If you’ve already binge-watched all eight episodes of Sky’s sci-fi thriller The Lazarus Project, the good news is that writer/creator Joe Barton has plans for a follow-up.
Paapa Essiedu leads the cast as George, an app developer recruited by the titular Lazarus Project – an enigmatic organisation with the power to reset time and avert mass extinction events.
Though he insisted he didn’t initially approach the series with a multi-season arc mapped out, Barton told RadioTimes.com that he now has some notion as to where the show might go next.
“I was reading that interview with the Lord of the Rings showrunner who said, ‘I have five seasons planned, I have the last shot of series five planned out’ – I was like, ‘How the f**k have you done that?’,” Barton laughed. “I’ve just got some random ideas.”
The Giri/Haji writer added that he wasn’t entirely sure how the first season of The Lazarus Project would end when he first began writing, but acknowledged that where the eighth and final episode ends up does leave the door open for more.
“It wasn’t until I wrote the last episode that I worked out what the ending was going to be,” he revealed.
“I had a vague notion so there was something I could pitch, and I wrote a paragraph on each episode – that was about as much treatment as there was – and then started writing the last episode and a lot of the ideas came at that point, quite late in the day, literally up until the last scene and the last shot, which does open it up for another series. But it was certainly not guaranteed that [a second season] would happen.”
The first season sees Tom Burke (Strike) play series antagonist Rebrov, although the character is described as but one of many turncoats who’ve betrayed the Lazarus Project – so could future outings introduce us to these other ex-agents?
Read more:
- Why The Lazarus Project is Breaking Bad with time travel
- How The Lazarus Project predicted the future: “It was surreal”
“It’s something we’d probably explore more if we get further series,” Barton acknowledged. “And that idea of what the toll is on these people who do this thing.
“There’s an almost God-like aspect, they have this incredible power – they live in this world where they can manipulate space and time and they could live without consequences if they want to… and how does that corrupt them? How does it change the way they view morality? So it’s something I think is interesting and we want to carry on exploring.”
The origins of the Lazarus Project, including who financed the institute and its ability to rewind time, is also something Barton is keen to explore going forward. “That’s something that we would like to explore in more detail in future series, if we’re lucky enough to get any.
“We intentionally didn’t go too far above Caroline [Quentin]’s character [Wes] and it’s quite shady, but there’s questions of who’s pulling the strings. That’s definitely a big part of what a second series will be, if we get one.”
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/06/0131TheLazarusProjectS01-2f4125f.jpg?quality=90&crop=683px%2C0px%2C4573px%2C3046px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Essiedu and co-star Anjli Mohindra – who plays Archie – also confirmed to RadioTimes.com their desire to return to The Lazarus Project for further adventures.
“We all had a great time shooting the first series of the show and I think we’ve all done good work, so if there’s a world where we can make it happen, where everyone’s able to do that, I don’t think it’d be hard for us to commit to it,” said Essiedu.
“Joe will always have billions of ideas,” added Mohindra. “So if we get the chance to do it, I’ll be there. I think everyone would.”
The Lazarus Project will be available to watch from Thursday (16th June) on Sky TV and NOW – sign up for Sky TV here.
The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.