After 3 years in development, the sequel series to a classic sci-fi crime thriller is murdered by money troubles

via BBC

Tales of woe have become the norm of episodic content these days, with virtually all of the major players in the streaming wars either canceling popular shows or erasing them from existence, but the fate to have befallen Life on Mars sequel series Lazarus has underlined that the phenomenon isn’t just restricted to the on-demand circuit.

The sci-fi crime thriller focused on the adventures of John Simm’s Sam Tyler, who got hit by a car in the year 2006 and ended up waking up in 1973, where he picked up where he left off in terms of his day job while trying to figure out how to get back to his own timeline.

It ran for 16 episodes across two seasons, won widespread critical acclaim and plenty of awards season recognition, spawned spin-off series Ashes to Ashes, before being remade in the United States, Spain, Russia, the Czech Republic, China, and South Korea, prior to the announcement back in April of 2020 that the original gang would be getting back together for Lazarus.

Except, they’re not anymore, after it was confirmed that financial troubles had put paid to any dreams of the Life on Mars story being continued.

Penny-pinching is now an industry-wide issue that’s affecting everything from blockbuster Netflix shows to lo-fi favorites, creating panic among viewers and fans for a multitude of very good reasons. Three years is a long time to wait for an update on a project only to discover that it isn’t happening at all, although the irony is thick in Lazarus not even being afforded the opportunity to fly anywhere close to the sun.

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Scott Campbell

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