New series “The Time Traveler’s Wife”
A love through space and time
Theo James and Rose Leslie as time-traveling couple Henry and Clare.
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The series adaptation of the novel of the same name starts on May 16 with “The Time Traveler’s Wife”. A time travel story that takes time.
Time travel is one of those things. The more you think about it, the tighter the knots in your brain become. The endless narrative possibilities of the time travel paradox have always occupied the minds of film and series creators. Whether in a comedy series like “Back to the Future”, in the action horror of a “Terminator” franchise, or in series like “Doctor Who” or the German production “Dark”.
Each of the examples mentioned shows that time travel stories are usually too complex and multi-layered to be told in just one strip. This actually also applied to the 500-page bestselling novel “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger (58). It was tried in 2009 in the film of the same name, but with moderate success. After all, how can an epic love story that literally breaks the laws of space and time be successfully squeezed into just 108 minutes? The answer: not at all!
In order to do justice to the novel, the US broadcaster HBO has turned it into a six-part mini-series. Not only real time travel experts are responsible for them. Spoilers from the future of the Internet are also virtually ruled out, because: German viewers will be able to enjoy it shortly after the US start. The series will start in either German or English on Sky from May 16 – every Monday from 8:15 p.m. via Sky Atlantic, or also weekly on demand via Sky Ticket and Sky Q.
Timeless love – that’s what it’s all about
While many children have an imaginary friend, girl Clare’s is real but no less fantastic. A man named Henry (Theo James, 37) has visited her since she was six years old. He reveals to her that he is a time traveler against her will. Without control, to determine the time and destination of his travels, he is repeatedly thrown into the past or future. The only halfway stable constant in his trips: he usually ends up in times and places that have a direct connection to his own life.
So did the visits to Clare. Because as it turns out, the two later – Clare (Rose Leslie, 35) is now an adult – get to know each other naturally and fall madly in love with each other. But how can a relationship work when one of the partners vanishes into thin air from one second to the next, only to wake up completely naked and disoriented in another time? Worse still, how are you supposed to be in a relationship when you’re involuntarily being shown how it’s going to end?
time to unfold
“The Time Traveler’s Wife” takes a good six hours (6 times 60 minutes) to answer these questions. Steven Moffat (60) was brought on board as one of the producers and David Nutter (62) as director and screenwriter. Moffat already showed a knack for sci-fi and time travel stories with his aforementioned new edition of the cult series “Doctor Who”. And with “Sherlock” he even created one of the most popular series of the past decade.
Nutter also launched an exciting journey through time in series form with “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. In short: sufficient Mindblow expertise behind the camera is always taken care of.
Two central figures
But the serial lovers are also familiar with the matter. The main characters, Clare and Henry, are played by Theo James and Rose Leslie. He is best known for the film adaptation of the sci-fi novel series “The Destiny”. Meanwhile, she made her breakthrough in the series “Game of Thrones” as Wildling Ygritte and a highly tragic love story for fan favorite Jon Snow.
She has been married to his actor, Kit Harington (35), since 2018. In the fantasy series also produced by HBO, however, they were denied such a happy ending. Which raises a final question: will viewers of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” have to pull out their handkerchiefs again? Or is there still time and space for a happy ending? Anyone who wants to experience this has six must-attend dates in the near future.