Professor Richard Lazarus
Professor Richard Lazarus first appeared in The Lazarus Experiment (Series 3 : Episode 6) as a scientist who has managed to reverse the aging process of humans, allowing them to live forever. Lazarus built a Genetic Manipulation Device in order to regenerate into a younger body. He received funding for this project from Harold Saxon and took many years to complete, reaching the age of 76 before it was finished. His Public Relations Manager was Tish Jones, Martha’s sister, who organised his PR for the project. On television, Lazarus said he was going to “change what it means to be human”.
Lazarus’ fear of death came to him as a child during World War Two, sitting in Southwark Cathedral during the London Blitz, sitting in the crypt. His childhood house was bombed during the raids. When Lazarus unveiled his machine to the public, he also gave it a demonstration and, despite some engineering faults, stepped out of the machine looking 30 years younger. The process was hailed as a success, but unfortunately for Lazarus, it activated a dormant gene in his DNA. This gene was called an evolutionary throwback, a gene that was determined to be unnecessary during human’s evolution. When it activated, Lazarus turned into a huge scorpion looking monster that had to feed off the life energy of others to stabilise his DNA.
The Tenth Doctor attempted to stop Lazarus by altering Lazarus’ machine to blast him, seemingly killing him. However, when Lazarus’ body was removed by an ambulance crew, he comes back to life, draining both of the medic’s life energy and fleeing to Southwark Cathedral. Martha and Tish lured Lazarus up into the bell tower while the Doctor modified the organ to amplify the noise he made, playing havoc with Lazarus’ genetic structure and causing him to fall to his death. Although Lazarus died, his technology lived on enough to be used by Harold Saxon (revealed to be the Master) at the end of Series 3 to produce a laser screwdriver, and also reverse the aging process to make the Doctor look old.