Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Rose Leslie, Theo James, Everleigh McDonell, Gui Agustini, Natasha Lopez, Jaime Ray Newman, Michael Park, Caitlin Shorey, Desmin Borges, Marcia DeBonis, Peter Graham, Kate Siegel, Josh Stamberg, Jason David, Brian Altemus, Shawna Hamic, Spencer House, Taylor Richardson, Finn Brown, Carol Mazhuvancheril, Chelsea Frei.
From The Time Machine to Doctor Who, Time travel has intrigued us, thrilled us, and at times left us breathless with excitement and rigid with fear for generations. From book to audio dramas, from theatre to cinema, and across every language possible, the interest in the ability to travel through Time and perhaps put right the wrongs of our generation, is a palpable conceit that is embraced by all despite knowing it is a physical impossibility.
Time travel works on many levels, each story feels unique, the idea that Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is the same as Back To The Future or The Terminator is an absurdity, for whilst they may share common tropes, the tale weaved is individual, it is distinct, separated by a mutual language, and few that acknowledge the difficulty on the minds and souls of those who witness the phenomenon; such is the dominance of the genre as it looks at the person undergoing the initial experience that we forget those left behind, those who live with the consequence, but not the danger or joy, of Time travel.
Developed and written by Steven Moffat, and based upon Audrey Niffenegger’s novel of the same name, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a playful adaption of a modern great piece of literature, but one that has within its own soul the power to devastate the viewer with its serious message of thinking of those left behind, a premise that the talented former Doctor Who writer and show runner has touched upon before during his time on the long running BBC series, but never with as much intricate detail, nor indeed as much understanding as he shows during this six part series.
The television series also overshadows the film version released in 2009 with its two main leads catching the imagination that unfortunately Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana could not reach, the humour contrasting superbly against the inevitable pain felt by both characters as they struggle to synchronise their lives and love together in a way, we take for granted.
Both Rose Leslie as Clare Abshire and Theo James as Henry DeTamble are in magnificent form as the pair of Time split lovers and perform with honour as the more disturbing part of their early initial meetings are played out against darker elements that would not be mentioned in any other show for fear of being thought of as appealing to a less than honest viewer.
We cannot truly fully understand the paradox of Time, we can only dream and plan, we can only build on our past and hope, rather than be certain, of the outcome being in our favour. The Time Traveler’s Wife endorses that view whilst giving us the opportunity to ask the question of what if?
An enjoyable series, a splendid adaptation of an excellently driven novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife leaves it fully open for seconds to be written.
Ian D. Hall