 50 or 52 minutes.
• Episode 2: 2 June 1996.
• Episode 3: 9 June 1996.
• Episode 4. 16 June 1996.

Broadcast and release

The series was broadcast in the United States in 1997 on Bravo. The series had previously been offered to PBS.

Legacy

Many of the futuristic costumes made for the actors to wear in Cold Lazarus were later bought by the film company Wibbell Productions and subsequently used in the feature film The Vampires of Bloody Island in 2007. Wibbell later sold many of them individually to private collectors in 2013.

A spaceship prop, in 2023, was in Leighton Buzzard and for sale.

References

• Vernon W Gras and John R Cook (eds). The Passion of Dennis Potter: International Collected Essays. Macmillan Press Ltd. 2000. ISBN 0333800281. pp 3, 4, 8, 11, 17, 19, 21, 25, 29, 36, 39, 42, 44, 74, 78, 82, 83, 87, 92, 122, 161, 163 to 166, 169 to 173, 177, 207, 219, 221 to 224, 228, 235, 237, 254 to 256 & 261.
• Humphrey Carpenter. Dennis Potter: A Biography. Faber and Faber. 1998. Paperback. 1999. ISBN 0571197213. pp 16, 417, 461, 548, 549, 552, 555, 559 to 561, 564 to 569, 571, 573, 574, 583 to 588, 593, 597, 600, 640 & 641.
• Glen Creeber. Dennis Potter: Between Two Worlds: A Critical Reassessment. Macmillan Press Ltd. 1998. ISBN 0333713893. pp 1, 15, 27, 34, 79, 192 to 194, 196, 197 & 202.
• W Stephen Gilbert. The Life and Work of Dennis Potter. The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers. Woodstock and New York. 1998. pp xiii, 276, 282, 292 to 295 and 363. Previously published under the title "Fight and Kick and Bite" by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1995. *Val Scullion, "Gothic dissent in Dennis Potter's Cold Lazarus" (2008) 10 Gothic Studies Gale Edinburgh
• Nancy Banks-Smith, "Gone, banging the door behind him", Guardian Weekly, 5 May 1996, p 26
• Nancy Banks-Smith, "Right royal trials of life", Guardian Weekly, 30 June 1996, p 26
• Peter Lennon, "Last will and testament", Guardian Weekly, 3 September 1996, pp 26 & 27
• Andrew Cuif, "Plays that are pure Potter produce a posthumous put-down", The Guardian, 16 April 1996, p 3
• Andy Lavender, "Dennis Potter: the parting shots", The Times, 8 April 1996, p 11
• Christopher Dunkley, "Where fantasy, reality and memory meet", The Financial Times, 24 April 1996, p 11
• W Stephen Gilbert, "Cold comforts", The Independent, 23 May 1996
• Stephen Poole, "Television preview", The Independent, 24 May 1996
• Jasper Rees, "Frankie goes to Pinewood", The Independent, 17 May 1996
• "Spring date for last Potter plays", The Independent, 26 March 1996
• Thomas Sutcliffe, "Am I alone in thinking that we could all be reading too much into this search for meaning?", The Independent, 21 June 1996
• Lucy Ellman, "Dennis the ancient menace", The Independent, 1 June 1996
• Andrew Male, "Finney at the Double" in "What's on TV on Demand", The Sunday Times, 24 February 2019
• John J O'Connor. "A Posthumous Send-Off For a British Original" in Critic's Notebook. The New York Times. 20 June 1996.
• David Bianculli and New York Daily News. [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-04-25-9504250122-story.html

External links

• Cold Lazarus at BBC Online
• Cold Lazarus at IMDb