# Lazarus (British TV series)
**Harlan Coben's Lazarus** is a British supernatural thriller television series created by the American crime writer [Harlan Coben](https://www.edgepedia.org/harlan-coben) and the screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst, released on Prime Video on 22 October 2025. It follows Joel Lazarus, a forensic psychiatrist who returns to his family home after his father's apparent suicide and begins experiencing visions that draw him into a series of cold-case murders, including the killing of his own sister 25 years earlier.[1](https://www.televisual.com/news/bts-shindler-and-brocklehurst-on-lazarus/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harlan_cobens_lazarus/s01)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Six-episode British drama series, Prime Video, premiered 22 October 2025[1](https://www.televisual.com/news/bts-shindler-and-brocklehurst-on-lazarus/) • [3](https://www.joe.co.uk/entertainment/lazarus-prime-video-release-date-plot-new-thriller-shows-harlan-coben-sam-claflin-509909) |
| Origin | An original story idea by Harlan Coben and Danny Brocklehurst, not an adaptation of one of Coben's novels[1](https://www.televisual.com/news/bts-shindler-and-brocklehurst-on-lazarus/) • [4](https://roycross.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/new-statesman-24th-october-2025.pdf) |
| Lead cast | Sam Claflin as Dr Joel "Laz" Lazarus; Bill Nighy as his father, Dr Jonathan Lazarus; Alexandra Roach as Jenna Lazarus[5](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/harlan-cobens-lazarus-season-1-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi3mtyw) • [3](https://www.joe.co.uk/entertainment/lazarus-prime-video-release-date-plot-new-thriller-shows-harlan-coben-sam-claflin-509909) |
| Premise | After his father's suicide, Joel has disturbing, unexplainable experiences and investigates cold-case murders connected to his father's psychiatric practice and his sister's murder 25 years earlier[1](https://www.televisual.com/news/bts-shindler-and-brocklehurst-on-lazarus/) • [6](https://time.com/7327726/lazarus-ending-prime-video/) |
| Reception | 44% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (27 reviews) and 47% on the audience Popcornmeter (100+ ratings)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harlan_cobens_lazarus/s01) |
| Production | Executive produced by Nicola Shindler of Quay Street Productions; Coben co-wrote the first episode with Brocklehurst[1](https://www.televisual.com/news/bts-shindler-and-brocklehurst-on-lazarus/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
The series opens with the death of Dr Jonathan Lazarus ([Bill Nighy](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-nighy)), a psychiatrist found dead in an apparent suicide. His son Joel ([Sam Claflin](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-claflin)), also a psychiatrist, returns to the family home and begins to see visions, first of his dead father and then of his father's former patients. These apparitions lead him into a string of cold-case murders that may or may not be connected to the unsolved murder of his sister 25 years earlier.[7](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/lazarus-harlan-cobens-embarrassingly-compelling-thriller) • [8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/lazarus-0)
The supernatural element is a departure for Coben's television work. Reviewers noted that the ghost-story framing sets the show apart from his other mysteries while keeping his familiar machinery of buried family secrets and escalating twists.[9](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/harlan-coben-lazarus-review) • [4](https://roycross.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/new-statesman-24th-october-2025.pdf) Recurring images include a three-legged table, first shown in Jonathan's alleged suicide note, which becomes a central symbol across the season.[6](https://time.com/7327726/lazarus-ending-prime-video/)
## Origin and production
Coben had carried the story idea in his head for years as a two- or three-page outline that he had not been able to make work as a novel. He passed it to Nicola Shindler, founder of Quay Street Productions, and to Brocklehurst, telling them he thought it was a television idea and that it should feel different from their other collaborations because of its ghostly, supernatural element. Coben and Brocklehurst wrote the first episode together.[1](https://www.televisual.com/news/bts-shindler-and-brocklehurst-on-lazarus/)
Unlike every other English-language Coben series, which adapt one of his novels, Lazarus is an original screenplay, and it premiered on Prime Video rather than Netflix, where most of his adaptations appear.[4](https://roycross.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/new-statesman-24th-october-2025.pdf) • [10](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/every-harlan-coben-show-you-can-stream-on-netflix-and-prime-video-ranked) The British Board of Film Classification classified the episodes for streaming in January 2025, with episode 1 running 46 minutes 11 seconds and carrying advice for moderate injury detail, language, suicide references, and domestic abuse.[5](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/harlan-cobens-lazarus-season-1-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi3mtyw)
## Cast
Sam Claflin, known for *The Hunger Games* films and *Daisy Jones & the Six*, plays Joel Lazarus; he said the role let him explore themes of trauma, identity, and male mental health.[3](https://www.joe.co.uk/entertainment/lazarus-prime-video-release-date-plot-new-thriller-shows-harlan-coben-sam-claflin-509909) • [11](https://abcnews.com/video/126597744/) Bill Nighy plays his father Jonathan, and the supporting cast includes [Alexandra Roach](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandra-roach) as Joel's sister Jenna, David Fynn as Seth McGovern, Karla Crome as Bella Catton, and [Kate Ashfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-ashfield) as a detective.[5](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/harlan-cobens-lazarus-season-1-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi3mtyw) • [12](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pressrepublican.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/54/954d8ee7-fc8d-48c5-9151-ad24bd693ec3/68f2a7ee13572.pdf.pdf)
## Reception
The season received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 44% Tomatometer from 27 critics and a 47% Popcornmeter from more than 100 audience ratings. The site's critics consensus says the series delivers emotional performances and a suitably spooky mood but is undermined by clunky dialogue and increasingly preposterous plotting.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harlan_cobens_lazarus/s01) The Guardian's review called the adaptation "absolutely woeful",[13](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/oct/22/harlan-coben-lazarus-review-amazon-prime-video) while a roundup of British reviews in [The Week](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-week) described the show as ridiculous, convoluted, and clichéd but also "embarrassingly compelling", plotted to hook the viewer.[7](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/lazarus-harlan-cobens-embarrassingly-compelling-thriller) TechRadar's reviewer called it his favorite story in the Coben television collection while judging it the least effective, praising its ambitious storytelling.[9](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/harlan-coben-lazarus-review)
## Future
Coben said in October 2025 that he had never made a second season of any of his shows, and producer Nicola Shindler said the finale answers all the story's questions, though she added that a second season could happen if there is demand and a story as good or better; cast members including Alexandra Roach said they would be open to returning.[14](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/lazarus-ending-explained-sam-claflin-talks-possible-season-2-excl/) • [15](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/harlan-cobens-lazarus-season-2-will-only-happen-on-one-condition-but-its-cast-are-more-than-open-to-returning)
## References
1. [BTS: Shindler and Brocklehurst on Lazarus, Televisual](https://www.televisual.com/news/bts-shindler-and-brocklehurst-on-lazarus/)
2. [Harlan Coben's Lazarus: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harlan_cobens_lazarus/s01)
3. [Prime Video is about to add one of 2025's twistiest thriller shows, JOE](https://www.joe.co.uk/entertainment/lazarus-prime-video-release-date-plot-new-thriller-shows-harlan-coben-sam-claflin-509909)
4. [New Statesman, 24 October 2025 (PDF)](https://roycross.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/new-statesman-24th-october-2025.pdf)
5. [Harlan Coben's Lazarus - Season 1, BBFC](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/harlan-cobens-lazarus-season-1-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi3mtyw)
6. [Breaking Down the Mysterious Ending of Lazarus, Time](https://time.com/7327726/lazarus-ending-prime-video/)
7. [Lazarus: Harlan Coben's 'embarrassingly compelling' thriller, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/lazarus-harlan-cobens-embarrassingly-compelling-thriller)
8. [Lazarus - Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/lazarus-0)
9. [Harlan Coben's Lazarus review, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/harlan-coben-lazarus-review)
10. [Every Harlan Coben show you can stream on Netflix and Prime Video, ranked, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/every-harlan-coben-show-you-can-stream-on-netflix-and-prime-video-ranked)
11. [Sam Claflin on starring in new series, ABC News](https://abcnews.com/video/126597744/)
12. [Prime Video this week listing (Press-Republican PDF)](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pressrepublican.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/54/954d8ee7-fc8d-48c5-9151-ad24bd693ec3/68f2a7ee13572.pdf.pdf)
13. [Lazarus review – this Harlan Coben adaptation is absolutely woeful, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/oct/22/harlan-coben-lazarus-review-amazon-prime-video)
14. [Lazarus Ending Explained: Sam Claflin Talks Possible Season 2, Us Weekly](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/lazarus-ending-explained-sam-claflin-talks-possible-season-2-excl/)
15. [Harlan Coben's Lazarus season 2 will only happen on one condition, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/harlan-cobens-lazarus-season-2-will-only-happen-on-one-condition-but-its-cast-are-more-than-open-to-returning)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Science fiction, horror, and supernatural*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license