‘Time After Time,’ This Season’s Second Time Travel Show, Airs Sunday On ABC
Time will tell if ABC was smart in delaying the start of its new show, Time After Time, as a mid-season replacement series. NBC has done well with its freshman series, Timeless which began last fall, but is there room for another time travel series?
Despite the similarity of the series subject matter, Time After Time has a completely different storyline from Timeless. Created by the producers of The Blacklist, the latter TV series features a scientist (Malcolm Barrett), a soldier (Matt Lanter) and a history professor (Abigail Spencer) who ride around a time machine in attempt to prevent a fugitive from altering history. Time After Time features a time machine too, but in this case, a more famous one.
Time After Time is based on the 1979 novel and movie of the same name which itself is based on the classic The Time Machine story by H. G. Wells. In the new series, H. G. Wells is a character in (rather than the writer of) the story. Like the plot in Timeless, Wells, too, is after a bad guy: Dr. John Stevenson who was better known as “Jack the Ripper.” Time After Time begins in London in Well’s own time era, but he quickly uses his time machine to track down Stevenson in modern day New York City.
ABC’s new show will have another similarity to Timeless in that it won’t take itself too seriously and allow for humor every now and then. “But instead of the Utopia he imagined,” says ABC’s press release, “Wells finds a world more aligned with Stevenson’s temperament in a series charged with danger and adventure, and centered in thrills, satire, humor – and most of all, an epic love story.”
Time After Time stars Freddie Stroma as H.G. Wells, Josh Bowman as Dr. John Stevenson (Jack the Ripper), Genesis Rodriguez as Jane Walker, Nicole Ari Parker as Vanessa Anders, Will Chase as Griffin and Jennifer Ferrin as Brooke. The show begins with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, March 5 at 9:00 p.m.
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Although Time After Time gives “Jack the Ripper” a name, the real serial killer of 1888 has never been identified. He was given the title of “Jack the Ripper” from a letter sent to the media that was written by someone claiming to be the murderer. However, that letter is believed by many to have been a hoax. The killer has also been called “The Whitechapel Murderer” and “Leather Apron.” Most of the attacks were against prostitutes who lived and worked in the East End of London. Eleven killings were found to have taken place in Whitechapel in 1891, but it is not clear if the so-called “Jack the Ripper” was responsible for all of their deaths.
H. G. Wells has been called the “father of the science fiction novel,” but he also wrote about history, politics and social commentary. His most famous works include The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. For The Time Machine, Well’s weaved in a lot about his own political views.
The first Time Machine movie starred Rod Taylor, Alan Young, and Yvette Mimieux and was released in 1960. In 2002, a remake of the film was created by Well’s great-grandson, Simon Wells.
[Featured Image by ABC]
