COLD LAZARUS: TWO (TV)
Summary
Part two in this four-part miniseries created by British television writer Dennis Potter and set in the rigid and technologically controlled future of 2368. The head of screenwriter Daniel Feeld has been frozen for almost four centuries and is now being revived in a cryogenics laboratory by a team of scientists led by Professor Emma Porlock. The scientists of the Lazarus Project, as it is called, are able to summon forth memories from Feeld's brain, which they project on the laboratory's "living wall." The thrill of seeing into the mind of a man from a distant and far more pleasant past is soon mitigated by moral and ethical dilemmas; and matters are further complicated when two rival conglomerates begin vying ruthlessly for the television and virtual reality rights to Feeld's memories. In this episode, Porlock and her team view a bizarre series of memory images on the living wall: Feeld views himself as an adult watching himself as a boy in a small country chapel. Porlock -- under great pressure due to Martina Masdon's budget cuts -- goes into a rage over what she assumes are biochemically induced distortions. However, it is suggested that this may not be a distortion, but rather the adult Feeld blocking a painful memory; and indeed Feeld's brain segues into a memory of being raped as a child. Kaya, a young research assistant, runs from the lab crying, disturbed by both the brutal incident and the moral implications of stimulating these traumatic recollections in Feeld's head. One of the doctors on Porlock's team, the brilliant but enigmatic Fyodor, intercepts Kaya and takes the distraught young woman to see the director of public affairs. Meanwhile, another of Porlock's team -- a spy for the Masdon Group -- records Fyodor's actions. Back in the lab, Porlock receives a call from international media czar David Siltz, who invites her to meet him for lunch to discuss funding the Lazarus Project. The scientists grow increasingly involved in Feeld's life -- viewing memories from boyhood through his final illness and learning, along the way, that he had a twin brother. They are shocked by a memory in which an ailing, frightened Feeld tells a young woman that the script he is currently writing is called "Cold Lazarus," that he keeps hearing his own lines coming back at him, and that he is being made to "eat and drink his own thoughts." The team grows concerned that Feeld is somehow aware of his own current condition; and they receive another jolt when Kaya is found dead outside the science center. Later, an uneasy Emma finds herself in a meeting with the sleazy David Siltz, about to prostitute herself so the team might continue its research. Alone in its chamber in the lab, Daniel Feeld's head recalls a childhood memory -- and then sheds a tear.
(This program contains adult language and material.)
("Cold Lazarus" continues the story of Daniel Feeld, which begins with Potter's miniseries, "Karaoke." The two miniseries, collectively, are the late Dennis Potter's final work and were co-produced and telecast, at Potter's behest, by both the BBC and Channel 4. "Karaoke" is part of the Museum's collection. See T:43605-T:43608.)
(The miniseries "Cold Lazarus" premiered on Channel 4 on four consecutive Sundays from May 26 through June 16, 1996. "Cold Lazarus" was repeated on BBC1 on consecutive Mondays from May 27 through June 17,1996.)
Details
- NETWORK: Channel 4 (United Kingdom)
- DATE: June 2, 1996 Sunday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:53:06
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:43602
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Cryogenics; Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Ethics; International Collection - United Kingdom; Rape - Drama
- SERIES RUN: BBC1/Channel 4 (United Kingdom) - TV, 1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter Ansorge … Executive Producer
- Michael Wearing … Executive Producer
- Kenith Trodd … Producer
- Rosemarie Whitman … Producer
- Alison Barnett … Associate Producer
- Alison O'Brien … Digital Effects Producer
- Renny Rye … Director
- Dennis Potter … Writer
- Christopher Gunning … Music by
- London Symphony Orchestra, The … Symphony Orchestra
- St. Briavels Parochial Primary School … Choir/Chorus
- St John's On The Hill School … Choir/Chorus
- Haberdasher's Monmouth School … Choir/Chorus
- Berry Hill Silver Band … Music Group
- Albert Finney … Cast, Daniel Feeld
- Frances de la Tour … Cast, Emma Porlock
- Ciaran Hinds … Cast, Fyodor
- Henry Goodman … Cast, David Siltz
- Joe Roberts … Cast, Young Daniel and Chris
- Ganiat Kasumu … Cast, Luanda
- Grant Masters … Cast, Tony Watson
- Carmen Ejogo … Cast, Blinda
- Claudia Malkovich … Cast, Kaya
- John Forgeham … Cast, the Tramp
- David Foxxe … Cast, Andrew Milton
- Adam Bareham … Cast, Daniel's Father
- Malcolm Rogers … Cast, the Preacher
- Saffron Burrows … Cast, Sandra Sollars