9. The Lazarus Experiment
Remember that cutaway gag in Family Guy (stick with me, come on) when Peter demands someone start throwing pies in the middle of Uncle Vanya? Well, this was exactly what this episode felt like to me. Although Who is ostensibly a kids' show for adults, that doesn't mean it doesn't wrestle with big themes, and here we had a barnburner set-up involving the inevitability of death. Trying to avoid the Reaper is a well-mined dramatic trope, and with good reason it speaks to our innermost urge to survive, even though we know we can't. Hell, Greek tragedies have been written around less. So when we were introduced to Mark Gatiss's Professor Lazarus and his efforts to cheat death (come on, what else was he going to do with that name? Open a winery?) we felt we might have an affecting human tale coming up. But then he transformed into a giant monster-thing, and it all went to hell in a handcart. Don't get me wrong. Monster-chase Who episodes aren't a bad thing, even if they do involve inordinate amounts of the Doctor running down corridors. But when you've spent an episode's first act exploring such complex themes, turning it into a glorified haunted house episode felt like a weak payoff. Even if Lazarus had to become the monster, they could've salvaged it with some at-what-cost-life dialogue. As it was, they took this potentially compelling character and turned him into a mindless brute.