Cold Lazarus

This story is a very good story in itself and if you've seen the story (behind Lazarus) you will get even more out of the serie. I enjoyed this "realistic" sci-fi stuff more than most of the hollywood style bang-boom-big explosion kind of action sci-fi.

But I must warn you, if you hate each and every drama movie, go watch something else. All other people should watch this one.

karaoke was really good, i liked the story and how it developed...kept me watching. cold lazarus was awful, i could not follow the story because the production and acting was horrible...the British really suck at doing science fiction..it was like the 70s version of doctor who...but i am writing this after only watching the first episode. i am fast forwarding now to get to albert finney's role in this ugly thing, maybe he can save it...but i doubt it. I don't understand how there could be such a disconnect between the karaoke and cold lazarus productions. i can't imagine the writer could have had such different visions of the two, so how did the people involved with actually bringing the written story to TV, misinterpret the writing

I consider Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective" the best thing ever to appear on TV. "Karaoke-Cold Lazarus" are contenders for second place. It is vital to see Karaoke first because Dennis Potter wrote them as a part of a whole.

Potter racing against the clock to finish Lazarus before he died. They are funny, weird, mysterious and profound -- a rare combination for any medium. It helps to know a bit of Potter's bio to fully appreciate the depth of this accomplishment.

My favorite moment came when slimy TV producer Siltz exults in the opportunity to own a writer's mind (literally) in order to exploit it. I can imagine the smile on Potter's face when he first conceived that scene, seeing it as a metaphor for his showbiz struggles with the Siltzes of the world.

Anyone who appreciates great writing will love this. Dennis Potter wrote a brilliant script about his own death. I doubt anyone will top his feat for a long time.

I'm a big fan of British TV and this series sounded as though it was going to be right up my alley.

While the parts with the scientists were fine enough, too much time was spent with "Martina" the American financier - her bits were absolutely unwatchable, contained zero entertainment or interest value and effectively torpedoed what would have otherwise escaped as a passable sci-fi yarn.

Perhaps this could be remade with more focus on what makes the story interesting.

3 out of 10

Stendahl's idea that fiction holds more truth than any written "history" is, or will be, aptly applied to Dennis Potter's _magnum opus_, "Cold Lazarus." Even recent merger news makes the "Total Universal Entertainment Corporation" seem more a reality, as does the recent "State of the World" report. We've much to learn from our artists, the fewer there are, day by day. All those who love literature should be grateful that such a one as Dennis Potter left us these gems for television, among the few there have ever been, or will be.... Look upon "Cold Lazarus" with a somber and reflective mind, for the future is by no means, "out there...."