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The Lab |
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| Broadcaster: |
SABC3 |
| Show Genre: |
Drama |
| Series Premiere: |
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 |
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The Lab is a South African drama television series created by Barry Berk and produced by Curious Pictures which is set in the heart of the high-stakes world of business in South Africa, exposing the dramatic tensions in the underbelly of the corporate world.
The series premiered on SABC3 on Tuesday 27 June 2006, at 20h30. There are 39 hour-long episodes in three seasons to date. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 3 premiered on SABC3 on Tuesday 6 January 2009, at 20h31. There are 13 episodes in the third season.
Episode Synopses
Season 1 Synopsis
In the corporate game, rules are re-written daily … exhilarating if you're holding the pen, terrifying if you're just one of the players.
The Lab is set in the fast-paced world of a corporate investment bank – where deals are made and lives are broken every day.
The series follows the lives of six characters at Lusipho, Atkins and Bhengu Corporate Merchant Bank, aka the Lab.
The story hinges on a major business deal that will affect the entire existence of the company. If they pull off the deal, it will launch the company into the corporate stratosphere. If they blow it, they'll crash-land in the wilderness.
Pearl Lusipho is the matriarch of the company and chairperson of the board. Monty Atkins is the CEO – complex and flawed. “Jaws” Bhengu, head of the Equity fund, rainmaker and trend-setter.
“Wunderkind” Charles “Mingus” Khathi was schooled in America and the UK, and is torn between his many universes. Nadine Shakanovsky is the legal advisor to the firm and Vuvu Sibiya is the company PR director.
The series explores the world of overnight millionaires, of million-rand deals, of materialism and power, of political connections forged in the trenches of the struggle, often pitted against old white corporate connections.
It also captures the world of realpolitik, of naked ambition and greed. It is a world where men and women are made and broken in Johannesburg's top bars and restaurants, on golf courses and in hushed conversations at cosmopolitan gatherings.
The show deals with some of the key issues facing South African business in modern South Africa, including race, transformation and empowerment in the post '94 world of business.
Of course, it shares certain universal characteristics with other worlds too: love, sex, friendship, betrayal and humour.
Season 2 Synopsis
Produced by award-winning production company Curious Pictures, the second season of The Lab was written once again by Barry Berk and directed by Barry Berk, Catherine Stewart and John Trengrove.
This season of The Lab has been shot and edited on High Definition video by Director of Photography Jonathan Kovel, who also shot the first season, and Eran Tahor.
The Lab, under Pearl's leadership, has been part of a consortium bidding on the massively lucrative Durban Underground tender, a R60-Billion project that will ensure quite healthy revenue streams for the company and re-establish The Lab within the financial landscape of South Africa.
Most of the company's time, efforts, and hopes have been placed into this basket and it is the first major test of Pearl's strategy and leadership.
After The Lab loses out on the work, the company is at a crossroads of sorts. It's clear they cannot continue to put all their eggs in the government tender basket anymore, but it's also clear that relying exclusively on their bread and butter BEE deals will not enable the company to grow.
Monty advocates rigorously pursuing white capital; Pearl advocates raising The Lab's profile through the creation of the foundation to secure government work.
Ultimately, they pursue both: through Jaws' efforts, The Lab finds themselves back in the Underground consortium, and through Mingus' efforts, they manage to land the white capital of business mogul, Alex Gainsford.
However, it is never business as usual at the Lab and audiences can anticipate the triumphs and scandals as the characters navigate the personal and professional minefields of Johannesburg.
Monty, having been unseated as CEO of his own company at the end of Season 1, has on one hand the desire to see Pearl and the company succeed; on the other, as a matter of pride, he'd like to see Pearl fail in order to get the chance to reposition himself as candidate for CEO.
Monty is equally divided regarding his relationship to Andre and coming out as a gay man in corporate South Africa.
Eventually Monty will come to realise that he does love Andre and will seek him out in an effort to make the relationship work. In doing so, Monty will finally come face to face with his real demons and be able to exorcise them.
Pearl has achieved almost everything she set out for herself in the previous season: she's in charge, she's being taken seriously, and the company is pursuing her corporate and social agendas.
The question for her becomes whether achieving her goals has provided her with the fulfillment she was expecting. Pearl must examine where her priorities lie, and how she chooses to validate herself and her life.
It is Fikile, a man she meets and falls in love with despite herself, who provides the catalyst for Pearl to change.
When Season 2 begins, Chief Analyst Mingus is feeling the frustrations with his position at The Lab. He's clever, he's got all the ideas, but he's essentially an employee. He makes other people wealth, but there's no wealth for him.
Understandably, he is beginning to ask why he isn't positioning himself to be where they are.
His ambition will cause him to push his boundaries and limitations, and fueled by an over-whelming infatuation for the new and rebellious Samantha Mazur he launches into a radical journey of exploration and self-discovery.
Samantha Mazur joins the Lab as the new legal counsel and her impact is immediate as her natural combination of confidence and competence makes her indispensable to The Lab.
Ingratiating herself quickly to the other characters, Mingus is the one person her charm and charisma have no effect on.
Taking up the challenge, Sam sets about drawing Mingus out of his reserved shell and exposing him to some of the more risqué behaviour Sam indulges in her personal life.
It is Jaws however who journey's into darkness in this series. Having lost his wife and lover in the previous season, Jaws is without anything or anyone in his personal life to define him, he begins to pin his sense of self entirely on the professional.
In doing so, he starts to feel a growing sense of entitlement to the wealth and status he sees all around him, but lacks himself. Jaws' journey sees him straying further and further away from his moral centre.
Under Pearl's stewardship, the company achieves unparalleled success. But all of it becomes threatened in the end by Jaws and the two other partners, Pearl and Monty, are put under enormous pressure in being forced to make a choice between their friend and partner and the company they've both worked so hard to make successful.
Season 3 Synopsis
Season 3 of The Lab opens to find our tragic hero Jaws, shirt torn open and covered with blood, in the Lab offices, alone with Detective Luthuli.
While Detective Luthuli is determined to extract a confession from the injured Jaws, everyone else is helpless to intervene; the damage has already been done.
The lines that once separated business, ethics, law and morality have become terminally blurred, and the characters of the The Lab struggle to define their own personal morality.
Pearl has left the Lab to join government; Samantha and Gainsford have flown the coop, leaving Mingus installed as CEO.
Jaws, having been forced to leave the Lab at the end of the last season finds he is emotionally and financially weakened and is drawn yet again into the dark world of criminality, this time by the beautiful and mysterious Faith.
Through the season Mingus, the strongest moral force in The Lab, faces some impossible choices, loses his heart and almost loses everything he has worked to achieve. Monty struggles to keep his vision of the Lab intact as the power dynamics have shifted once again.
New females make their mark on the Lab: Pamela Dube enters as a super financial consultant. Both charming and acerbic she has hidden secrets she does not want shared. And Pike, life coach to Mingus, is not all she appears to be.
All the character journeys lead to an explosive climax where Jaws, Faith and Mingus realise that the end does not justify the means and each one will have to face the consequences of their actions. Ultimately, the season asks and answers the question – how far would you go?
Main Cast and Characters
Pearl Lusipho
Played by Nambitha Mpumlwana
Pearl is the matriarch of the firm. She is determined and pragmatic, but she's not one of the “beautiful people”.
The balance of power between Pearl and Monty is precarious, but the strife is largely internal, because both of them have a vested interest in the success of their company.
Pearl can be ruthless when protecting her business interests and power base, but her business dealings are largely ethical. She's the most socially aware of the main characters and is driven by a social conscience.
Monty Atkins
Played by Graham Hopkins
Monty is the tough pragmatist in the company. In his business dealings, he is amoral - he will do whatever is necessary to close the deal, and refuses to be distracted by sentimentality or emotion. It's all a game and all is fair.
Monty's strength lies in his connections and access to the mainstream corporate sector. This is a world which he knows backwards, whether in the boardroom or around the dinner party table. He is incredibly astute, and nothing passes him by.
Simon "Jaws" Bhengu
Played by Fana Mokoena
Jaws is the mid 30-something MD of the equity fund (a subsidiary of the Lab). He's a trend-spotter. A rainmaker. In the hierarchy of management at The Lab, Jaws, Monty and Pearl are a triumvirate.
Although married with kids, Jaws is involved in a complex affair with his co-worker Nadine.
Out of the Lab characters, Jaws has the strongest political history. But when business needs dictate it, he also finds it relatively easy to compromise what he sees as his fundamentally socialist principles.
Charles "Mingus" Khathi
Played by Mothusi Magano
Mingus is 28. He has been overseas for nine years studying, first in America and then in London. He is new to the Lab.
Mingus is a likeable guy, but naïve and innocent. He is awkward and doesn't really understand people. But when it comes to certain technical areas of business he is unbeatable. He can structure deals in ways that others would never even think of, and do it all in his head.
He is also highly ambitious and driven.
Nadine Shakanovsky
Played by Catriona Andrew (Season 1)
Nadine is in her mid-30's, the daughter of upper middle class parents. She is a senior member of the Treasury and Structured Finance Division.
She presents herself as incredibly tough and cynical ... she enjoys shocking others with her unwavering cynicism about people's motivations in life, which she tends to dismiss as being generally self serving.
Deep down she hides a terror of her own vulnerability and need for love and acceptance – the gaps in her life.
Vuvu Sibiya
Played by Dada Koyana (Season 1)
Vuvu is in charge of corporate communications at Lab CMB. Most of the time, she uses her job and her gregarious nature to give the office a vibe and a sense of unity.
She is the vivacious spirit of the office – the closest thing to a neutral element there is. When things go badly, she is called upon to serve up spin of the highest order.
What Vuvu wants for herself is a lover as wild as Dennis Rodman, as handsome as Denzel Washington, with the celebrity of Michael Jordan and the body of Taye Diggs.
Samantha Mazur
Played by Shannon Esra (Season 2)
A new entry into the world of The Lab, Samantha Mazur comes in as the replacement in-house legal counsel. A young professional, she comes from a lot of money, her father having been a successful retail empire merchant.
Her parents were loving but absent, and she never wanted for anything while growing up. She studied finance and law overseas, both in the UK and the States.
Though she never speaks about it, she was in a failed marriage while out of the country and this is partially the reason for her return to South Africa.
Incredibly bright and capable, cultured and charismatic, beautiful and sexy, Sam is a real thoroughbred – put her into any social or professional context and she will flourish.
Because of her upbringing, she is fearless and has never doubted her right to her station in life. She's never had any real responsibilities and for her, life has been a game.
She is supremely confident because she is good at what she does. She's never been intimidated by anyone, regardless of power or status, and this combination of confidence and competence makes her indispensable to The Lab.
Faith
Played by Khabonina Qubeka (Season 3)
Faith enters the Lab as a mysterious investment partner introduced by Jaws, who is trying to drum up business having lost his position in the office.
In addition to some legitimate activities, Faith is also involved in a crime syndicate that engages in the lucrative industry of gold piracy.
She pursues Jaws who she knows is desperate enough to flirt with the criminal world and they find a partnership in illicit and somewhat desperate romantic interests.
Faith is a strong, sexy and confident woman, able to operate in both the legitimate and criminal worlds. She is clearly capable of anything but her weaknesses are revealed through her shifting sense of moral standards, which ally with her inability to trust others, and her tendency to see trust as weakness.
As a result, she tends to isolate herself from others, and from the world around her.
She is difficult to read and fiercely private, a trait that will come under pressure as she gets closer to Jaws and Mingus.
She is simultaneously a source of power and uncertainty and while at any given moment we like her and are intrigued by her, we very clearly have the sense that she may be capable of anything.
Pamela
Played by Renate Stuurman (Season 3)
Pamela takes Jaws’ position as chief deal-maker at the Lab. She has an irreverent and disconcertingly wicked sense of humour. Her acerbic wit and knack for sarcasm especially rubs Monty up the wrong way.
Pamela can’t speak any indigenous languages, which places her at an immediate and obvious disadvantage in moving through circles of power and influence.
When Jaws comes back to the Lab, he helps her out in this area – advising and facilitating - and although she is always slightly uneasy about the arrangement they form a bond of sorts and she becomes his unsuspecting puppet, unaware of how involved she is in his untoward dealings.
Pamela is obsessive about drawing a line between her private and professional lives. She mounts stern defences against workmates learning too much of her private life and this causes her to seem initially aloof and unapproachable.
Through the season we come to find out her hidden secret and the reason why she resigned from all three of her previous jobs – without giving explanations.
Pike
Played by Shelley Meskin (Season 3)
Her name is Priscilla – but she insists on Pike. She is in reality an arch-opportunist, a kind of confidence trickster who talks her way into different careers and opportunities as they present themselves.
She encounters Mingus when he is in crisis of confidence over his leadership role in the Lab and becomes his life-coach, giving him advice and motivation and streamlining his ways of working and thinking.
Pike is intelligent, fast-talking, supremely confident, iconoclastic and very critical of the Lab organisation. She’s educated and well-read has a dry sharp cutting way about her.
But she is not all that she seems.
Seasons
(All seasons consist of 13 episodes)
Season 1
Premiere: 27 June 2006 | Finale: 26 September 2006 | On: Tuesdays, 20h31
Season 2
Premiere: 11 May 2008 | Finale: 3 August 2008 | On: Sundays, 20h00
Season 3
Premiere: 6 January 2009 | Finale: 7 April 2009 | On: Tuesdays, 20h31
Ratings and Reviews
Ratings
The first season of The Lab faced tough competition in its Tuesday 20h30 timeslot from sitcom City Ses'la on SABC1, the Sotho/Tswana/Sepedi News on SABC2, reality show Let's Fix It on e.tv and even from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on M-Net, all of which aired at the same time.
The show got off to a slow ratings start, but gradually picked up during the season after receiving generally favourable reviews from television critics.
For its penultimate episode The Lab managed an aggregate of more than a million viewers for the first time, which placed it in SABC3's Top 10 most-watched shows in Week 39 (18 - 24 September, 2006), only a few thousand viewers behind chat show staple 3Talk with Noeleen.
Reviews
The critical response to the first season of The Lab was positive, particularly from readers of South Africa's premier television website, TVSA.
The Lab ended its first season on 26 September 2006, taking with it the No.1 ranking on TVSA for September 2006, as rated by readers of the website.
TVSA readers appreciated the quality of writing, acting and production, giving it an overall aggregate rating of 87/100.
TVSA Editor Tashi Tagg gave The Lab a rating of 90 when she reviewed the 4th episode:
"At the weekend I caught the latest episode (episode 4) of The Lab and it seriously blew my hair back. It was the most riveting episode of any South African show I've ever seen, leaving me silenced for ages afterwards.
"Since the show's start I've been impressed with the quality of the production. The colours, camera angles, editing and feel of the way it's filmed - as if it's real but also glossily not - gives it a class above any other South African drama I've seen.
"The pace is fast and edgy, the acting from everyone - inluding the guest actors - is excellent and the story's unlike any we've ever experienced."
TVSA blogger Observer_JB wrote in a review that The Lab was "A brilliant show from the producers and creators" and added it had a "great storyline, good actors and (made for) an enjoyable hour on television".
Awards
With 12 nominations The Lab was the most-nominated drama series for the 2nd annual South African Film and Television Academy awards (SAFTAs), held in October 2007.
The series was nominated in the following categories:
Best TV Drama
Best Director in a TV Drama (Barry Berk)
Best Actress in a TV Drama (Nambitha Mpumlwana)
Best Actor in a TV Drama (Fana Mokoena and Graham Hopkins)
Best Ensemble Cast in a TV Drama
Best Cinematographer in a TV Drama (Jonathan Kovel)
Best Art Direction in a TV Drama (Jeanine Lee Ching)
Best Writer/Writing Team in a TV Drama (Barry Berk)
Best Hair and Make-up in a TV Drama (Lucy Ngwira)
Best Costume Design in a TV Drama (Agrinneth Mokwena)
Best Editor in a TV Drama (Charlie Sapadin)
Awards went to Nambitha Mpumlwana for Best Actress, the cast won Best Ensemble Cast and Lucy Ngwira won the Best Hair and Make-up award.
Internationally, The Lab was nominated at the Monte Carlo Television Awards for Best Produced Drama.
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| (For full cast and characters, click Seasons tab at top of page) |
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Nambitha Mpumlwana |
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Graham Hopkins |
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Fana Mokoena |
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Mothusi Magano |
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Catriona Andrew |
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Shannon Esra |
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Khabonina Qubeka |
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Renate Stuurman |
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Shelley Meskin |
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Episode Synopses
The Lab was researched and created over a period of 3 years.
The show's set is built on the 31st floor of the old Trust Bank Building in downtown Johannesburg and has a 360 degree view of the city. |
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- Drama Forum
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